This was originally going to be a disclaimer on my other post about climbing the Steemit ladder but it got a bit out of hand.
I see a lot of complaints on here about vote buying services. Some claim they clog up the blockchain, some claim they promote crap, some say they give newbs the impression they aren't getting what they deserve. They say that when new folks see see all these upvoted posts they think "I deserve big payouts too!"
I don't know about clogging up the blockchain, I think it can handle the transactions just fine. While there is a ton of crap out there getting upvoted I don't really see the big deal if people are putting up their own Steem and SBD for votes. It's a free market and people are going to learn how to play the market.
Most of the complaints I see come from well established Dolphins and Whales who have put a ton of capital into the system to get where they are. They didn't necessarily create great content, many of them don't even mingle with the Minnows or Red Fish (or Plankton as Busy calls them). They just bought into Steemit early or with a ton of money and now they ride on their own Steem Power, earning a steady stream of income from the blockchain.
As for Plankton coming in and thinking they should earn more: maybe some should. The bulk of them will drop out very quickly once they realize the investment they have to make to climb the ladder. As for the rest that stay and use bots and upvote buying services I say more power to them. They are building their investments. Let them do it.
Steemit is a capitalist system. Most people like to romanticize capitalism and act like hard work and productivity are always rewarded. We should all know by now that just because someone works hard and produces a quality product does not automatically mean they will succeed. No, most successful people in capitalism are smart people who know how to market themselves or their product. They know how to wisely invest their capital into places that give them the best return.
The successful people here on Steemit are the ones who either invested lots of their own money into it, or reinvested every penny they earned on it back into it. It wasn't all "creating quality content and curating that of others." They had capital that they invested, or they slowly created capital to invest.
Everything I have on Steemit is from Steemit. I have slowly snowballed my way to where I am. I honestly wish I had started sooner. I'm very close to actually biting the bullet and putting some outside money into it. First I have to have some outside money...
Mostly everything "they" say about quality content and getting lots of followers being the key to success here is a crock. You have to invest and re-invest to climb this ladder, and all of these services are a great way to do that.