RE: What is appropriate use of upvote bots? A survey.
Well @inquiringtimes, I've read your post and read through all the comments, and I must say, you've got your work cut out for you here!
From what I see here, there are two distinct camps; one is hoping for a near-perfect world where people would use some common sense and use the bots when they've created something worthwhile. And yes, I realise that's all semantics because who then decides what 'quality content' means. This group also believes in the sheer quality that exists on this platform and the possibility for it to continue to grow, but with 'quality users' to go along with that 'quality content'. The second camp tends to lean towards the idea if you can't beat 'em, join 'em; not to abuse the system like 'they' do, but to earn something on your own quality content. This camp prefers to view the bots as a way to make well-deserved money, because after all, this is a job and in this world, we make money at our job and simply deserve it. If you don't like that someone is earning more, the beauty is that you too can work harder and earn more as well. I think the one general consensus everyone's agreeing with is that the people who post garbage and make piles of money on it simply because they are taking advantage of the voting bots shouldn't be allowed.
When I began on steemit just 2 months ago, I 'dabbled' in upvoting bots to try and figure them out. If I had a post that I deemed 'good quality', but because of my 'newness' hadn't received much from it, I tried to use the bots to basically "pay myself for a job well done". Other times, I tried them on some photos or posts that didn't take a lot of work, and felt like I had given myself a birthday present when it wasn't my birthday...not very deserving and I must admit, I didn't feel right about it. Or I had a post that was dedicated to my friend who was dying of cancer and all proceeds were going to her foundation....a very good reason to use a bot I think. I have since quit using them altogether now and will gauge my growth organically. I do believe in the power of quality posts, but more so, at my stage here, I believe in the power of commenting and developing community in the hopes of earning true followers who want to upvote my work. Time will tell, but I'll be very curious to see what you come up with here! Cheers:)
well it's certainly a tough predicament. There was a time when the bots actually proved to have a positive return on investment... but I think those times are over... which I hope is the case. if we have a paid, promotional service, it should even cost the user money for added visibility, rather than profit them as well as giving raised visibility. Ultimately, the free market will likely agree with that sentiment.
You are correct; sometimes I will just watch on steembottracker and see people at the very last minute place a huge bid and then basically ruin it for everyone because the return goes into the negative. I think people don't understand how it actually works. Or people placing bids when it's already in the negative! I do like your idea of a paid-for-system, and perhaps add a extra risk of some sort in the hopes of only the serious players engaging in it all. It's a tough one for sure; thanks for tackling it...and thank you for the response (I realised after the fact that I'd written a novella :)
Just finished reading your comment on my blog and came here to read the comments posted here. I must say a great comment! Would you please copy it and post as your own post? I think it will help you. It's a complete post anyway. Just add some imagery and headings and you are good to go!
Will do @ilyastarar! Thanks for the tip; I'll tag you in it as well, plus your post because it is so informative! (of course, @inquiringtimes survey as well!) Cheers and thank you again!
Thanks for posting about this @lynncoyle1, I got to open my eyes to the opinions here. We all have different strategies for growth and I chose organic growth like you do. It's more difficult but it pushes me to market myself in other ways like engaging myself in the community or joining post promotion activities in discord. I like that better because I get real connections and meet awesome people. And that's how we met!
And I agree with @ilyastarar especially in his point that these bots are useful if there's an urgent/important announcement.