Interesting analysis @luzcypher, thanks for sharing :)

Bot offers service people paying
The new ones here can not use the bot

I never buy the idea of bot.  I joined steemit because my mentor told me i will be rewarded for quality content. Yet even when you post article that took you time and energy to creat, you find the results annoying because nobody  rewarded you for that. Just like you said, it is a social network and as such should  be treated like that. I havent posted for awhile because it seems like my post doesnt count or add value to the platform. In my own opinion, **BOT** should be abolished. The whales out there should know that they cant do without small fish like us. They should stop being self centered and me-first attitude.

Create a legacy you will be remembered for even after you might have left the world. Thanks @luzcypher for bringing this up

I've personally been on both sides of this issue and agree... let's move the fuck on!

I think people should take care when they post their tags.  Sometimes that's a challenge.  I agree with you though, posting about things a general audience is interested in is good for Steemit and bringing in new folks.  The ultimate challenge is for Steemit posts to make it to the top tier of google searches (and not just goog but others like 'Ask.'

I bot a lot, and I support an initiative that rewards users who don't bot. When they asked me why, this is what I told them: a system with a single path to success is a system with a single point of failure. 

There isn't a true dichotomy between botting and starting/working with communities, unless the communities make it so by driving out people for botting. It's entirely possible to do both. 

>If you Google Steemit right you'll find a platform that seems to talk about itself a lot.

Immensely guilty lately. At least I'm spending as much of my time writing curation posts as complaining posts. But I'm way over my self-imposed goal for how many Steemit-related posts I make. At least there's new Steven Universe all week this week, so I won't be lacking in other subjects.

i think bot is a good option,it will help to grow faster because its already have a wider audience so its a goods option in my point of view :)

The social part is a priority for me. I'd rather have good comments than lots of minnow votes. Of course the money is nice, but it doesn't pay for the time I spend here. People should make steemit fun so they want to come on every day

Your article is very good and not is there where need it. I do not use bots, and also I not in the top even though my articles are exceptional.

You're very right. Since this is a social media platform where people are supposed to interact with one another,  bots are kind of preventing such interaction from happening.  If i can use bots to always boost my post payouts, why should i bother interacting with anyone? Though the bots are helping some people but if we look at it closely, they are not helping the platform

Excellent post @luzcypher - building a community is very rewarding but also time consuming - but worth it in the end

I tried bots and found them wanting. While I was using them, I kept having this nagging sense that my attention needed to be directed elsewhere. I knew that as long as I used bots, I was not paying attention to my audience.

So I avoid using bots to direct my attention to the readers, and to find the community within Steemit that I want to be a part of. Some weeks ago, you left a link in reply to me and reading your article completely changed my perspective. That was something I needed to gather the determination to just keep going on Steemit. Thanks for helping me to turn myself around.

> I don't feel any animosity towards bot use, per se, but it does bother me to see so many heated discussions around it for the simple reason that it makes the platform look bad.

I'm not so sure this is actually an issue. It's well understood that Steem(it) is in the crypto-sphere and heated debates on what is essentially governance and culture is to be expected, or even encouraged. When things get nasty it's not nice obviously, but there are plenty here on most topics (definitely not all) with moderate voices such as yours, calling for sense at the end of the day.

To be honest the spirit of lively debate and industriousness of people here has been the thing that has kept me coming back. It was by getting involved in these discussions that I got anywhere on this platform at all, and probably some contributions and timing.

What I think actually looks bad is obviously low quality posts getting super high rewards. This is doubled edged. The average person sees that "deserving" posts are undervalued and it's all about the in group, which they have no access to, so why bother posting. The scammers see this and thing, wow, if only I can figure out how to push up any garbage I can get some of that coin.

All in all, I always back calling for civility. But the free dynamism here cannot be tamed! What I would propose on top of this is inviting people into the conversations, if they want to. I also predict that if the platform really matures these more or less technical and cultural issues will take up less and less bandwidth as people really settle into "doing". That all depends on how things shake out, especially to do with hard forks and big money coming in or going out.

Also the irony is not lost on me of arguing about an argument for less arguing 😂

@luzcypher You have received a 100% upvote from @steemconductor because this post did not use any bidbots and you have not used bidbots in the last 30 days!

Upvoting this comment will help keep this service running.

Yes. So much this. It's okay to talk about the pros and cons of different approaches, and point out things that need fixing, but focusing on having fun, making friends, and contributing interesting, authentic, unique content to the platform is the way to go, in my view.

Totally agree with your points and exactly the way it should be however its not. We hit over a million user how many are active? how many are bots? there are not a lot of people that interact on this platform, peoples first reason for joining is the money aspect else you would be on a more mainstream platform. Hypothetical question if steemit stopped paying people to use the platform how many people would carry on? You may be optimistic and think ab fair few I would be shocked if 10% carried on. Your point about posting more diverse topics I a good one other than "how to make money on steemit" and all the other steemit related articles