Using your analogy of a store then surely using bidbots is akin to advertising ? Expecting people to join Steem and then have to then use discord and chat too is a non-sense. We are told all the time by the Steemit Lords and Masters, 'produce great content'. Thats tripe. What you need to do, as you have just outlined, is make friends and agree with whatever people produce and you will get autovoted and brought into the special club!
Its funny how opposing points of view seems to be counted as whinging, yet everyone bleating about bid bots are high rep, big earners who scored most of their high SP when prices were low and members were low and all these circle jerking autovoting rings were created.
Steemit is full of whinging and wailing posts right now thus exacberating the problems, and most of these are from old members who have probably not read a new member in donkeys...
Biggestvtip to any new user, for gods sake dont disagree with any big guns