RE: If You Use Upvote Services Please Read These Two Posts
Hm. You definitely make some valid points here.
As I already told you in a comment at one of your other posts, I don't think bots are in general a bad idea. They can be really helpful for new users, who want to grow fast and produce high-quality content (I do think, without shame, that I am currently doing this), just because they are enabling them with more visibility and attract new users.
Most people just dont want to search endless pages for new content - they mainly focus onto the hot/trending pages and that's it.
I do like the work, I am doing here and I want to add more value for everyone who reads my articles, but to reach a broader audience as a minnow bots can achieve that for you. For me it's like an investment: I may not even get more financial value out of the bid, but I am more visible and can attract new followers, who are interacting with my content and get some value out of it.
For example: There was this one guy today, who told me about his fight with addiction and of becoming clean. In the end he wrote
This was a interesting reading. Made me more focused about how i should focus and that it is important for me to dont stop making creative projects only because i am sober.
I gave him another way of looking at his own life and this was more rewarding than any bot could ever do - but to get to this point, my post needed to be visible and that's where the bot most probably helped.
Sure, I would like to reach the point, at which my community is large enough, that my articles are hot/trending without the use of bots, but it is a long way to get there. I will always produce high-quality content, I am not here for quick money and cheap gains, but I will also use the available tools to make my content available for a broader audience :)
"Most people just dont want to search endless pages for new content - they mainly focus onto the hot/trending pages and that's it."
You would actually be surprised. Actually there are, especially in well established communities like science, gardening and writting :)
But yeah, my main problem isn't with the minnows. They usually throw 1-2 sbd per post on bots. Still, in the long term they damage themselves but only a little. But the main damage is done by people buying huge bids, just check the comment I up-voted to the top to get an idea :)
Overall, I still believe that bots won't help you much. Engaging more with the communities that actually interest you are where you will make 99 % of your real gains. Take for example some of your latest posts. The ones that are more succesful are the ones that have been supported by Steemstem. We never check the "hot" page. We always go for the "new" and check all posts one by one. Using a bot or not made no difference in one of the curators picking you up. And if your post had a huge bot upvote chances are we would have given you a smaller vote and thus you would have made a smaller profit. We like to keep things fair :)
I do believe that, but those are not the ones I'm aiming at with bids. They will find good content anyway, for me it's important to attract people outside of those established communities as well ;)
Agreed and I am already doing this. But to get a community, you need to be visible. People need to know, you exist, etc. You get my point^^ The guy with the top comment was not engaging with his community, as you said, and I agree with you, that ignoring meaningful comments is a bad idea. Trust me, I am always really grateful for the Steemstem-support. But that's a kind of support, I cannot always rely on. Sure, producing quality drastically increases the chance to get picked, but still it might not be always the case and without help, posts can easily get lost.Regarding your last sentences: You could look at things like this: If you give me a smaller vote, because I used a bot, that's fine by me, this will leave more VP for the people who can't afford or don't want to use bots ;)
As I said: I don't need to make much out of my bids, they are a way of investment to increase the growth.
I can absolutely understand your point, that bots can be harmful if abused, especially if they are pushing bullshit and spam. I just think, that, like always in life, things are not black and white :)