Steem rewards are given through an inflation pool based on the amount of stake you hodl. The inflation pool is finite and shared amongst everyone on Steem. When someone uses bid bots to promote their post, they are essentially taking money from every other user on the platform. So please, use bid bots wisely and appropriately.
This is why when you advertise using a bid bot; you don't pay much because you get your money back, well where did that money come from? That money comes out of every Steemians pocket. There's no free lunches in life and Steem is no exception. I'm not against using bid bots to promote important topics that provide value. However, I'm against excessive/abusive use of bid bots.
We need to find a way to implement a burn when using bid bots. I'm not sure how we do this, except asking every bid bot owner to burn some Steem out of the bot profits to help the blockchain, but that isn't something everyone should rely. We could also ask people who promote their post heavily with bid bots to burn some Steem themselves, showing the community they are not taking advantage of the inflation pool. If anyone has a suggestion that will work, feel free to let everyone know.
With free downvotes, I'll be looking at posts that makes over $200 to make sure the inflation pool isn't being abused. If your post has over $200 in votes, but 95% of those votes came from bots, and your post adds little to no value for Steem, here is your fair warning, I will be downvoting you. Nothing personal, I'm simply protecting my investment in Steem.
The inflation pool should be used to help on-board new users, reward great content, and community work for Steem. Again, remember, the rewards on Steem come from a finite inflation pool that everyone shares. Every time you use a bid bot to promote your post, you are taking money from everyone else, so I ask, please use the bid bot services responsibly. Thank you.
I encourage all Steemians to use their downvotes. Without checks and balances, Steem will crumble, it's up to all Steemians to step up and help clean up the trending page and beyond from bid bot abuse.
The power is in our hands Steemians, Cheers!
