Bidbots and other ways that you are being screwed
Bidbots
I am sure all of you have seen people talking about bidbots on the blockchain. Some people are for them, some are against them. Most of them are wrong!
Bidbots, like @minnowbooster, @booster, @sneakyninja, exist so that you can pay money to get an upvote on your post. They market themselves as a way to market your own posts, pushing them up into trending. Thus, allowing more users to see the content and getting you more upvotes.
While this might be true, the real nature of bidbots are never revealed publicly. Their sole purpose is to profit from your hard earned sbd, and to take away profit from everyone else.
How does this work? Simple!
You pay 2sbd for a vote that will net you 2sbd at the time of purchase. But as we know, markets change. Thus, you are gambling with the fact that steem will stay at the same price for your 7 day waiting period. Yes, by using bidbots, you are gambling!
Furthermore, steem is designed so that all the users have to decide whether the content you post is worth upvoting. If you aren't naturally getting upvotes, chances are, your content sucks. Buying upvotes aren't going to make your content any better.
PLUS, and this one is the most IMPORTANT, every time you buy an upvote, you are stealing from everyone else on the blockchain! Steem payouts work according to a reward pool. A limited amount of steem is created everyday and split up between all the posts and comments that have been upvoted.
If you're buying a 40sbd upvote, that's 40sbd less for the rest of us. So by using bidbots, you are a thief. And you will be labeled as such by me.
So stop using bidbots. Allow people to decide whether they like your content or not. If you want to market your content, do it the right way. Post it on twitter, facebook, discord, etc. Talk to people about it. Create a following. And be cool.
Minimum SBD payout
When I first came onto steemit, I didn't have this problem. But recently I have noticed that it has become a thing. The minimum payout has been set to 0.02 sbd. If your posts and comments don't get more than this, your payout is automatically set to ZERO.
Why is this a problem?
When you first start out on the blockchain, you have a delegated share of around 15 SP. Which gives you around 0.002 SBD voting worth.
You won't have any followers. And you will need a lot of luck to be seen. Meaning, your first couple of weeks on the blockchain won't get ANY payouts.
When I started, I built my SP by self-votes. I got my 0.002SBD every post and comment, and slowly I was able to build up my SP so that I no longer needed the delegated share that was given by steemit.inc.
YOU CANNOT DO THIS ANYMORE.
Why is this happening?
It's supposed to stop spam on the blockchain. I do not see how this stops spam. But that is the argument I've seen. In my opinion, spam isn't a problem. If it were a problem, then no social network would exist.
The only conclusion I can come to, is that the higher ups don't want new users to succeed here.
Savings account
Many of you have seen the savings account in your wallet. Not many of you have used it. Why would you? It serves no purpose.
Sure, it protects your sbd and steem from instant withdrawals by giving you a 3 day withdrawal period. But what good does that do you? If someone wants your money, they will get it anyway.
The purpose of any savings account is designed to give interest on investment. But because of greed, interest on SBD no longer exists on the blockchain. Interest rates have been set to 0 for months now. So it can rather be named a vault. You're better off saving your steem in a fiat savings account.
*It seems that you do however get interest on SP. So power up that SBD.
With ZERO interest, it is not a savings account, it is a mattress.
How can you fight this screwiness?
Stop voting for greedy witnesses! The top 20 witnesses are all screwing you by implementing these systems. Start voting for the people who want you to succeed. Definitely don't vote for @sircork because he's a liar and a thief.
Educate yourself
For bidbots, check how the reward pool in the whitepaper works and then use some common sense.
For checking the minimum sbd payout, check the source code here: https://github.com/steemit/devportal, or your own payouts.
For checking interest rates, check your wallet.
Great post! I’ve been using bod-bots sparingly, but I am probably gonna quit! I didn’t realize I am “stealing from everyone else on the blockchain.” Makes sense!
Good job! I will slowly bring awareness to this idea. Hopefully someday, vote buying will be a thing we tell our kids and grandkids. ;)
Thanks for the comment!
There are plenty of arguments on both sides of the fence regarding bid bits, while many do not like them they are now so established it is unlikely they will be stopped.
#thealliance
I agree, the only way to get them to stop is to make people realise how much harm they are doing by using them.
I keep seeing these portrait sketches. They are really cool. Is someone on steem doing them?
@bridget.art did this one, it was actually a reward for being a supportive follower of hers - but I send here some steem so I can freely use it which only seemed far. She is a wonderful artist, but struggles to get he content viewed because I think she works so hard on her art she struggles to keep up the community aspect of Steemit.
Hopefully you can make it to the party at my discord channel STEEMTOPIA in 45 minutes!!! (8 pm UTC) Grab a seat and make yourself at home! SBD giveaways, new featured artists and writers, games, and more!
Excellent post, I do have some constructive criticism though.
This post gives me a fever and the only cure is more cowbell. What I mean by that is that the statements made need sources for the information.
I know what you are saying is true, but do others? I am sure you have done your research, but by sourcing the information and statements would help to give credence to your statements, i.e., proof that those statements are indeed facts.
All in all a good post! You got my nickel and a resteem.
Have a great day, every day! Blessings and groovy vibes are my wishes for you and yours.
Sarge (Sargento) @sgt-dan
The problem with that is, there is no official document that states any of it. Aside from how the reward pool works. Everything else is just hear-say from other posts exactly like this. And if I quote the source code, nobody would be able to understand it anyway. But the source code is open to everyone, so if you want to check it out and sift through lines of code, you are welcome to.
I suppose the fact that non of this is stated in an official document is another way that we are being screwed!
Can't hurt to add the link, but just a thought. We do have some nerdy types in here that read code like a magazine.
The term hear-say does not invoke trust nor would it hold up in any court legal or in a court of public opinion.
exactly, that's why I don't include it. If someone wants to know whether what I've said is true or not, they can look into it the same way I did.
For checking the minimum sbd payout, check the source code, or your own payouts. I don't know how to link directly to the source code, however. But the tech savvy can check it out here https://github.com/steemit/devportal
For checking interest rates, check you wallet. lol.
For bidbots, check how the reward pool works and then use some common sense.
Now if you add this towards the end of your post:
* For checking the minimum sbd payout, check the source code here: https://github.com/steemit/devportal, or your own payouts. * For checking interest rates, check your wallet. lol. * For bidbots, check how the reward pool works and then use some common sense. Your post would have all the cowbell it needs!Lol. It's in the comments now. So they can find it. The pros already know everything I said is true, though. It's only the layman who doesn't. And I hope they will comment if they disagree with something so I can put them on the right path.
#edit. Second thoughts, let me put it in the post for the lazy people who dont read comments
From the FAQ:
What is considered spam or abuse?
Kinda makes me wonder how many who make such decisions have actually read the FAQ.
LOL. Yeah exactly!
Very informative! I just met you on @crazybg's podcast today.
I have to say, very well put. However, I think there are plenty of awesome content creators who get squat. That's no secret.
I agree. But using bidbots aren't going to bring awareness to those creators.
I've been checking bidbot posts recently because people think bidbots are tools for promotion, and aside from the already established creators, those posts only get 5 - 20 views within the payout window.
So bidbots as promotion tools really aren't effective.
I think the most effective way to promote your content is the good old fashioned way. Meet people, make them like you, and sell them your idea.
Or in my case, meet people, annoy them until they want to kill you, and then give them a hug! :)
Thanks for the comment.
That's awesome. Well, that is definitely one way to get noticed around here! And frankly, I say it's a good method. I like strong opinions.
Hopefully you can make it to my party at my discord channel STEEMTOPIA in 45 minutes!!! (8 pm UTC) Grab a seat and make yourself at home! SBD giveaways, new featured artists and writers, games, and more!
oh shit. sorry. i completely forgot and got busy with other stuff. i'll catch the next one, i promise!
No worries! I'll actually be doing a weekly show on Steemstar Network. About the same time. I'll run it through discord, so stay tuned for the update. If you're not following me already, probably a good time to start. I'll be doing these kinds of things regularly.
excelent post
I love this post, thank you for sharing @stephanus.
On the other hand voting bots keep people serious about steem even if they're keeping their cash in SBD not in steem power, it essentially introduces a medium term investment that's not as long as SP, has some manual rules that can be managed by the providers, and gets people that arent producing content to produce content that they're confident enough to invest a bot vote in.
It gives you the power to wield the force of the upvote before you have the steem power to do so, which helps nutralise the damage caused by blockchains mostly belonging to early miners.
If Voting bots did not exist, we would be completely at the whims of whatever whales, who would probably then rather vote themselves through some scheme than let the power allow some minnows to also grow with the network.
There's even more sides to the situation on political levels public relations levels etc and many opinions have valid reasons for existing, I'm just adding information to the discourse.
Very nice post you have my well earned support.
(oh yeah and there's school of minnows where you don't have to pay for your votes)
those who know, know
By using bidbots, for whatever reason, you are bypassing the consensus algorithm. You aren't allowing people to decide whether your service is worth upvoting. You are paying one person (owner of bidbot) to make you seem more important than you are.
If you aren't here to create content for this blockchain, and instead for another reason, be it designing bots or building communities, you can still write a post explaining that, and allow people to pay you for that service with upvotes. If people aren't paying you for that service, then the service probably isn't needed.
Buying votes is not investing in the blockchain. You are investing in one person. And you are doing this to gain undeserved traction in an otherwise fair system.
The blockchain is free, so you can be as scummy as you want without the fear of being banned or censored by the blockchain. But by gaming the system, you are being scummy. You are stealing from the reward pool and eventually the entire community will catch up with you.
On youtube your worth is calculated by the amount of views you get, and the amount of followers you have. It is possible to buy views and followers. But doing so will result in a permanent ban from the service. You will get called out by the entire youtube community. And your name will be plastered all over the internet. Steem is still new, the users are not yet as advanced as those on youtube. But they will get there eventually.
Thanks for your comment. I hope you will change your mind about abusing the system.
I feel the consensus algorithm that keeps everybodies wallets in tact is still in tact...
Yes you can write posts about what you're up to, everyone has a strategy to grow, everyone is free to do as they please. I wouldn't say its right to decide what services are needed and what aren't free services could be more needed than paid ones.
Yes you could say that buying votes is unfair, some have a different opinion about it, I feel neutral about it myself instead of having a strong opinion. I don't agree that the system is otherwise fair at all, it favors early miners and especially early members to a degree that its not accurately scaled to actual contribution, and paid votes actually help rectify that, many many successful users on steem use some paid votes to make their accounts mean something.
Paid upvotes are not necessarily gaming the system in my opinion, its your opinion which is fair and fine but it's not really that cut and dry in the bigger picture. There are a lot of strong contributing members on steem that use services to help promote their posts and some of the more benign services like minnowbooster.net help make abuse less profitable.
The subject is completely debatable, I understand your feelings, and every user is a share holder on steem and is allowed to decide, as a shareholder, what is fair and what isn't.
I feel that you have valid points that should be shared, but saying that I should change my mind about abusing the system is misleading and inaccurate.
Personally I think if avoidable you should avoid paid votes, and if you can make more money though any other means you should probably not use paid upvotes, which are generally not all that profitable, but it is the fastest way for a minnow to grow in SP when the price of steem is down and get their well written posts noticed.
Experiments like our school of minnows service are directly designed to defray the need for paid upvotes and start a snowball effect that make paid upvotes eventually less profitable than not paying for upvotes.
This is because I have identified paying for votes as an ethical problem on steem, where the profit actually end up empowering the delegators and services more than the person paying for the vote, being aware of this aspect I designed a system that does not need whale delegation to perpetuate and you don't lose what you've earned in exchange for a vote.
Time will tell if we can outrun paid voting services, the best thing you can probably do for the network as a whole is to stop paying for those votes, but if that causes delegators to withdraw and then just vote themselves that would cause very much the same problems, so if we can cause movements on steem that give good users a foothold, we should be using them as best we can.
I take my hat off to your ability to create a voice in any situation, regardless of the accuracy of the content ;)
Let's work together and create an environment where we don't need to depend on upvote services at all.
Good job! I have changed your mind about it, it seems. I guess guilt tripping does work. I've made other posts about bidbots too. I've never before tried to create a stigma around it though. But I feel that stigmas are the only way that people listen. You know I'm all for your school. It serves a great purpose imo. But bidbots seriously effect the platform and we should do everything possible to make people realise that they are bad over all. Even self votes are more justifiable. Because people are using their own stake to profit. And im sure that you agree that people should be allowed to do whatever they want with their stake. Just like people should be allowed to call them out about it (which they do). With bidbots people mostly keep quiet, because SO many people use them. Grumpycat, bless his black heart, is the only person I've seen who actively fights against them.
Totally agree haha lets hope better group services like school of minnows can take down bidbots in the long run. :)
Your Post Has Been Featured on @Resteemable!
Feature any Steemit post using resteemit.com!
How It Works:
1. Take Any Steemit URL
2. Erase
https://3. Type
reGet Featured Instantly & Featured Posts are voted every 2.4hrs
Join the Curation Team Here | Vote Resteemable for Witness
Congratulations @stephanus! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
To support your work, I also upvoted your post!
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP