Hey Steemit... Is Using Randowhale Cheating Or Smart?

When I first got to Steemit, I kept seeing this whale thing giving big votes to all kinds of people? When I looked into it, I found that you can pay 2 SBD in order to get a vote from an account called Hive account@randowhale. I've seen some people call it cheating.

(image designed by an awesome Steemonian Hive account@anrtico - check out his work here.)

Using Hive account@randowhale is pretty simple. You transfer two sbd to Hive account@randowhale and put the link to the post you want him to up-vote as the memo and the rest is magic. He shows up almost immediately and upvotes the link provided and comments. 

Generally your post will jump from nothing to $3- $7 in value almost immediately, but more importantly it helps move you up on the hot list.

There is no doubt that it works. I've used it several times and after all is said and done with payouts, The 2SBD that I spend using Hive account@randowhale net's me about a 20% positive return. 

The question isn't if it works, but the question is if it is cheating? 

In some ways I feel weird about using the service that @Randowhale provides, but I keep doing it and here is why.

1. Whenever I use the service it is 100% in the open. There is comment and the link is forever put on the blockchain when I transfer money. Nothing is happening in secret.

2. It is a good service and I believe in free markets. Somebody, whoever @Randowhale is, spends a lot of time creating and maintaining his service. I kinda like how he has been really clever on how he uses his Steempower.

3. When you are starting out, I've been here three weeks, it really helps to gain some traction because the price point is so low.

4. You are almost guaranteed a positive return on your investment.

TIP - when using Rando, do it almost immediatly after posting so you get all the curation rewards too.

To be honest though, I wonder if it is gaming the system. It is open to everyone, but whales don't use the service. It is mostly new people that are trying to gain some traction. I see it as advertising cost.

One thing that I am going to start doing is sending Hive account@randowhale links to content that isn't mine. There are a lot of new people out here that are putting up some great content that should get noticed. My little vote won't really help too much, but I could spend some sbd and hep them out. 

I don't think using the service that Hive account@randowhale provides is cheating. I see it as a brilliant way for that cigarette smoking whale to make some money and for new people to get some traction on their posts. 

Those are my thoughts, but what do you think? 

TO HELP THE PEOPLE THAT READ AND COMMENT ON MY STUFF, THE BEST COMMENT AFTER 24 HOURS WILL BE PICKED AND I WILL PAY FOR AN UPVOTE FROM @RANDOWHALE FOR YOU. SO LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON USING @RANDOWHALE. IS IT CHEATING OR SMART?

Just to be clear, I use the service that Hive account@randowhale provides sometimes, but I'm not paid or sponsored by him. I've never even talked to the guy. I'm posting this for honest discussion.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this and as always, I deeply appreciate your feedback and follow. You rock! Steem On!