RE: Is there a whale voter cult on Steemit? Yes, and it's killing Steemit!
yes, you are right on the fact that @randowhale is just an upvote for hire system which is being for all posts. the problem here is that people are feeling like their good posts will never get any upvotes so they do not even bother to invest time to write a good post
instead they simple post anything and use @randowhale - knowing their are guaranteed an upvote which will put their post in the "trending" category and attract upvotes for others seeking upvotes.
so while @randowhale may not be helpful in the long run, it has become the easiest way for posts - both good/bad/ugly to get a whale upvote.
perhaps if we had more reputable curators(like @ScreenName) whose trails where being upvoted by whales, them people will know that if they created good content it will be curated and upvoted by whales - them they will turn less to @randowhale and focus more on creating good content to get curation
so yes, @randowhale may not be ideal - but for now it seem like a necessary evil
People just want to cheat the system. I never used these services and I'm doing very well in my opinion. Maybe it's a good alternative for a while but I don't see how getting 2 dollars back is a better investement when one can make really GOOD posts and attract loyal followers who will upvote them in the long term.
Once you stop paying these services you would need to put an extra effort to compensate the lack of real followers. And really this is not how Steemit is supposed to work. First you find your pack of trusted followers and then the money comes.
Yes many authors don't get what they deserve, but with enough dedication at one point things change.
sure, you are right