Now let's talk bots, people!
Get a multiple $ upvote, get resteemed to a large community of active users, get followers like crazy - all this and much more comes creeping in with those small transaction memos that you receive from time to time.
This is not the thing I usually post about, my normal stuff is about gaming, I will shill one of my posts below, so you will get the idea in case you are a guest here.
A trip back to 2001 in gaming history (Part 1)
But now what about those bots - I'm quite new here and as soon as I heard about them I was like "ugh...", "that's so lame" and so on...
Just recently I've stumbled on a post that goes something like "Anatomy of a hot page post" and it became a surprise for me that hardly anything reaches those pages without bot input.
So here I am asking this, what are you in for? Is it the money that you want to make, is it the idea that you want to get exposure for or are you not even certain of that yet?
This is one for those who were around for some time already, have you used any bots and if so - did that give you the result you hoped for?
Did you use bots because you had some plan in mind or you did that just because "everyone does"?
And one for everyone else - if you haven't used one and you are in here not only to get $$, but see that more of a pleasant side effect - are you planning to use them going forward and if so why?
I'm not really trying to put anyone in "the spot" here, I think that either way it's cool, but the idea is to get a general understanding and a reflection of how the community sees it.
Thanks for your time, peace out!
I used to use bots quite frequently, but quit about five months ago. I think there's some value to using them when you're smaller and haven't built up a significant following just yet, but there's also a certain point where you're basically just throwing money away. There were plenty of times I barely broke even, and many times when I lost money on the transaction.
Once I found @steembasicincome and started sponsoring others, I quit using upvote bots entirely. 10 Steem invested into the SBI initiative will, over time, pay off far, far more in reliable dividends than 10 Steem or SBD sent to a bid bot like @randowhale or @booster.
I consider @minnowpond an exception to this rule, as they almost always deliver more bang for the buck, but I'm sitting on over 1,000 Steem Power right now so I'd rather let the smaller fish get their nibbles in. :)
For the most part you can ignore the memo bots that bombard you as soon as you post something new. I tried one or two just for shits and giggles, and while they do resteem your content to a ton of followers, there are very few actual humans behind those accounts. The ones that promise upvotes are nice if you're trying to boost your reputation, but if you want to see the overall effect, just go to their pages and see how much the posts they resteem are worth at the end of seven days. It ain't worth the cash. They're not scams, per se, but I certainly don't see any return on investment there.
The single best way to build yourself up on this platform that I have found is to write content that gets noticed by others. Consistently producing high-quality material will put you on @curie's radar, and the resultant dogpile of upvotes will blow both your reputation and your earnings through the ceiling. Joining @qurator is another great way to get added earnings, but their requirements to join can be hard to meet depending on what you like to produce. If nothing else, send 'em 4 Steem and see what happens -- worst case scenario, they refund you in a few days with an invitation to their chat server to discuss how you can improve your chances of getting in. Best-case scenario, you get yourself a lifetime's worth of upvotes. It's win/win.
Hope that helps, @emtecks. I can't wait to see what others chime in with. :)
Thanks, those are surely worth checking out. My initial impression about bots was that dealing with a bot is like letting a traveling vacuum cleaner salesman into your house. But as you mentioned and as I've seem among other users, that's something that is worth looking at if you are looking at the right one
I'm in it to get a dialogue going because the comments over at other platforms are barely coherent.
This user is plagiarizing your post:
https://steemit.com/money/@diegolxst/bots-bots-and-bots-be-careful-people
I don't think paying for upvotes does anything at all for an author besides boost REP. Some people claim that you get more exposure if you pay for upvotes, and I guess that is true if you pay for enough to actually trend in your tag(s), but even then you see posts with huge bot payouts that have basically no organic earnings and no real comments from real humans.
Far and away the best way to grow your account is by commenting. When you are starting out and your own follower count is small, your posting won't be seen by many people. Find better established posters on similar topics that you are interested in and leave thoughtful, intelligent comments that actually add something to the discussion. Not only can a newer account usually earn more from commenting in this way than from posting, but it also gets you noticed by readers who are interested in your topics. BTW to be clear, I am absolutely 100% not suggesting to ask other authors to check out your posting in your comments.
I did use bidbots briefly, during the time when SBD skyrocketed as a result of being introduced to Korean crypto exchanges. I did profit a bit from using them, but I didn't gain any real audience as a result, so I quickly saw that they were not going to be a long-term solution. Best-case scenario, you're paying for the right to gain reputation faster than you might otherwise.
But these days, reputation is meaningless. Get the wrong whale "triggered" and your reputation level drops to negative numbers in a flash -- even if you had the support of 1000+ other minnows and redfish. There are quite a few folks out there with high reputation levels, who absolutely deserve to be in the negatives based on some of the scummy/scammy stuff they've done on Steemit.
I agree with @modernzorker about using @steembasicincome -- SBI is better than a bidbot any day of the week.
upvote for me please? https://steemit.com/news/@bible.com/2sysip