I understand the use of bots, and have used them, sparingly, in the past for the few good reasons that you mentioned: increased visibility, etc... I even wrote a poem about them:
That said, I do understand the frustration with bots, it's a little like paying for love :)! Also, it offers an unfair advantage, this type of advertising, to those with money. I agree with @RichardCrill's comment re: lower quality posts and, frankly, wish they were abolished.
That way, we might see a survival of the fittest posts, versus those artificially propped up.
So, in short, not too sound too fanatical, I agree with you, @sykochica that's it's a question of balance, and that it might have become a little 'too much'.
Thank you, for this important discussion. As a (relatively new) writer on Steemit, this is an issue that I am happy to see being addressed more seriously.
wow nice idea!! i can see Little similarity, that bottle head and the artwork bellow. creativity has no end :)
I take no credit for the art (it's from Pixabay) but I wrote the poem that I linked to above :) Cheers!