Hey man - that's some great growth - I was like you when it came to bots in the beginning - refused to use them - the one benefit I can see is helping visibility because posts with a higher value get seen / rank better in hot and trending - You add a bit to your post in the hopes that it trends better which will bring In more organic votes.

Return on investment plays a part - bots / their owners have done the math and figured out how to give you a profit based on the amount you bid for a vote - sometimes you can loose a bit - but again there is a hope "organic" traffic will counter your loss.

I use them but never more than 10-15sbd - but on average 1 or less - the lower bot uses are for shitposts or throw away content - like photo challenges - the higher bids are for writing / posts I spend more time on - where I hope to secure some kind of profit - wheather it's followers or a boost in post value.

I can't stand seeing posts with hundreds of dollars in bot votes - but when money comes into play there will always be people that abuse the system. Tell me how a post about someone's fucking lunch with 12 words and a blury picture from a 7 year old smart phone is worth 200.....

I also think it has something to do with "the fear of missing out" or bandwagoning - people see something with value or traction and they want to join the team / be a part of it.

I've never put real money (usd/ cdn/ Euros) into anything here all money used to promote was earned on steemit / dtube - it all changed with my first big vote - I rolled it over into 50/50 steempower and sbds for promotion. You got a Dtube vote a while back - when it pays out make it count - I've got strategies worked out - testing till the end of May.

Are you on discord? If so add me and I can give you some more tips / we can chat -