I think a lot of people become jaded because of the money system. It is not a commentary on how good or how bad your work is. Steem should find a more accurate way to market itself - content manufacturers are essentially miners on this chain - but the pool gets distributed based on invested stake rather than quality of content. Essentially the people who get paid the most have a really expensive "mining rig" called SP allowing the holder to vote for themselves - or even sell their votes to people like us.
I agree with you on using Steem as a test bed. I don't write on here for money because its a losing proposition. I find that its a place where I can be somewhat anonymous and try new things with my writing. The down side is - I don't attract enough visitors and commentators to really get the feedback im looking for.
There is also the problem of the "Steem filter". Of course the sales pitch says this place is censorship free - but lets face it - its not. I started setting up pseudonym accounts and posting my writing on some of the major social media sites - I get WAY more feedback. Not only do I get feedback - I get HONEST feedback (people have no problem telling you that you suck on the real internet).
There are a lot of downsides to Steemit including the inability to monetize after the 7 day window closes. Many sites have also banned the link making it hard to promote. I have articles that are 5 years old that bring in more traffic in a day than a trending Steemit post. I also have the ability to swap in and out advertisers and offers. If you hit a home run on an article - you really want to keep it going. With Steemit if you hit a home run and its past the 7 days - your only hope is to make a high ranking comment and hope someone reads it.
I think the bots are here for a good time not a long time - so why not take advantage of them. Will it land you new followers or a whale to constantly support you? I personally think its only a winning proposition for the bot owner - and even then maybe not! I'd settle for the 30 upvotes if it was actually 30 people taking the time to read and discuss the article!
Good luck with your posts!