Steemit Life: Bid Bots and Promoted Content — Straight Talk About the Realities of Publishing

Yeah, I know, "yet another post about Bid Bots and Steemit;" do we HAVE to?

I get it that a lot of people are really upset about Bid Bots and "the state of the Trending feed" and stuff like that — and I'll be the first to admit that I also have a bias against bid bots.

But WHY?

If you look at the greater publishing industry — or even just social media, on a broader scale — people basically fall all over themselves promoting their content. 

Simple fact of life: If you want to be SEEN, you have to make a lot of NOISE.

This is a simple truth, whenever you create something; anything. If you go and pretend to take some "moral high road" and declare that it is "wrong" to self-promote and it constitutes some form of artistic "selling out," that's certainly your right... but it doesn't necessarily make a lot of functional sense.

Let's just assume it's a book you have, not a Steemit post. 

Most likely, you want people to know about your book, and buy your book, and read your book. And that isn't going to come about simply by sitting on your duff, "knowing" that you wrote a great book.

A Matter of Semantics?

So what are we really upset about, here on Steemit? 

One school of thinking argues that our "Trending" feed gets polluted by so-called "shitposts" because people can use bidbots to literally buy their way into the trending feed.

Whereas I can't argue with that, I might point out that some very mediocre books (and music) can end up on best-seller lists thanks to massive promotional efforts and budgets and Public Relations Managers who are really good at their jobs. 

So that argument is on the weak side.

Perhaps what people are really upset about isn't those who "buy popularity" but the fact that what essentially amounts to "promoted content" gets circulated as "normal" posts. 

After all, if you're on Facebook or Twitter and "buy" yourself a high ranking spot in people's feeds, your post shows up as either "Promoted Content" or "Advertisement." That doesn't happen, here on Steemit.

So maybe what we REALLY have here is a "Truth in Labeling" problem.

But It's About the Money!?!

Another school of thought is that Bid Bots are "bad" because of the money... some "lousy post" is getting $500 in rewards, and that upsets people who spend five hours compiling photos and text to make a beautifully crafted and informative post.

But let's examine that lousy post that's "getting" $500.00.

Odds are its owner is at least "in" for at least $300.00 worth of Bid Bot votes. Then curators are going to nab 25% so that means the actual payout will be in the range of $375.00. Then there's the inevitable "shrinkage" as the rewards pool adjusts over 7 days... and by payout time, they'll actually end up with somewhere between $275.00 and $325.00 on their $300.00 "investment." 

Sure, it looks like "big numbers" but mostly we're just looking at money "churning;" that is... spending $300 to "make" $300.

The Moral/Philosophical Argument

Which leads us down to the moral and philosophical objections to bid bots and vote buying, namely that it seems like bid bots are a way for people who already have a lot of assets and influence to get richer... at the expense of those who are desperately struggling to make a name for themselves.

In a sense, I find myself sympathetic to that particular school of thought; I was never a big fan of exploitation.

On the other hand, isn't this really a case of "greed exploiting greed?" Think about it... if some relative newcomer who "hasn't done the work" believes they deserve to have their mediocre content featured in Trending and is exploited by some (possibly equally greedy?) bid bot owner, aren't they actually more like a "match made in heaven?" Or what one might call "They DESERVE each other?"

But... we do still have the issue of the rich getting ever richer "at the expense of." 

Apologists for free market Capitalism shrug and say "that's market forces at work!" and sometimes seems almost proud of that. 

That attitude works, as long as you are willing to be completely oblivious to your indirect surroundings and your impact on them. 

What do I mean by that?

Think of it with this "farming" analogy:

If you're a happy organic farmer minding your own business growing marvelous peas and strawberries... and Monsanto buys the land upwind from you and puts a corporate farm there... and sprays the shit out of their soybean crop... are you affected?

Hell yeah! In fact, you might be totally fucked!

Were you doing anything wrong? Were you complaining? Were you making moralistic judgments? Nope. You were just there. Did Monsanto do anything "wrong?" Legally, no. But they were oblivious to the possibility that their actions might have a greater impact, outside their own self-interest.

And so, that's ultimately the "loose end" I have with Bid Bot operators.... "Are you aware of the greater potential fallout and ramifications of your actions, as they relate to the greater Steemit Ecosystem?"

How about YOU? Where do YOU stand on this "hot potato" issue? Where are the "pluses" and "minuses" on this? Knowing that this is a "decentralized" structure and no "they" will step in to change the situation, what is the best course of action for the Steemit community? Do you even CARE? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180529 13:12 PDT