It's a difficult one. I have used bots a couple of times as a newcomer to try to gain some exposure on some content I've put a lot of work into. Sadly, the ROI ended up being negative anyway, but I certainly understand the appeal of trying to boost one's earnings when you're starting out.

Abuse is a major issue for a platform like Steemit. Sadly, it is apparent that there are accounts with large amounts of SP that simply vote within a very small circle, ignoring the rest of the community. I think this is one of the reasons minnows look for other ways to try to get their foot on the ladder somewhat.

Everyone is hoping to see a whale or two upvote them with a large % of voting power, but there is a lot of competition for those votes these days as more and more people enter the platform. I do think something needs to be done about abuse of the system. GrumpyCat, although rather antagonistic, has helped a lot by forcing bots to cap at 3.5 days.