Voting Bots vs. Organic Engagement
Hi guys,
I'm new to @steemit and I'm starting to see this issue of voting bots pop up everywhere.
I realize that the voting bots are here and they're here to stay unless @steemit decides to ban them (which I doubt or I'm not even sure whether it's possible, I'm not a programmer...). I haven't used any and I'm not sure whether I will - unless I see a good reason to.
But how do bots actually help you create REAL ENGAGEMENT? Or how is the quality of your content reflected by their votes? If people genuinely like what you put out, they'll engage with you, and the engagement will grow organically. So the bots will just up your posts somewhat, but the rest is up to you. And if everyone uses the bots, then the bots will just create something like a 'base layer' on which we're all building, and the quality posts will win anyway. So why are we doing it? Please explain it to me like I'm a 3 year old :)
And then there's the infamous @grumpycat :) - I do like that he/she/it is trying to keep the steemit space free of bots that upvote for more than 3.5 days in a row. But who is this person and what gives them the unilateral power to make this decision?
Are we not in a 'decentralized' world here? Apparently not. In fact, every system has its problems, and as much as I love what blockchain is bringing us, it's not all rosey and without leaks...
Would love to hear your opinion. Thanks!
Hi @petrajordan! You have received 0.04 SBD @tipU upvote
from @royaleagle :)
tipuvote! - tell @tipU to upvote any post with a comment :)
good article, I like to read it. reproduced more articles and continue to work, success is always a friend. follow me @amirdesaingrafis
As a newbie myself I am interested in the response here too! Thank you.
I would only support the bots that can do what we can't. This is fact checking, source checking, image checking. This is important for copyright purposes, I will write here only original content and I hope everyone will do the same but copy-pasting material from other blogs is not a great way to get noticed. I wouldn't agree to the paid bots for promotion although that is also a tricky thing to regulate. And I am a programmer :)
We have to create and maintain guidelines, being decentralized doesn't mean the steemit admins can't create these guidelines and enforce them.
Until then we have to live with both, and only vote for what we deem worth it.
Let's all have a wonderful day!
Thanks! Any bots that you would white/blacklist and why? It's still a strange world to me :)
I have blacklisted @mrswhale. Check out #botreviews to get opinions on bots and which are liked or not.
Thanks, will do! Still not sure about using bots though. I just want to understand the hows and whys... it seems like a new form of advertising.
I can't make a list of all the bots: @originalwork is one of them. Another is@originalcontent. Both are free ( i think).
Easy to deduct what they do but take a look and think for yourself if they could do steemit any wrong. Because a vote-4-vote or pay-4-vote system is not 100% OK.
Thank you! I totally agree. It then turns into another form of advertising - just under a different name...
Totally agree. Same as petra is saying; it is not nice/fair/ok when bots are used in a form of vote4vote or pay4vote, because the whole reason why we are here, I think, is being noticed for our own qualities and original content. When it is all about 'using the system' and money again it is no fun
I would upvote but my voting power is 0 anyway. This means today was a good day for new content on steemit :P
:) it’s not all about money
I already upvoted anyway on your comment and article. Totally worth it! :D
:) thanks!
What is 'bots'?
Short for robots. :)
As someone who can't afford to pay to play, I'm having a real good chuckle with @grumpycat XD
He’s perfect - reminds us not to get too attached to our upvote earnings :)
You have enough in you wallet to afford one. There are bid bots that take 0.10 bids but you need to check profitability before you bid. There are some non-bid-bots that take as little as 0.05 SBD for their services.
No...how about keeping it organic as it was intended. How about actually reading the content and really giving meaningful feedback. How about rewarding those that put some time and effort towards their product. Instead of "paying" for bots, upvotes and services.....why is it so difficult to be frigging human and read, learn,enjoy and give back? Then everyone wins.
Nah...there's "easier" ways.
Love your post @petrajordan!!!
I'm following for sure. : )
I would love to keep it organic, but unfortunately I am a latecomer to this BETA test as are you. There are people that have more Voting Power and voice in reward pool distribution than all of the people in this thread combined and some of those whales censor steemit for their own personal financial gain. From what I understand other whales thought this was a bad idea and created bots to help lift peoples voice up. Bots are a way for people to be found in this system because it raises their posts value and vote count which can put them into the trending tab . You are more likely to get new followers if your post makes it to the trending page and unless you know someone that has big upvotes good luck getting there without a bot!
Steemit is still in BETA and they are trying to figure the kinks out before they can remove that little beta from under the Steemit logo in the upper left corner. I think that when steemit moves out of BETA they will be forced to remove bots in order to keep the quality curation argument they are striving for.
@tinylayla I actually have some of the same feelings about this subject as you. I host a weekly SBD giveaway contest where you have to meet other people in order to win. I want community, meaningful feedback and a place to learn awesome ideas. You would be surprised how many people won't read the post and just click upvote because they think they are going to win. I follow tags that are out of the way and love to upvote their things, but I am still delegated SP by the steemit system and lately my 92% votes have been giving a 0.00 vote to people who deserve more than that.
As you are only 2 days new to steemit Welcome!
I will be checking back in because you left a good impression.
Oh one last piece I have learned. You can use bidbots to upvote comments. So if I have SBD but my vote is only worth 0.01; I can pay a bidbot to like your comment for more than I could hope to give to you.
I prefer the bots and services that don't leave spammy advertisment messages on the blog they upvote.
Keep leaving quality comments that are thought out like you have been and you may get a visit from @thing2 or its cousin @gentlebot. They are non-bid bots that scour the comments of every post on steemit for what some algorithm thinks are good comments and gives them good upvotes.
My first bot experience was an upvote with no explanation from @gentlebot.
Thank you for the explanation and overview of what looks like quite a dilemma here on steemit. I had no idea about the whales. All I know about whales...is they put up massive sell orders in the altcoins that I hodl!! 👊🏼 Lol.
My post wasn’t directed at you personally. As new as I am....I guess I got frustrated at the thought of posting quality content...or at least meaningful in my eyes...but getting drowned out by posts that “pay to play”. I don’t mind the 0.01 upvotes. Really. The fact that you took the time (or anyone) to articulate a point or criticism.....is more valuable in my opinion. Maybe it’s me being naive and a newbie. Lol. I feel guilty giving myself an upvote. My finger refuses to push the button.
I just love this no holds barred forum. Content is so random and varied.
Of course anytime you bring monetary gains into any equation....people find short cuts, loop holes and schemes while the content becomes secondary.
Maybe I’m dumb enough to think of this as an alternative to the mainstream YouTube’s and facebooks. And fear it just might be another one.
Hey. Maybe getting visited by a bot won’t be so bad after all. Lol.
The ad filled ones really are an eye sore though. I agree. Thanks for the feedback. : )
That tipU upvote was supposed to be for you :(