Fighting spam, dealing with losers, and why no one gives a fuck

If you haven't heard of the @buildawhale blacklist, then let me know what island you live on as I can use a vacation.

I spend 10-60 hours a week researching, identifying, and punishing spammers, plagiarists, fraud, and abuse. I do this because I don't want my bot to reward these type of users, nor do I want this platform to have any more of this garbage than it already has.

As I have said before, this is a never-ending thankless job, but most people don't know to what extent I mean and how hopeless it is.

The last few days have been especially exciting. If you would indulge me, let me take you on a journey.

I've said this a few times, so I'll be brief. @buildawhale was built to offer promotion services, discourage spam, and reward quality authors. Much of my spam fighting has been done in the dark behind the scenes but was made public due constant claims that bid bots promote spam and don't care about what they vote on.

Since then, I have devoted a large portion of my time to find and identify these users, stop them from using my services, and try to get their delegation removed and cease their ability to sustain their activities.

I have been very public about this activity so it is crystal clear where I stand. I truly believe one of the biggest issues that need to be resolved on Steem is how easy it is to abuse the system and how many are. It harms the credibility and value of our investment. Left uncheck the platform cannot thrive much less survive.

Here are some examples since I have been here.
Steemit creates accounts for scammers... and nobody else?

How to make $175,000+ USD a year posting YouTube videos

Why Ginabot rocks and catching another plagiarist

Just another day on Steemit, why I feel helpless

128 Account Spam Network Lobotomized

Plagiarist about to walk off with $2,800 less than 8 hours to act, I did my part

[UPDATED] Plagiarist with multiple $600+ posts, should I remove our vote or just blacklist?

Spammer going to spam all @buildawhale users in retaliation for blacklist

Thousands of dollars in rewards recovered to the reward pool

@buildawhale will no longer take bids for dmania

Uncovering and blacklisting a massive spammer with over 50 accounts

Why I am blacklisting @trevonjb from using @buildawhale

The frustration and difficulty of fighting spam on Steemit

Having a blacklist, spending hours researching and finding proof of plagiarism and spam is about the worst thing I could possibly do as a bot owner. Spammers are the best customers on the platform, and no one wants to pay for it or even spend the time. Having our blacklist has dramatically reduced our bidding windows, and has costed me far more in time and headaches. (Before someone takes this out of context, this is just a fact, it is not my position.)