Thanks for posting about this and I will definitely go to the survey. I also had the same dilemma in using bid bots. I still go to the small votes of minnowsupport or banjo at the steemph discord (although recently I use them for other posts that I find unrecognized). I think we still need these so we can be uplifted a bit.
But I chose not to use the bid bots. I chose to grow organically. It's difficult and frustrating especially when I see other posts that earn more than it deserves because of bots, while we earn a few dollars for posts that we work on for hours. My lesson is not to compare myself with others. And we all have different strategies. I wouldn't have these thoughts if I only focused on my earnings. I believe there's a natural way that our posts will be $1 then $2 on average and then more and it will grow at a stable rate.
Oh I forgot to add..I agree that these bid bots are useful and at times necessary if the post has an important or urgent message/ announcement.
I agree how it doesn't seem fair when you see high paying posts based mainly on the bots, but I also know how I feel about the person using so many and I don't want others to feel that way about me! I hope to one day be successful here (and by the way, I think we both are already:) and people will see that my success was built on something real.
I agree. We have limited votes so I would give it to someone who has an undervalued post (and which I like too).
You're right, we're actually already doing good. I see beyond the earnings of my post now :)