Absolutely!

Look at all the other projects, including @curie, that people can delegate to: https://steemit.com/steem/@roelandp/introducing-solicitingpower-com-a-gallery-of-steem-projects-worth-supporting-with-your-delegations

Long term people, come on now!

People think they’re smart because they “found a way to play the system”. Well, then they shouldn’t mind if the world knows how smart, genius and  totally original they are. 

This is an absolutely deadly tool. There are people who are beginning and they do it out of desperation and they’re slowly driven out of steemit by desperation. I’d honestly share the conversations I had with this Indonesian guy about a week ago but I don’t want to share it without his permission. But it would explain what this incentive is doing to people. I’ve lucky enough to lock up with great people who didn’t cheap out with guideness. But those who haven’t would easily leave tomorrow. I know that because that would have been me just few weeks in. 

Carl,

You summed it up pretty succinctly!

Thank you for taking a stance on this and of course for your long term outlook, even if it is not popular with so many of the bigger players who at this point are conflicted by their huge delegations or direct involvement with these bot, that they simply do not want to hear that their platform is being destroyed by their own hand.

It's great to have support from an earlier adopter. 

FUR'd

Blessings!

Great points. I don't like that people are profiting off useless Technical Analaysis, poating coin prices, submitting links to others content with little content of their own and trending because of jokes or other low quality content. 

The real problem is with the search tool, I'd like to see it altered so it is very difficult to promote junk. People could also just avoid the trending page all together like I often do. I am also upset that when I search by English words, non English content pops up. There is much tag abuse going on here.

Good luck with making Steemit a more equitable place!

Thanks for sharing. Happy to have @transparencybot on board to help raise awareness about the bidbot problem. 

This is a big problem, one that could potentially mark the death of Steemit as it attacks the foundational concept of the platform (proof of brain). 

I personally didn't join the DLT movement with a desire to see the best projects destroyed by the same stupid human forces (greed, avarice, etc) that have destroyed every other economic system in the world. Hopefully the tech wizards will find a way to solve this problem and others (technically preventing ourselves from destroying ourselves is a happy evolution). In the meantime, I haven't and won't pay for bots to boost my content. 

I'm here to create not destroy.

The best thing about @transparencybot is reading the flame wars.

[![Garbage Fire](https://media.giphy.com/media/12aW6JtfvUdcdO/giphy.gif)](https://postimg.org/image/x87p2cvxp/)
[Source](https://giphy.com/search/popcorn)

Sad thing is, Steemit itself is designed to encourage this behavior. It's optimal play that achieves the ill-disguised goal of funneling as many tokens as possible upward to bot-controlling whale accounts.

I very much doubt the witnesses have the guts to fix this, because to do so would require things like account bans and asset confiscation, which cryptocurrency's "decentralized" libertarian ethos abhors. (Centralized power is of course Good when it's delivering ROI to already wealthy asset-holders.)

I'm with you 100%. It's good to see the @transparencybot comments showing up on the trending page posts.

I'm in agreement with what you've said here.

If people are free to build and/or use bid bots, then others should be free to not to use them. And if some want to know what others are spending when they're using the bid bots for visibility, or to better pay their curators, or whatever other reason people might have, then I think they should be able to do that, too.

That's how a system with very few rules works. It's actually how every system should work, but hey, I don't want to get to carried away here. :)

Vote sellers and vote buyers are free of course to do whatever they want. I don't agree, but this is an uncensored network, mixed with money, we all see expected human behaviours. I think people come from other networks where they were used to buy votes, followers, visibility etc... fakebooks and such...  and they still don't understand the original nature of Steem and try to work in the same way. A bit sad in my view, but understandable. The only way it couldn't happen is if it is not possible to happen. But Steemit Inc, doesn't seem to care, which I find strange. Meanwhile I'm looking for the next interesting network.

An idea I had is for example, I can imagine a browser add-on that users can install to automatically hide posts from your timeline, if they are purchased posts. But it is not a great idea to really fix the problem. transparencybot  idea is good!

I was super encouraged when I started, but I've been a bit recently discouraged with many things, but I still like the original idea and I still see good people here. I still like Steem. I like the transparencybot. Not all bots are bad :)

You screwed up. @brandonfry allowed me to purchase his bids for the next  round so that we could show you guys this this isn't true. You're going to recieve a downvote which is going to hurt like a mother fucker!! Sorry guys.. but get your facts straight HAhahahah

I have to use bidbots. I have no choice. My work with curie helps but its not a guarantee and as you see I haven't had time to even really try to find curie worthy posts. But my goals are not going to be realized until i have *a lot* mors money and i cant sit around waiting for a whale to see the work of @teamgirlpowa or the #teamgirlpowa members 

I have resisted since i started in October 2017. Thats 5 months. And everytime we come down to "how to become more successful " its always $$$ and with hood reason as this is why ppl come here. And those who believe in our mission have been working their asses off and only now am i finally able to start paying but really im not cuz im just barely keeping up with the funding. 

Most of its coming from my sbd and steem savings

Do I want bidbots? No. Do i think that myself and my members produce quality and offer a space thag didnt exist before we fought for it ? Yes. 

Am I gonna do what I can to keep it alive and make it stronger? Hell yes. 

Im cool with @transparencybot hell you can look and see the promotions. 

But I'd love a better solution. How can we get more whales to delegate their votes rather than sell them?

How can we impose socialist solutions on a fully anarchocapitalist platform? 

Lets also be honest about curie, how can we create sustainability for the artists we discover? We cant all become curators. Even at that the art suffers if you have a day job and live in an expensive country/city. 

So kudos to @transparencybot , boo to those who cant admit they used them, but lets keep talking aboug REAL solutions cuz no ones biting on delegated curators...for fear of low/no ROI

this quality post, as new knowledge in taking speculation

# Wololo!

(This post has been healed to counter malicious downvotes!)

Agree 100% wrote about this the other day, working on part two now. 

Love the line "I  only wish it was not necessary" the most accurate to put it, def will be quoting that from you.

I'm starting to hear things about competitors to Steemit, perhaps with directors who care more about transparency and less about lining their pockets for personal gain....

Hey Carl,

Thanks again for your support.  If you get a chance, take a look at the blog for @transparencybot.

I was discussing this precisely. There is such a difference between use and abuse but with no moderation people tend invariably to the second. I have not used them but it is frustrating how people who have genuinely good quality feel finally compelled to join them because they feel all is rigged. I could understand someone wanting to promote a special post,a cd release, a new videoclip, but plaguing the trending with poor content speaks poorly of the platform and discourages newbies. No bots are bad we have gentlebot who rewards random acts of gentleness and ruffle who makes your day telling your post deserves better, we have curie and ocd, we have some shows dedicated to manually curate and surprise underrated, still it is not enough, even close friends push you to them as if you are out you lose this game.  But real engagement cannot be bought. At least there is that.  Not ranting or trying to make anyone guilty for having used them or using them, but it is like feeding a vicious circle. Will try a little longer the old traditional way so far. Looks tempting, cannot foresee future, but I would like to see I should not need to sacrifice my naive feelings.  Steemit should do a column of "advertised content" or give chance to measure real engagement.  Just my two cents, oh no, just one ;) but hope it counts. So I am not so into "punishing" bidbots, how can it make a difference between someone abusing the system or a frustrated minnow trying to break through. On my behalf I am out of them, but I see good people falling for them out of discouragement and frustration.