Steemit - Unraveling the "Controversy"
In reply to my Good Intentions post, @mandelsage wrote the following:
...But the post mostly got me thinking about my actions here on Steemit... I used to use Smartsteem to buy votes, and tried bidbot out once or twice)... I have since stopped and feel very happy about it... The votes I've been getting since have all been "organic". And THEN, I noticed, you use bots, lol.... What are your thoughts on the controversy? How do you justify using a system that many people have pointed out is bad for the platform in the long run?
Let me start by saying that the intent behind this writing is not to “justify” anything, that's not me. However, if someone (anyone) asks me a straightforward question, I usually reply, if I can.
Here is my reply...
“Many people”.... Which people are those? Users who are merely debating, and are themselves trying to figure things out? Or do you mean whales, which are themselves regularly making profits (and, for the record, there is nothing wrong with that either)?
Basically, there is no controversy. I am using the system, and I am feeding the system, and by that I mean Steemit. That is the system we are actually talking about and using, all else are parts or aspects of it. I have been feeding it from almost the start, and I don't mean just by posting quality, original content (artworks, stories, musings, etc.), but, one and a half months ago, I bought Steem.
That was the first step.
My upvote went up to about 10 cents or something. That's nothing.... so I invested another 1000 Euros, or so, and bought a Steem Power delegation.
Now let me tell you, that is NOT an advisable thing to do!
It means that I have a higher upvote for 3 months, and then it's gone! My thousand euros are gone.
It doesn't pay off...
Do you want to know how I look at it?
I can support those I want to support in a better way.
For 1000 Euros, I could possibly buy one piece of art, or maybe a couple of smaller things, maybe...
OR....
I could take that same amount and spread it across lots of artists (and others) and support them all a bit. Support them in that which they have chosen to do (which is to be here, on Steemit).
And why?
Because that's me. I have always done that.
I love art, I create art, I buy art. I have always supported the arts in various ways.
I already have a beautiful collection of artworks by other artists that I have accumulated over the years. Some I have bought, some were gifts.
Because that is what you do if you really love art.
Sometimes, whenever you can, you also buy it.
And still, despite of investing 1000 Euros of my money into “the engine”, or actually more than that, when you consider my first investment into Steemit, I also bought actual art in this time, from artists who are on Steemit!
Twice!
Not to forget, by buying that Steem Power delegation. I mentioned, I am supporting Steemit and the Steem currency I am directly supporting the system itself.
So no, I don't see any controversy in my behavior. Like I wrote in my “good intentions” article, things are not always as they seem.
Now, to specifically answer the question regarding the usage of bots:
I am exploring and experimenting, I am trying things out,.. That is what I do.
When I am ready to share my thoughts and findings regarding that particular aspect of the system, because that's all it is, just a part of the whole, I will write an article, and share my conclusions with everyone.
Until then, there is no more to say.
Money doesn't mean so much to me. It has never been a prime motivator in my life, for anything. Not in some harder periods in my life, and now even less so ..., and so, the peanuts that can be earned here wouldn't be worth my while. That's not why I am here.
I care about other things.
Couple of months ago I was thinking to buy a delegation for a few weeks or so. Luckily I've made the math before so I avoided this mistake. I've also been playing with the voting bots for 2 weeks or so and used an Excel sheet to calculate the results only to find out that it's not worth it. It not only doesn't pay off but it's damaging the organic delegation. At the beginning there was at least the incentive to be visible in the Trending section. Now imagine you are watching a movie which is interrupted by ads every minute so you spend 95% of your time not watching a movie but ads. That's the Trending section today, so it's pointless to be present in "Trending" pretty much like it always was being in "Promoted".
To me the best way to support other artists and even the system itself is to stuck with organic delegation and to resteem good content. I believe this is the only way to grow the follower audience because it always is about humans interacting with our content, not bidbots. However, since many people believe they have to use them because everybody else does it, I have doubts that Steem will survive the consequences of the rise of bots. And especially when we see alternatives like EOS and ONO at the horizon it might be a good idea to power down to have money at hand to invest elsewhere and lookout for new networks that are more oriented towards meritocracy rather than plutocracy.
In another words: Don't buy delegation, don't sell delegation to bidbots, don't use bidbots, don't upvote content that has been already upvoted by bidbots, create best possible content, upvote and resteem good content, interact only with real people.
And yeah, I'm always amused to hear from people saying they are not here because of money! :-)
It sounds like you may have used a more mathematical approach when evaluating this particular option (bots etc.). My criteria, or measuring standards, or... no idea what to call it... is different, which is why other people's opinions, no matter who they are, don't help me. It simply doesn't provide me with the information I seek.
So I must try it out for myself.
Still, thanks for sharing your insights on this matter!
And yeah, as for the money comment, looking at the existing replies here, it seems enough has been already said on that topic.
Why are you amused by that? Everybody has their own reasons for beeing on Steemit. Some people might be here for the money, some may look at Steemit as a game and some might just be using Steemit as a social plattform, where they don't have the irritations of the big social networks and where they can start anew. I think it is perfectly normal to be on Steemit for other reasons.
There are certainly a few people who are here just to interact with their friends, family and so on. But as soon as you click on Redeem Rewards (Transfer To Balance) you are here also because of that revenue, regardless what you intend to do with it .
It‘s becoming more interesting.
When I came, my reason was not money. Some people close to me know that, as I even had a correspondence on that matter. :)
But, in my ignorance of that how the system works, I was making some mistakes not being aware that these influence other people, and not for good. Of course I didn’t like that, as those are people whose work I admire. So, just because of that I was shown how to use Redeem Rewards (Transfer To Balance) , so that, when I want and like to recognize somebody’s work, this at least should bring them that little something what I was worth in steem at that moment.
So, yes, as many people, as many reasons. We all have our right to choose and encounter everything what comes along with that.
I've been trying to find the time today to reply properly to this and finally came here to do just that, when I read your comment and found that it perfectly encapsulated what I wanted to get across, hehe.
@anibas - I sense a bit of indignation in your post and please accept my apologies, I didn't mean to come across as so critical (the word justify was not exactly what I meant) but I'm glad now because it has created a forum for us to discuss this more. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment so thoroughly.
As @gric says, it's all about the survival of the Steemit platform. @tarazkp wrote about this excellently in this post and I simply chose not to be part of it. I agree that using bots when your content is good quality is better than spam-posting and exploiting the bot system to upvote that... But it's like vegetarianism. I don't eat meat even if I know the meat is "organic" from a grain-fed, free-roaming cow because that does nothing to help the terrible system of suffering we have in place at the moment.
So I'd rather get my votes from real people by interacting in communities and help build these communities even if I could be using the bot/vote-buying system for my benefit because in the long run, if everyone does that, Steemit will die and we'll all lose.
Adding this here (and moving it to the top) as a sort of memo for myself, and as an additional reference.
From a text written ny @whatsup, upvoted and resteemed by @timcliff, both users who have been here a long time and helped shape the system with their participation.
(This is only in reference to the numbers/harmfulness and nothing else.)
" Money doesn't mean so much to me. It has never been a prime motivator in my life, for anything. Not in some harder periods in my life, and now even less so ..., and so, the peanuts that can be earned here wouldn't be worth my while. That's not why I am here.
I care about other things. " - These words touch me lots 😟 you are the exceptional one.
But Money is of course a motivation. But everyone cannot be treated the same way. We know that each human psychology would have different aspirations and when an organization is an assortment of many such varieties.
Money is important for someone who has a need of survival however, there could be a need of knowledge, power, and larger aspirations, professional and linked up personal goals and money can surely not play any significant role there. It could rather backfire.
Thank you, you probably mean this as a compliment, but I don't think I am exceptional in that regard. I have met enough people for whom money isn't the prime motivator.
Why?To accumulate money and look at it? Spend time with it? Talk to it? :)
People don't want money, they usually want the things they think money will get them.
Survival in society...., you mean that, yes?
It is still possible to survive without money as well, but only if you are completely outside of society.
People who don't depend on society and society's rewards are harder to control, so that is one of the reasons why that sort of life is being transformed into more and more of a challenge, and made to look less and less appealing.