Just like I mentioned to @Swolesome, don't use the trending page. Its the equivalent to the vanilla frontpage of reddit without any subscriptions.

Find people worth following through discord, and through those people you will network with other like-minded individuals. BidBots have never effected my experience here, and its because I'm extremely picky who I follow and upvote. If there is no written rule against using them, then nobody is actually breaking any rules, atleast not to my knowledge.

Be the change you want to see on steemit, you can't force change without equal opposition. Support the content you want to see more of, and ignore the rest. There is no right or wrong, just the outcome you gravitate towards.