Thanks for your input @pqlenator. It helps to show I'm not the only one who has noticed these things.
Yes, many new people want quick success and who can blame them? It's human nature. I want $1.000 rewards too! But it's not realistic. It can't last. That's why I think all of these people supporting newbies in such big ways are only harming the platform in the long run. They won't keep upvoting them once they've been around for a while and then the newbies will get disappointed and leave.
If you've worked for your success and it is a lasting success, you'll stay! You'll stick through the ups and downs of the value, because you'll understand we all go through this. These new people who get upvoted to the moon won't understand it when their rewards start dropping.
I used upvote bots for a while. First of all: they are a complete gamble and with Steem prices where they are now, you're not getting a good return on your investment at all. You are basically throwing away money. However, I wanted to see if people would follow the value and it does seem like posts with higher upvotes in the beginning get a lot more later on aswell. Now that I've stopped using the bots, it's hard to even get above 2/3, while my rewards minus the bot votes previously amounted to more.
Anyway, I won't use them a lot anymore. Maybe on my contest post, so people win bigger prices. I will continue to upvote my posts though, because it's the only thing that draws in anyone at all, or so it seems.
Thank you very much for the upvote and resteem, I'm glad you liked my post :-)
Wow, that was the longest comment I read today. Thank you for a very full response, it's that sort of interaction that makes Steemit great.
More on the upvote bots...sorry but I noticed 2 more new ones today, is this getting out of hand maybe yes, is it opportunistic maybe yes, is it good value maybe sometimes but buyers should definitely beware and remember the rewards are shared with the post curators too.
If using an upvote bot be prepared for a possible negative ROI (return on investment) is all I can say.
I gave you an upvote for your comment, sorry it is so small, but I'm only small too.
Two new ones? Wow, I only know of two... honestly, it is a waste of money with Steem prices being so low. I just did a randowhale upvote on my contest post, to increase the price pool a little bit, but I get nowhere near the 2 SBD back that I spend on the upvote.
Thank you very much for your upvote, I think good conversations are worth a lot more here, but any upvote is ofcourse also welcome. I am giving you one back :-)