I did a post about how people should not spam and the topic of robots came up in the comments. This will be a discussion post. I want to hear your opinions in the comments and please be respectful if you disagree with someone. Unlike spam, bots are an acceptable part of the system, so there is nothing wrong if people have/do use them. Full disclosure, I use them as curating tools and encourage (and appreciate) anyone who adds me to their auto service. But I am not attached to them one way or another. They are a tool. As long as you're honest about it and don't cheat people, it is the smart way to maximize your work. Steemit is a social media site but, with a reward system, it has a job/game aspect to it and you want to work smart and not hard. But do the bots take away from the social aspect of the site and make it too difficult for new users? Let's go over the pros and cons.
PROS
Quality Is Higher When You Know If You Will Be Paid:
Okay I know there are many of you who think it is the opposite, that people who know they will get paid will slack on their posts. And you are not wrong, this will be added in the cons. But there is also the opposite effect. When a user does not know what post, or if a post will make money, that the site is like a lottery, then it becomes difficult to put a lot of effort in their work. This will lead to users making shorter and less quality posts as they feel it is chance that leads to a good payout and not quality.
It Keeps The Site Active:
When a user has a bot set up, this guarantees that they will be upvoting posts even when they are off. Even if they forget about their account or take months off. The people who are getting these upvotes can continue to work and be rewarded even when people are not actively watching their work.
Early Retirement:
I do not make that much form curating but it is starting to build up. But some people are making a lot. Let's say you are making 100 SP a week and we will round the price of steem to a dollar. That is $5,200 a year of passive income. Now lets say you have a lot of SP and are making 1,000 SP a week or the price goes to $10 (a real possibility), you would be making 50k a year. That is a, well paid, full time job.
CONS
This Isn't Social:
The more that bots are used the less people actually read content and comment. It can turn the site into a one-sided network where content is produced and the other users are an audience, not fellow users. If we have no bots people might be more involved when they use the site.
Easy Money:
See, I told you I would add this to the cons. No matter how honest and hardworking you are, when you have the crutch there, even sub-consciously, you might start to slack. There an be a hindrance in motivation and growth when you know you are getting paid no matter what you do.
The Problem For New Users:
Some bots are set up awhile ago and these users have not switched them. I am not taking away anything from anyone and these users getting upvoted are bringing quality to the site. But it is harder for new users, ones who are trying to bring their talents to the site to be seen. If we remove bots and users have to curate personally, it will increase the chances that new users will have their work seen and promoted.
There is also another important point. Maybe bots can't be stopped. This site is very open for its users which comes with big benefits, but it also leads to people using the service as they want. You can get rid of the auto-upvote services but what is to stop people from making their own. If this is the case we need to make them work as fair as we can for everyone and HF19 goes a way towards that.
How do you feel about bots? And again, please be respectful.
Green button or red button?
*my upvotes/rep disclaimer: @whatageek/my-steemit-account-where-i-stand-on-bots-self-votes-and-multiple-account