Even here on Steemit: More Money = Greater Success.

This is not a whinge post, but rather an observation of what I have seen recently, and the storm that seems to be brewing. What you do today can, and will affect Steem and Steemit tomorrow.

There seems to be a few powerful people here on Steemit taking a look at various accounts gaming the systems by buying delegation and votes. They're targeting the people who are gaming the system by buying delegation and then spending all their new power on themselves to pay for and profit from that delegation. I looks like there is a flag storm brewing, and new friends and enemies a bound to be made, with potential for some innocent bystanders to get caught up in the crossfire.

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Who's Really to blame!

Are we really to blame the abusers for finding a way to make an easy buck out of something the system allows? It's a free system, and the mechanisms are in place to allow this to happen, so why blame them for taking advantage of it? Shouldn't we all just mind our own business and get on with it?

I we have to blame someone, shouldn't we also be blaming the accounts who delegate for money, make huge profits, and don't care about what that delegation is used for? It's the whole users vs dealers problem. The responsibility surely should be equally apportioned to both the delegatee, AND delegator equally. If you're delegating to accounts that are using your SP for exclusively their own game, aren't you just adding to the problem? Unfortunately in many cases the only way to combat the unscrupulous delegators is by attacking their crooked customers, because the delegators are too powerful, or can't be touched.

Should the system be changed to disallow self upvotes from delegated Steem Power, or at least limit self upvotes to 4% of voting power per day (2 x 100% self upvotes)? Do we really want to lock down the system?

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What about the bots?

Sure, there are buy bots, bid bots, community bots, upvote trails, which all rely on a collection of delegated Steem Power to have the ability to upvote multiple posts from multiple accounts. This has become part of the Steemit ecosystem. The difference is that these bots and trails spread their upvotes over hundreds, if not thousands, of different accounts, and many of them struggle to break even, let alone make any profit for the person maintaining the account.

Regardless of whether you are delegating you Steem Power to individuals, or to community bot accounts, the responsibility to delegate your Steem Power to an account which is upholding certain standards you believe in, lies solely with you. If you delegate to a project or person, you are in fact endorsing their practices and what they are using your Steem Power for, regardless of whether you get paid for it or not.

So have a careful think about who you are delegating to, and what your Steem Power is being used for on the account you are considering delegating to. Not all earnign stream are to the benefit of Steemit in the long term. It appears there are those looking for short-term gains, at the expense of long-term success of the platform, while others are trying to put their Steem Power to good use by delegating to various community-building bots.

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But are Bots really that bad?

Some would say "All bots are bad!"

I would argue that bots are neither good nor bad; it's the people behind the bots which dictate what the bots do, and so the people controlling the bots are either good or bad. Let's look at two just types..

Community bots

A Community bot is like an oasis, when people of common interests or background can gather and get a bit of support from each other. Community bots give a small, but steady supply of water that the community needs to engage with one another, and go out to grow their experiences on Steemit. By community members delegating to their community bots, they are automatically supporting each other more than they would be able to do on their own. These bots don't necessarily earn a lot of wealth in a short time, but rather build wealth slowly the more they support their community, and the more their community supports them. Some of these bots even run at a loss for a while before they get big enough to be self-sufficient. These community bots usually have requirements which need to be met, in terms of community involvement, support, and post quality. Their is a sense of accountability in belonging to a community. Bad members generally get kicked out of communities where they do not meet their obligations, and so lose support of the community bot as well.

Bid Bots

Bid bots make money out of people buying their votes, in most cases regardless of the content or quality of the post. Often these bid bots buy large delegations or are run by accounts who have invested large sums of money in Steemit, and want a good return on their investment. This is an area which is difficult to argue for or against, because the reason for buying upvotes is usually to try to get exposure on the hot or trending feeds, which are otherwise filled by posts from big accounts upvoting themselves and being automatically upvoted by their powerful friends through voting trails. This is a cultural problem, as well as a system problem. If there was no demand, there would be no bots.

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Welcome to the "Real World" right here on Steemit

Steemit is an environment driven by the quest for financial success and recognition against a system which is biased in favour of the rich... just like out there in the real world! It takes money to make money. When you look down from the top it doesn't look so bad, but looking up from below is a different story.

Steemit is no different to what happens in our everyday lives out in the real world. Surely you didn't expect anything different!! There are good, bad and ugly and beautiful people right here on Steemit. We just have to find where we fit in, and get on with it.

The responsibility to make Steemit a better place starts with you and what you do in your immediate surroundings and communities on Steemit. One of those responsibilities is how you delegate your Steem Power, and what activities you are endorsing by doing so. I encourage you to review where you are delegating your Steem power, and the reasons you are delegating the way you are. What you do with your Steem Power is entirely your choice, but it is also your responsibility to ensure a strong future for this platform.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this post. If nothing else, I hope it got you thinking about where you would like to see Steemit in the long term, and what you can do to help promote a better Steemit.