I would hesitate to say "it's our money to do as we please" as a general argument because people argue similarly "it's my stake to do what I want", to which I say, well of course it is, but in aggregate the behavior (self voting, vote selling, and delegations to bid bots) is bad for the platform (because we all can't do it).
I would also say that I don't believe bid botting really assists in user engagement. It's really more like a nasty wart that behaves in unpredictable ways unless you know exactly what you want to get out of it.
i did preface that to say "no to abuse." i see people that we have supported botting from $20-$200 a pop and people delegate and support that. so are we really checking to see we support because then are they or are they not supporting what "we feel is right?"
there were many in our groups initially supporting bid botting and vote selling. that was the only reason why i got into bid botting to begin with. i have never sold my votes.
we get back to the delegating to those groups that bid bot and that is what i meant by "user engagement." and you stated above with the following:
"increasing engagement" ...
that sure is a funny way of saying it "a nasty wart."
if this is the case then does that mean we need to stop supporting groups that has Warts? Haha
I wanted to point out that "do what we want because it's ours" isn't necessarily justified.
But one other quick thing: I'm more sympathetic to bidders because they usually don't make anything from it.
And as I mentioned elsewhere, groups using bid bots for promotion purpose have no alternative for paying for exposure right now. I want to change that.
i see, very good points and of course i listen to you wholeheartedly. :)