Maybe bots as technological progress are not the issue, but they way we use them. I may have a voting bot that operates like an extended arm to me, allocating votes according to the rules I define. But I can also have a bot that buys votes from bots and sells them to other bots in order to make more profit. Only in the last example I'm seriously threatening the ideology of steemit and risking to affect the standard of quality.
This post is of particular interest to me because I have recently started a community to encourage authentic human engagement on Steemit posts.
Oh that sounds really cool! Best of luck for your project :-)
You are right. I have no problem with bots as a technology. Only where they are used to put some at an unfair disadvantage. The other issue is this: Is Steemit content meant for human consumption or both human and bot consumption? Let's say I write a flash fiction piece. Wouldn't I, the writer, feel unrewarded if my article were to be only bot-curated even if it were upvoted for a fairly high amount of SBD? Wouldn't I have hopes that actual people read and commented on the creative post I created? I've had a few posts that were read only by a few people but upvoted by plenty more who did not even look at them.
Steemit has a lot of good things going for it. The fact that it is decentralised is one of them, but it still has some way to go to gain the total confidence of those who create content for the perusal and enjoyment of other humans.
And, thank you for the wishes! 😀
I think that ratio will be something we can't change. Bots will be always part of this eco-system. Look at the positive aspects: if someone decides on "blindly" upvoting your post via bot, then he trusts you and your content. To be honest: I'm really happy that many users have decided to auto-vote my stuff. That's really a way to express confidence here.
But also, depening on the content I think we have still a lot of people reading and commenting here. That's at least my perception and how I experience it in my own blog. As long as you right interesting stuff people are willing to talk about, you will have them interacting.
Look at this one her for instance: I think by now no bots have commented in this thread...? :))
I suppose the bots fear you lol... I appreciate the fact that you are able to enjoy success using your methodology. I will need more getting used to the platform, I think. I wish you even more success on your journey here :)