"bots=bad" is an oversimplification, a fallacy. A bot is just a program that interacts with the platform. There can be good bots and bad bots but overall it is a new expression of human communication that is emerging. I embrace that idea instead of lumping them all in as something bad.
In the case of voting bots and your points in this piece I think the market will sort it out and in fact this is already happening. The solution should come organically from the community and not by some hierarchical imposition. As time goes on the bots will become more sophisticated and add value to the platform in new ways that we haven't even invented yet. I think @boomerang is a good example of this direction. They provide a vote service but it's much more than that and helping create lots of good content.
Good article, lets figure out how to make better bots instead of inventing new forms of censorship.
This! This is exactly what I was getting at. This is the point of my post. We don't need new forms of censorship. When money is involved, there will always be someone trying to find a way to get a bigger piece of it than everyone else, whether the means of doing so hurts others or not. I fully agree with your assessment.
Well saying bots are bad is just like saying "guns are bad". Well no, guns aren't bad. It is how people decide to use the gun that is the "good or bad". As long as the bots are on the platform, people are going to use them. It's unavoidable. What determines whether it is "bad or not" is "what are the people using the bots for upvotes doing with the rewards they receive?" In the case of grumpycat, he is powering down thousands of Steem per week and shipping it off to an exchange. Whereas me, yeah, I use the upvote bots, because I get more Steempower in the long run. The SBD I earn are used to buy Upvotes for OTHER PEOPLES INTRO POSTS! No one bothered to take a look at the fact that I buy Upvotes for other peoples posts, as well. Sometimes a post deserves more rewards than they get, and it is impossible for everyone to see everything that gets posted on Steemit. There is just too much content. So good posts get overlooked sometimes. When I find a really good quality intro post that is not getting any rewards, I use bots, AND MY OWN MONEY to boost their post. A warm welcome can go a long way in encouraging New Steemians, not to mention the posts that I link them to that will help them get started on the platform and be more successful. The bots aren't the issue. The issue is what the bots are being used for, not simply that they are being used. If the bots were not allowed to operate out in the open like they do, then they would sell their votes behind closed doors, making "back alley" deals and "secretly" doing the same thing they are already doing. The other issue is the people who want to troll me and say "how bad I am for using bots" while ignoring THE MUCH LARGER PROBLEM AT HAND, or the good that I use my rewards to do for the platform. This behavior doesn't help the platform either.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
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