id like to give a point of view from someone who uses bots. I am an artist/writer who puts a lot of effort into my original content. Every post I put up features original artwork. Unfortunately if I didn't use bots I wouldn't get seen at all. So much content is getting produced by users like you pointed out who post nonstop all day and then use bots themselves that even after using multiple bots I am lucky to get two or three views from non-bot users. And yes, I am actively upvoting and commenting on other people's work.
Do I find this discouraging or surprising? Not at all. As a studio artist the past 15 years have been a desperate struggle with very few rewards to just get a venue where one's creativity can be witnessed. It costs money in real world art shows to get one's work displayed, and it's only the lucky few who turn profit.
As far as profiting off of bots, I can say I am not. You can check my wallet and see all the transfers from outside exchanges it takes to keep my account fueled.
So what tools do we have left?
I put 15 SBD into post promotion for my curation bulletin (featuring steemian minnows I feel deserve more) and it made it to the second page of the "promoted" section for an hour, gained no more votes, then vanished.
I am all for system reform in interest of fairness but when it comes to any social media I think it will always be a matter of everyone fighting for more visibility and using whatever available tools to get it.
Upvoted and followed. Thank you for taking the time to start a valuable conversation.