Bots will be useful for the operation of Steem now that there isn't a central authority. They can be used to detect spam, phishing attempts, notice high quality content, etc. There is a bot named @trufflepig that has a certain algorithm that detects whether a post is high quality or not and it works pretty well.
Before bots, people complained about only whales showing up on the trending page. Bots can remedy that issue but now we have crap content made my minnows too. I think it is a normal part of the evolution of Steem. People are continuously trying to solve/adapt to whatever problems we have at the moment. I experimented with upvote bots and TBH they aren't that useful unless you can get yourself to the trending page.
@rulesforrebels, let me suggest something to you. Every post you make, try to think of how you can improve your post from your last one. Yes, Steem still has issues, but it is crucial to have fun and make due with what it currently is. If you just wait until Steem becomes a certain way, you are doomed to stay frustrated and new users won't want to join because they see everyone just talking about problems instead of having fun here. People want to join whatever platform is fun and entertaining for them. Even if it has problems, people won't mind if they feel people are being creative. If not, the site may function optimally, but the spirit is dead.
For example, you could create your own custom footer at the end of your posts. This is what I put at the end of my posts.
You could also create your own custom page breaks, add more photos (with custom frames), etc. You mentioned before that you first post on YouTube and then repost on Steem. Why don't you do the opposite? Instead, post your videos and writings on DTube/Steemit and then maybe a few days later post it on YouTube. I am finding success with that.
These things all make your blog look more presentable and helps you to create your own "look" on the site. Without a custom look to your blog, it just looks like a casual post of someone's thoughts. The content on your blogs is good, but I think you could make it more polished and presentable. I'm saying this because I am finding more success on this platform by thinking about what I can do better or improve on instead of what other people should fix.
Hope that helps! Thanks for the mention, I really appreciate talking to real people like you on this site.
Hey buddy, I appreciate your tips, all very good tips. I really don't mean to be negative, sometimes I'm frustrated but honestly today it was more in good fun than anything else. I've really been enjoying @yallapapi posts which are funny and critical of Steemit and that has been kind of an inspiration for some of these posts. Oddly enough the more I critique Steemit the more engagement my posts get and honeslty from the very start its been that way. I'm never going to make big money doing it because these posts don't cater to whales but I think as the upvotes and comments show I'm expressing the frustations of the masses and to some extent at the end of the day without us the whales have no power if the platform is dead so they should keep that in mind.
I completely understand I could put a lot more effort into Steemit, learning the inner workings, making more connections, spending more time on formatting and like you said having kind of my own custom page break like you and @stackin and many others have.
I also realize it's not impossible for someone to make their mark on here. @stackin started around the same time as me and has just killed it on here. You've always been great but especially recently have been making a ton of traction on here so to some extent it is whining and the people who really make their mark on here can and do have succeess like you @kenanqhd and @stackin. That said there is some legitimacy to the complaints.
Anyhow, always thoughtful commentary from you I really do appreciate it and I am going to go ahead and make my own custom page break. What did you do to make yours?
@yallapapi can be critical of Steemit, but to me the novelty has worn off. I do like to read his posts, but I don't pay as much attention to him like before.
I made my footer just using canva. You can choose the dimensions you want and then try and and see what layouts you like. Once you make it and it looks nice when you post it on Steemit/Busy, then you can save the URL link for the picture in a text file on your computer so that whenever you make a post, you can open the text file, copy and paste the link again and voila.
@amritadeva wrote a post here about making a logo, footer and page break. This is her page break and I think it is really nice. It suits her style.
You could probably make it on Canva. I haven't made my own page break yet but I will probably make one today.