No more Bid-Bots for me, I’m Reputation (55), Target Achieved!
After having a conversation with @bozz, I have decided I will no longer use any more services such as @minnowbooster, @qustodian, @smartsteem or whatever else they are named.
Source
I mentioned to @steevc some time back that when I reached a reputation of (55) that I would cease using them. I’m (56) now and I feel I’m big enough that people will notice what I’m doing. The target I previously set has been reached.
My previous argument for using Bid-Bots was that nobody would notice a reputation (25) poster but if I was of a higher reputation I may get more attention.
@bozz mentioned to me that from an unspoken source, @curie has been overlooking his articles because they are of high value and deemed to be ‘successful’, whereas the curators are looking for undiscovered gems.
I have great respect for @curie and they have had my witness vote from my early days. Who doesn’t want their attention!
After my post yesterday was picked up both by @steemitworldmap and @travelfeed, I am going to change my stance on buying votes.
I don’t know about you but when a curation group and trail picks up on my writing I get a kick out of it. Why should I jeopardise my chances of recognition and more attention?
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I also think there is a certain stigma associated with a post that if is of an artificial value. I want to gain some respect on Steemit, and I’m sure the ‘anti-bid bot’ crew will approve of my change of ethics.
My posts will now earn less, but will they really? I don’t want to go into the practicalities of Bit-Bods, and I certainly don’t have a problem with them.
If you use them, that’s fine by me. I won’t be one of these smokers who suddenly becomes a non-smoker and then criticizes everyone who still smokes. It’s everyone to their own, and I’m not their judge.
If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.
Thanks for the mention. It is going to be a hard road I fear, but I am also going to limit the amount I spend on upvote bots. Especially after finding out that information the other day. My upvote buys were usually only around $10 per post which is pretty low compared to some people out there. If that is enough though to have Curie overlook me, I would rather get the Curie vote. Thanks for this great post!
I have been debating to myself about this for the last few days, and this information you gave me was the trigger. As I mentioned, I think (55) is enough in my opinion.
The SBD/STEEM conversion is crap but its something I'll have to live with. I intend to power up all my earnings.
This also brings up another good point though... What do you think new users look at when they are following you? We would be naive to think that all users are following us because of our content. That being said, which is more important SP or Reputation? Reputation may be a better indicator of the quality of your content while SP is a better indicator of how much your upvote to a new follower will be worth.
Some people are following me for my content, others for what I can give them. I make no qualms about this and I know its the case for some. I am no big whale but I have something to reward with now, and have invested my own $$ into it to get to this stage.
Steemit is all about relation building, and making friends, and that's what I love about it. I want those big rewards, not because I can take the $$ out and spend it, but so I can re-invest it HERE and get others to do the same by encouraging them.
If I can give bigger rewards then I will. I intend to be here for the long term and build Steemit for the better.
So SP to me is more important, but I have often though if a new account (25) was created with 1,000,000 SP and a picture of a boiled egg was posted with the comment, 'tasty', how many would notice and agree stating, 'Yes that's looks incredibly tasty, blah blah', just to get a reward?
Money talks they say, and it does here too, but my aim is to grow EVERYONE not just myself.
I don't disagree with you. I was just talking about some of the behaviors I have seen and maybe even some that I exhibited myself when I first started. Before I started building those relationships on the platform that I now enjoy. I look forward to the day that I am big enough to start delegating back some SP and helping others out. Until then I will just upvote what I can and enjoy some good conversations!
Does reputation even matter that much? I'm way more concerned about Steem Power than rep.
Good question and one I want answered as a newbie with little of both. Anyone got insight here?
I had no idea that using bidbots could affect your chances to get upvoted by Curie. I might have to stop my usage of them too.
I've really gone back and forth on the issue a lot in the past, ultimately deciding to use them with small amounts of SBD.
I'm going to get my thoughts together and also write a post about my personal stance. You've really got me thinking here.
I had my suspicions about the @curie thing for a while. What they stand for and what Bid-Bots do are in conflict so it does stand to reason. Look forward to reading your stance.
The absolute best post I've seen about this whole issue is this one. Definitely take 15 minutes to watch the video =)
I've only been on here a couple of months now but have managed to get to 50 without using any bots. Your good self @slobberchops and @steevc gave me enough encouragement to carry on creating from the start. Now I've been noticed by @curie a few times and have no doubt that if you put good stuff out there it can be worthwhile. I enjoy writing and write with a clear conscience and stand by my principles. It would be a shame if this approach is proven to be unsuccessful but I have faith in the good in people.
Its good to know that I have encouraged you, your just 'down the road' so I'm sure we will meet soon enough!
I also enjoy the writing, that's why I do this, I find it liberating to be able to speak out on a platform where negativity is not encouraged.
Interesting. I reached (49) reputation without buying any votes. However, I have recently started using @isotonic because 10% of the proceeds go to @runningproject to build its voting power and, as you might have guessed, I think @runningproject is A Good Thing; @isotonic's voting power comes from delegated SP and the other 90% of the proceeds are shared among the delegators (which includes me).
There's no doubt that my buying votes has substantially increased my reputation and I have gone to what I am now in a short period of time.
I tried @isotonic with a 0.1SBD vote around a week ago, and got nothing back so I'm not too happy with them, they also didn't respond to my questioning them about it. I read that others have had the same problem.
As its just 0.1SBD I didn't push the matter.
Yes, you've been here for a much shorter time than me.
I'm sorry you've not had a good experience with @isotonic, that's disappointing.
.... and Luke Stokes upvoted this post. haha.
Well good for you. I was in a similar position like you. I was trying to run a Steemian spotlight to give out exposure to some amazing Steemians by using bots. It turned out i was losing SBD and participating in the problem thats been taxing steem lately. So i quit that.
I know youll do good. How could you not. Im just me, but you, you have a character that just sticks with you the first time you see him. haha. :D
Thanks @silentscreamer, I will duly try :)
Excellent stuff! I am also one of the many here who tried using smartsteem for a while and in the end, decided against it. Besides the stigma of it all, there's also a very good selfish reason not to use bots/buy services... I highly recommend watching the video in this post by @lukestokes ... It really sheds some light on the situation.
Congrats on your decision. Ultimately, the bidbots break the economic engine of Steemit, and we're better off if more and more people abandon them.
Heck, most of the time, they don't even provide a positive ROI, which is hilarious.
I never really thought of it like that. I have been using bid bots to try to get my Rep up as well as my sp. Maybe a low Rep does make a little sense.
Congratulation my friend @slobberchops, that not easy to get at your current reputation. And yes your more visible now and thank you for supporting me at all time!