RE: Steemit Upvote Bots: Are They Ethical, Useful, or Even Profitable?
I tried an upvote bot on a few posts, and while I do understand their potential ROI value, it's basically a "get what you pay for" model. I understand that, maybe if you used enough upvote bots, you might make it to trending or hot on a particular tag, but definitely not on any of the major tags (like steemit). Those are basically the same people everyday, upvoted by themselves or whales. And since discoverability on Steemit is horrendous at the moment, it's pretty unlikely that you'll gain much additional value beyond what the upvote bot will give you.
In that manner, I didn't like that it just felt like a transaction. Playing the same games as all the whales, but at such a small scale that it just felt sad. And at it's worst, you're propagating the oligarchy of Whales. Some of these accounts could be connected to other users, and they simply funnel a portion of those profits to another user. Not to mention the fact that many of these bots also get curation rewards for the upvote that you paid for (likely more than you paid them). Basically they figured out that they can forgo creating content, get the same curation rewards without actually reading anything, and get paid to do it. Pretty corrupt imho.
Maybe this will all work itself out in time, but in order to do that, the people who are profiting off this system will have to want to make a change, which will only happen if growth slows and new users abandon the platform thus driving the value of Steem/SBD down.
That said, great posts (sincerely). Wish there was more good content like on here, or at least it was easier to find amongst all the nonsense.
Those are some great points. I personally have not had a negative ROI on any of my posts that have been upvoted but I know that this is possible. And I agree that we could have better functions on the site that allowed us to connect with other like-minded users. I suppose we’re still in Beta so many of the improvements we’re looking for are still to come.
I am curious how you found me though? Was it through a tag search or Google search? I’ve only been on Steemit for 2 weeks and have connected with some awesome people. I’ve also gained over 120 followers in that time which I think is pretty incredible. So I personally haven’t had any issue connecting with people but I know this can be improved.
Also I should mention that I regularly get upvotes from people with large accounts who enjoy my content. I’m thankful for the “whales” who support the newbies. And I plan to do the same as my account grows.
I believe it was through @exyle. He made a video about his app Steemify, and I think he mentioned you in that video, as someone that reviewed his app (which you did). Although I could be remembering wrong, lol.
Do you use the Busy.org interface? If so, you can see the people that voted for you at what % and the value that translates to. Super helpful for understanding stability of earnings. That's what worries me more than anything. If you look at many trending posts or videos, you can see that a massive percentage of the value comes from just a handful of accounts. And if those whales stop supporting you, then your income is really in trouble.
You've seen DavidPakman's posts I'm sure. Here's the breakdown:
All but $13 comes from 5 accounts. Awesome for him now. But not a scalable model for the platform. And on top of that, those 5 people, ESPECIALLY thejohalfiles basically can handpick the trending section.
Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah I made a video about his app and how I'm using it. Cool! That's actually a great example of how to get recognized on here, even though that wasn't my purpose with the video at all. But I learned a valuable lesson with what happened with @exyle and @blockbrothers. Get the attention of the whales and it can be very rewarding. As Gary Vee always says, if you want to get ahead then do something for others expecting nothing in return. That's really what happened there and was a great experience.
And yeah I've been using Busy.org the last few days. I actually made a video on that as well. And you're right, it wouldn't be a long-term strategy to depend on a select few accounts to keep the income coming. I agree 100%. That's why I am trying to help people understand the importance of good quality and valuable content. Plus, interaction with your followers. That's why I like to dig deep into my comments as much as possible and speak directly to my followers.
In my eyes, the old rules of blogging apply here. If you want to be successful you'll build a loyal following by providing them what they want and developing a relationship with those people. Using upvote bots only works for so long and only to a certain degree. And it certainly won't provide you with a stable income stream for the future. I hope nobody is trying to go that route.
Great points, my friend. I really appreciate the feedback and discussion!