Hi @beggars!
I understand your feeling, but I do have some clarifications for ya.
"Wow, I have no problem with using bots to vote up quality content" That's great! The question is what quality content is. I've had previous posts promoted in the same way, I don't recall anyone complaining. Perhaps this content is not quality enough for you, which is fine.
"how much the author has spent getting this onto trending." There's the reason! I like writing and posting artwork that I make, and I also like people seeing it and reacting to it. But on Steemit, to get a LOT of visibility, you do have to get into Trending; it's set up in a similar way that advertising is set up. And yes, that's what I tried to do. If when people find it they decide my content was reviled or not helpful or interesting to anyone, then that's a different argument.
"but doesn't look like he has commented or voted anyone else's content" Not since around mid March, no. But I haven't been on Steemit at all since then. I've been slammed with work. Yesterday's post was my first since, I put it up and went to bed. If you look at my previous few posts, you'll notice I comment on everyone, and go to a lot of their posts and upvote them.
It may not be ethical to use bots to boost the visibility of shitty posts but oneminja has a quality post here, it's true that there are numerous scummy people abusing the system but I don't think oneminja fits into that category.
You call this quality ? .... a random travel blog post with absolutely no unique stuff in it? ...... ok..... lol
You obviously haven't perused much of the cesspool of bot driven content on this site... I didn't say it was god-tier content, just "quality" which can be taken any way the reader sees fit.
that's pretty nasty and it's plain wrong as well. It is written with a style that captivated me as a reader. The pictures and video are excellent too. I expected to find he hadn't used any bots quite frankly - I was surprised to find that such excellent content REQUIRES any bought bids. It's a sign there's need for change here to see this. I looked over your content and clearly, you content is great photography and it isn't getting noticed. It SHOULD be noticed.
i started with an opinion that bots were bad until i learned what is really doing harm here is all the bootlicking and whales out to upvote one another. This hype about bots being responsible for bad content is plain wrong, at best it is an unproven rumor that bots are the main cause bad content here. (this is in relation to the comment by @steffenengman )
Your working being good....and this blog post was excellent....doesn’t validate your use of bots to artificially bolster your status/visibility on Steem. You want to be competitive when it comes to showcasing your work? Sure! Just like the rest of us, but we should all be willing to get in line for that....these sorts of tools are the electronic equivalent of muscling other people out of the way. Consider that, and that your actions are not harmless to others.
If you dont feel like it deserve that much why dont you flag it?
LOL - ;-) maybe he did we just didn't notice
The steemit system doesn't reward merit or quality. The chance that a whale will notice your posts are zilch unless you actively seek them out and befriend, or better yet, bribe them, which is how the upvote bots work.
Otherwise the best you can do is hundreds of minnow upvotes for just a few dollars. It's not about how many people see your stuff, it's about WHO upvotes it and how much SP they have.
Sounds like I should ignore Steemit
Your content is good my friend. I see no harm - you invest in content when you believe it is great. I hope you post more frequently and continue also to invest time interacting and engaging other creative folks. I am part of poetsunited and schoolofminnows - two of the many groups on steemit that are open to people of all views - genuine lateral thinkers and focussed on community upliftment. i'm of the view every person makes his way through this thing much like life. There's nothing wrong with earning by investing your money in your own output! It beats bootlicking which goes by the euphamism 'whale hunting' over here. That means also sacrificing at some point one's editorial or creative freedom. It's like Billie said, God bless the child that's got his own.
Everything is cool @oneminja. Everyone likes to talk about that mysterious "quality content". It's like a unicorn. Every person in the world imagines how it looks like a little differently.
Let's come back to the main topic. @Kamile and I have been in Hanoi last year. I must say, it is one of my favorite cities I have ever visited and I've seen a lot. All those sounds and smells. Hanoi definitely has something unique. I'm happy you had a good time. Where else in Vietnam have you been? I hope I can visit Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) one day. Some people say it is very different compared to Hanoi...