Have paid upvoting bots spoilt Steemit?

I have noticed that some of the Steemit elders recall the bright days of the past. The days with no upvoting bots. The days when you simply got votes for what you wrote, not for what you paid for.

Well, that is what elder people do anywhere. They try to persuade the youngsters that the world used to be much better place back then. Nothing takes more credit for the good old times than the bad memory, said Anatole France once.

Yes, the stories of the successful authors about their efforts half a year ago, when almost everybody read, commented and upvoted their posts are true, but there were dozens of people who weren’t that successful, and who quit. It’s pretty the same nowadays.

The main difference is that you can invest your money into promoting your (or somebody’s else) post by a bot. In fact, upvoting bots were inevitable. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are still rather nerds’ and investors’ playground, the crowds have already heard about Bitcoin, but have no personal experience with it. And the investors want some interest.

Upvoting bots may provide a great service in that way. If you choose wisely and have a bit of luck, you can have 10 % or 20 % profit in less than a week. In fact, you may have the money back in a day or two. You can hardly find more effective, easier and safer way to invest.

Anyway, the fact that upvoting bots exist does not influence the way people use Steemit itself. Upvoting bots don’t affect people’s will to read or create content. Yes, they do upvote even those, who publish simple craps. You can have paid upvote for any post, even blank one. On the other hand, upvoting bots help anyone grow.

I use them. And I am not ashamed of it.

Image by Pixabay, edited