Are upvote bots a necessary evil? The investors perspective
Since I have been on Steemit I have used and experimented with upvote bots and have sat on both sides of the fence in regards to whether they are a help or a hindrance. I don't really use them all that often, but recently read an article by @exyle which really made me think about how bots may actually be helping Steem grow. I highly recommend reading it and also reading the comments as there is some great discussion.
User perspectives on upvote bots
My reasoning for not liking upvote bots is that they artificially inflate the rewards of posts (especially those on trending), and it alters new users expectations - they think that is all profit, but alot of it was paid votes. I think this is one of a number of reasons why people come and go on Steemit so quickly. My reasoning is echoed by lots of new users who feel like they don't get any recognition and they only way to get your article seen is by paying for votes. Some people are fine with and accept it and move on, but alot don't feel right about having to pay for votes.
I also did an experiment with upvote bots and found that they aren't always (directly anyway!) profitable. An argument can be made that they get more eyes on your blog post and potentially more followers in the future.
I dabble in using bots from time to time (usually just @minnowbooster) as a way to ‘promote’ certain posts - usually longer posts I have put more time and effort into.
Investor perspective - a way to make passive income
Until reading the article I linked above by @exyle I hadn't thought about bots from the perspective of investors. People who invest FIAT into Steem want a way for their money to work for them - some are happy blogging and manually curating, but others want to invest and generate some passive income. The introduction of delegation has made this possible, where investors can delegate their Steem power to different projects (and upvote bots) and receive passive income in return.
There are loads of upvote bots (and other communities to which people delegate), but I imagine that larger investors are most interested in gaining the biggest rewards. I have nothing against this, as they can decide how they want to invest their stake.
It seems that for Steem to succeed and grow long term we need long term investors and quality content creators. Thus, my equation for Steem to succeed long term is:
motivated and quality content creators + investors = success
Looking forward
It seems that one of the major problems is not attracting investors, but having quality content creators who are motivated to stay on Steem.
Is it time that we become a bit more ‘strict’ about who can receive delegation and what it can be used for? Maybe new bots need to come up with a proposal for what they will use the delegation for and what quality controls they will have in place - we could vote on these initiatives like we do for witnesses. I think the owners of bots need to step up and take some responsibility and be more proactive blacklisting users who upvote complete trash or plagiarized material.
I know some bots are becoming more strict about what they upvote. Imagine if all bots checked every post and if they were plagiarized or complete trash they didn't upvote the post and didn't refund either. It would make people alot more careful when using bots. Obviously this wouldn't happen as this would be a move in the direction of being ‘centralised’, but the bot owners need to play a role.
Conclusion
Although not everyone believes in having upvote bots on Steem, they do provide opportunities for investors who are looking to earn passive income. Attracting more larger investors will help increase the value of Steem.
It seems that we need to find the balance between keeping content creators happy and attracting new users.
Let me know your thoughts!
I'm newish about 2 months and I eventually started using them because let's be honest doing this right you can get a ROI. I am a content creator and I believe my content is good and unique on the platform at the moment (dance & performing arts)
I mean let's be honest it's party of the ecosystem at the moment and if they can help you grow them you should use them.
I also agree that quality control needs to be put in place. For now we don't have enough active curators and the boys provide a valued service to those who use the.
Is a two sided sword tho with pros and cons. It might torn away new people who don't understand them but let's be honest it's part of the system so learn to use it.
At some point when the number of active users and big account curators is much larger then maybe we can ditch the bots. But for now I think we need them
That was exactly my reasoning for using them, and it works. The one thing I'll say is that using bidbots and buying votes definitely stops you from being curated by the big services like @curie. I'd never be curated when I was using the bidbot services, but since stopping a couple of months ago I've actually been curated a handful of times and earned more than I profited from bid bits. It's swings and roundabouts!
Hi John, I'm just curious why your bot is flagging my posts?
Hi there, unfortunately it isn't an account of mine, but a case of identity theft. I'll come upvote any content of yours that's been flagged by these accounts and is still in the payout window. You can read more about the situation here: https://steemit.com/steemit/@johngreenfield/abuse-fighter-steemit-doofus-league-accounts
I'm really sorry this has happened to you, although I do ask you leave these comments on my content not other peoples please.
Your balance is below $0.3. Your account is running low and should be replenished. You have roughly 10 more @dustsweeper votes. Check out the Dustsweeper FAQ here: https://steemit.com/dustsweeper/@dustsweeper/dustsweeper-faq
Sorry for the spelling mistakes. I'm on my phone and should really double check these things.
Stake owners have a right to use their stake how they want. If they don't wish to use it and wish to sell it instead that is up to them.
Crypto is odd to me in that so many other people feel they have the right to tell others how to handle their own investments and assets. I've really never seen this in any other culture I've been a part of.
I liken it to everyone who owns one share of Apple writing to Steve Jobs (before he passed) Telling him how to run the company.
While I acknowledge the bots impact content it is what it is.
Yeah i try aboid the argument of how people use their stake as much as possible - its not really any of my business. Unless there are rules people can do what they like and moaning about it wont help!
I have the exact same attitude!Great write-up mate, as always!
It's funny, since you first wrote about this topic a couple of months ago, I've gone from using bidbots for almost every post, to practically never using them. The only services I'll use now are @thundercurator and @treeplanter.
My reasoning for this, after speaking with some other people, is that buying votes both is putting large percentages of the available Steem and SBD into the hands of a few, as well as for the reasons you've brought up like inflating the value of payouts and damaging user expectations.
I recently went through my following list and had a massive cull (thanks for that advice by the way!), but the sad thing was I noticed around 2/3 of all the users on there were no longer active and hadn't been for months. Despite Steemits user base growth recently, I don't think the number of active users has really increased all that much, but that's a separate issue I guess.
I need to do more research, but I think the upcoming Hard Fork 20 removes bandwidth all together, which means that Steemit Inc. don't need to delegate to new users for them to use the platform. Honestly, I'm skeptical if this is gonna make any difference, as plenty of the SDL accounts had their delegation removed but they still continue. We'll see I guess!
This is my biggest gripe with bots - that there is not limit on how much votes can be bought and so new people think that the payouts on trending are profit. This is why people come and go so quickly in my opinion - they think it will be easy to atleats make a few hundres dollars but then make mere cents and so leave.
Yeah I do the same still with the culling of people I am following and sadly notice the same thing - really talented writers I have been following are just no longer posting -maybe its just not worth there time (I feel the same at times but just keep on Steeming!)
I dont know much about HF20 but I might research it and write a post about it in the future :)
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Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by conradt from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
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You got a plankton sized upvote from @worksinsane because your post appeared in the We Curate quality post search tool. It is a web art thingy thing that searches posts which fulfill predetermined rules. Upvoting isn't automated, @worksinsane reads posts before upvoting.
For more information read the latest post.
Thank you for supporting the #minnowuprising initiative. I am providing you an upvote to motivate your commitment to the #Steemit community! As the platform continues to expand, it is imperative that we come together and support each others content. It is a long process to become a minnow here but also a journey well worth taking as the knowledge and learnings achieved are beneficial for our personal growth as well as a step forward to improving our financial position. Please continue supporting the #minnowuprising initiative by posting content as well as curating and upvoting content of others.
I upvt u ,now your turn ,lets uplift each other
https://steemit.com/mgsc/@pawanain/2018-usd-50-000
If you continue to beg for upvotes, someone will eventually come along and flag you for comment spam. It's probably a good idea to stop before your reputation score is damaged.
No
From an investers perspective bots are totally a good idea. But for the quality of post it does get out of line. But that is almost in all eco-systems in the world. The things that benefit the one, and negative to the other
Yeah because there is no quality control it does make the content on here a bit of a mixed bag to be honest.
If you are already somewhat semi-famous then you can grow without them but if you aren't and if you aren't going to invest enough Fiat to get your account noticed then bots are almost a necessity due to Steemits current landscape. If this place is going to become a leading Social Media site then it needs to show that its possible for the average user to come on here and grow an account in a reasonable amount of time without fiat investment.
Dam I am not semi-famous!
Yeah I use the bots from time to time but not on all posts - I am starting to accept that maybe I should be - doesnt mean I have to agree with it lol.
Yeah I think thats the problem as to why people leave - you really have to invest or spend like 100 hours a week to make any progress