I think first we need to understand that none of the other social media platforms are any different. Rather, they are worse. People talk about being shadow-banned but no we are all shadow-aded. People pay to boost their post and get seen on every platform. I have almost 5000 friends on facebook and over 2000 followers on twitter and I am lucky to receive 2 or 3 likes. I ran a test the other day and didn't include any links in a complete drivel post on facebook and then I got 25 likes. Still not getting in a lot of feeds.

Are you on twitter? I like Elon Musk and look forward to him appearing in my feed and twitter knows it and so if someone boosts a post and has any connection to Elon Musk, at all ... they also get in my feed. Do you know how many times they have suggested I follow potus. Like I don't know who he is and just need twitter to tell me so that I can follow him. Then there are the upfront ads. Our feeds are nothing but cleverly designed classfied columns.

You know who doesn't get in my feed very often ... the people I follow. The people I follow on steemit ... always in my feed.

So I says why not just boost a post. I got six bucks. Did so on facebook. It was link to a youtube video. Got 100's of likes and not a single view on my youtube video. Hmmm? Why? That's a thinker. Because the views were all botted and/or inauthentic. I not saying facebook did this directly but rather knowingly took advantage of what are known as click farms. Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump don't have all those followers either. That was in mainstream news.

The bot situation isn't worse on steemit. It is better. I don't use them. I choose to create quality posts and network with like-minded individuals. But if I wanted to, they are there and open to everyone with no smoke and mirrors attached and I can follow the trail back to see who else used them.

Steemit is the best out there and we need to start singing its praises. I don't receive huge payouts. I am a minnow. I do receive lots of engagement and upvotes from larger accounts however. You have to invest both time and money to receive huge payouts on a regular basis. Botting is a short cut to a high rep score but not steem power or engagement. But it might help you build a following of newbies.

The system here is not perfect but it is a far cry better than anywhere else. Let's keep improving the block chain; make it even better. But slamming ourselves all the time is not good for business. No other social media platform is immune to the ails of greed. They are just better at hiding it.