I'm with you on upvoting, and I agree that you shouldn't use your vote exclusively on your own content.
The bots I'm torn on. Yes, properly used, they are a very cheap form of advertising (much better than paying to boost posts on facebook), and that's clearly in keeping with Steemit's unflinchingly capitalist ethos.
However, have you seen some of the stuff that ends up trending due to purchased upvotes from bots - if not on the main page, then in specific tags? Before you say it, I know this isn't a meritocracy, and no one steemian gets to be the arbiter of 'good' content. But people creating really great content sometimes fail to get recognition/rewards, and at the same time, anyone with money to burn can get on the trending page.
I'm totally with you. It's not fair and yes, it's not different to any other platform, where only paid content gets seen. I don't like that either, but I surrendered to play by these rules, changing them wherever I can by providing what my readers think is good content.
I would never post some shitty meme I copied from Facebook and then promote it with bots. People do that, I know. The only thing I/we can do, is play by the rules, while trying to provide the good content, that this platform and the real people behind it deserve. I see no other way at the moment...