I still get confused why so many people use vote bots and want to be renters instead of owners.
I get what you're saying and largely agree with it. But at the same time, I get it...for a relatively small amount of money, you can push your post to the top and get a ton of followers. And if you're smart about it, you can break even or earn a small profit on your vote buys.
We have yet to buy a single vote, but we could probably garner as many followers in one trending post as we've managed to accumulate in our last 30 posts.
However, I do not get why people are paying so much to rent SP! Lenders of SP have been making more than 50%/year without taking into account compounded interest. Wouldn't you want to be the one lending and not renting?
I hate the concept of vote buying and don't like that it has become so prevalent on Steem, but I think it's an unfortunate fact of life that it's here to stay :/
~Jordan
What we incentivize determines what stays.
I think many people just don't have a solid long-term foundational understanding of economic incentives. It's far beyond what value someone can extract today. They need to think in terms of long-term value, reputation, relationships, and how that leads to rewards. More on that here. Buying a vote may get you followers who want to follow vote buyers. Instead, consistently leaving truly valuable and informative comments on the wall of an influencer/interesting person/potential friend could lead to a life-long relationship as they engage in dialogue and follow you back. That, to me, is far more rational even from a "what's in it for me?" perspective. It goes along with making the world a better place because it's where I want to live. Add value to others because the people you want to be connected to appreciate value.
I completely agree that leaving thoughtful, valuable comments is what's going to build relationships and grow your following on here. In fact, a while back I wrote a post on my other account saying almost exactly that.
I think a majority of the unsuccessful users on Steemit aren't thinking long term. Of the successful ones, on the other hand, I think a lot more of them have a long-term view of things.