Came for Humans, Greeted by Bots

I’ve been playing around on Steemit for almost two weeks now, and it’s been fun. It’s cathartic to finally have a platform with which to express many of the thoughts and insights I’ve had over the years. Though I’m encountering challenges.

It seems to me that many of the biggest players on Steemit are using all manner of bots and programs to get their posts more visibility. They’re paying bots to upvote, subscribing to services, or engaging in even more complex transactions that are far over my head.

This is understandable, of course. People want their posts promoted and visible so people can see them. Though it seems to me this makes it more difficult for people like myself to simply get my face out there.

I’m not a techie. I’m not particularly educated on blockchains, cryptocurrency, or social media campaigns. I’m just a guy with something to express. I have something to say and I believe it’s worth sharing.

Though it seems that in order for my work to actually reach the audience that I intend it for, I have to engage in a complex array of transactions- paying others to boost my post in a way that makes them more visible to others. I must say, this doesn’t feel right to me.

When I see someone’s post on Steemit and it says $200 and 400 upvotes I, perhaps naively, assume that that means that person has some really quality content in order to get those votes. Though then I look and see most of the comments are from bots announcing their upvotes. This is disheartening.

Not only does this create a false impression of the posts quality (isn’t authentic curation the whole point of this platform??), but these endless comments seem to impede interaction among individuals. Oftentimes it seems you have to scroll down a ways before encountering a real human.

This may not seem such an issue to many Steemians, who are likely far more educated on this stuff than I am (I’m working on it). Though to a layperson like me, this is rather daunting, disappointing, and off-putting.

I truly believe in this platform. I’ve never encountered anything quite like it and I love the community I’m discovering. I hope for mainstream adoption of this platform someday. Though I believe if that is ever going to happen, we’re going to have to find some way to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

That is, we need to elevate the real people engaging in authentic interactions above the swarm of bots. When people join a social media platform, they do so-generally-to connect with people. I would question how much the bots are inhibit that on an otherwise amazing platform.

I’ll admit, I’ll likely begin to leverage the bots myself in the coming weeks as I learn how to do so without sacrificing my own integrity and authenticity. I imagine that it’s a delicate balance.

In the meantime, I can’t help but feel a bit confused and lost in this swarm of bot-curated content.

These are just my uncensored thoughts and feelings on the topic in the face of what is frankly, a bit overwhelming to me. If anyone has any resources to help a layperson become initiated into the language and understanding of the blockchain and this new platform, I’d greatly appreciate it.

Until then, I’ll just keep learning, exploring, and using my authentic voice. Even with all the bots, I trust people will hear me.

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