Thousands of dollars in rewards recovered to the reward pool.
If you haven't read the post about this user, I recommend reading it.
He has since initiated a powering down. It is obvious he is a bit upset about being called out on it.
I have gone through every account Iand removed our votes from his accounts and recovered thousands of dollars which will go back to the reward pool. I will lose our curation rewards but it is what I feel is best as it minimizes how much he will take with him as he leaves the platform.
There are other bots that are still rewarding him, and I suggest blacklisting and removing rewards as well.
bots used that still have payouts
I don't take blacklisting lightly, and I even more so removing rewards.
But this is unacceptable and it is not only spamming he is frauding users with his "upvote bots" and "giveaways" which are rigged to all his accounts.
A full list of his accounts can be found here and encourage you to do any due diligence you want to verify my findings.
My recent popular posts
- How curation rewards work and how to be a kick ass curator
- Markdown 101 - How to make kick ass posts on Steemit
- Work ON your business, not in your business! - How to succeed as a small business
- You are not entitled to an audience, you need to earn it!
- How to properly setup SSH Key Authentication - If you are logging into your server with root, you are doing it wrong!
- Building a Portable Game Console
Thx, I'm new to steemit and I love it but it's a real brain stretch to figure all this out. :)
So just to clarify, these bots here are ok to use
@jerrybanfield
@postpromoter
@pushup
@appreciator
@aksdwi
@boomerang
Yeah, I think the spammy ones were small fry.
Same here dude, im still new here on steemit and im having a hard time choosing which bot i can truly use and trust... im doing some searching in which bots that have good reviews. Can any one tell me what bots is good to use...
why use bots? i thought seemit was all about original content, creating communities...this way its all artificial...
just saying...
It's pure greed man. Nothing about curation, just whales liking other whales posts regardless of content value. You will see fights like this all the time between the power players. Steemit should be about content first. These types of behaviours damage the whole community and destroy the credibility of the platform
My thoughts exactly. Glad to be on the same page.
Let's keep steemit clean. It is healthier this way...otherwise it will soon be transformed into something very dirty and common.
At risk of being flagged (yes they will try to silence your voice if they do not like what you say) all these bots that are cheating the system should be banned. The rules should be: One account per user and no bots so we can have a solid community. I literally have posts with hundredths of likes and comments that barely made a few cents. On the other hand, you see these so-called whales get hundreds of dollars with significant fewer likes. It doesn't make any sense. They are just damaging the platform and if you think about it, they make it unsustainable in the long run. Because obviously they are taking all the money and leave nothing to new users. Thus new users have no incentive to keep blogging since their post will get no money regardless of the number of likes they get. I hope these problems can get fixed because I really like Steemit
New slogan: Ban the bots!
I understand bots do useful things. And that bots aren't the core problem. But would it be so bad to ban bots? Then you can hire people to do the work themselves. Actual people. And maybe whales will hire minnows to do the work, giving minnows a way to make SBD and earn a greater stake in the platform.
What if all the bot owners power down, and there is no one to fund all this content?
Great Idea! Ban the bots. No more bots in Steemit!
My response to @whatsup in a side-chain of this thread. It got cut off, so I'm posting here. @whatsup said:
What if all the bot owners power down, and there is no one to fund all this content?
Here's my reply:
Nobody can predict. Maybe influx of new users? Maybe drop in price of steem that allows others to buy more? Maybe steemit's brand value goes up, encouraging more people to use it? So many variables.
The problem is perceived unfair distribution of upvotes, leading to new users getting frustrated or simply dropping out. The goal is to keep whales and technically-savvy people from manipulating the system to their advantage. The intended result is a Steemit where rewards are distributed based on how much users like what authors post. Bots have value, certainly, but they also contribute to our problem, undermine our goals, and prevent us from getting the result we want. So, I’m advocating Steemit acknowledge this, accept a hard and risky decision to ban the bots, and hope that by staying true to the values we share and committing to the goals we share, Steemit will be better off for us having done so.
They are taking away from post promotion too. Post promotion burns money to increase the price, but bid bots lowers the price by squirreling it away for itself.
Entiendo algo de ingles pero me quedo claro. Estas totalmente en lo cierto.
Couldn't agree more with you! Hope the rest of us stays true to ourselves. This platform is way much bigger than that..
That's why I am posting only my own work. As @stevekelly mentioned, it will not be sustainable on the long run with bots and those votes "enhancers" (me too I am puzzled when I see a post with 2-5 votes and over 30USD...)
I made a breakdown of how these bots work in my blog, check it out, also there is a new voting solution where you need to pass a quality test to avoid voting on spammers. Check smartsteem and the bots article. I agree with both of you though I feel forced to use them to avoid getting behind :(
I wrote an article about these bots. Some of them are really making millions for their creators. You can find the article here
https://steemit.com/steemit/@stevekelly/the-cryptocurrency-mining-bots-stealing-millions-for-their-creators
I Agree, I mean am new to the comunity and I made quite some effort to make possible my last post, and it hardly gets an visit. Anyhow am patient and I will keep up.
I going to be really really honest here, because we think that the bots will help us to gain more attention with more upvotes so we can be featured in trending. If there are no bots, i i would not use it. But its actually like a gamble, out of 10 times only 4 pay out well. including the big ones like postpromoter or sneaky-ninja
Such a sweet kid @meonline. Bless his heart.
lol seemit?
The typo was probably a subconscious alteration.
Seems it yeah. Seems that your belief is right. Until you open your eyes.
That's just another proof I am not a bot :) :)
Mistakes makes us human, lol
Cheers,
Adrian
I used to feel the same way, and in a sense I still do. When I joined SteemIt in October of 2016, things were different. You didn't need to use bots. If you put out great content, you got recognized accordingly, for the most part.
Unfortunately, things have changed drastically, and it's simply not enough to put out good content. If you are a new user, or even a pro, for that matter, if you want any recoginition at all (which you deserve if you put out good content), then you need to use bots.
Sad. For example I have here one comment with 51 voted worth of...2.8usd. one can get dissatisfied and quit very soon. Luckily I am here only for the fun of it, but "something" is definitely wrong here....
I agree. I'm here for the fun of it, too, but when you work on a piece for 3 hours and make less than $1 and then someone else comes along and reposts a meme they found on Facebook and makes $300, it gets a little less fun.
Soo true. Upvoted you brother!
I disagree. You can form relationships on the chat of others post. (like this one) People see that you are a real user and like reading your comments so they go to your blog and see your content. they than follow you and upvote your posts. This is a slower way to grow but it is more sustainable.
Agreed. I heard all about the bots and decided to try one. I used 3 bots on 1 of my posts just to see what it would do. And in all honesty I prefer the slower "real" method. Yes the bot gave it a very small almost nothing to be spoken about upvote but it was not sustainable. The difference is using the bots you have to "pay" for the upvote on each post. When people truly follow you and they read your content they give you their true upvote. This is based on YOUR content and it is real. Which means they will come back and read more of your content and form a true following and most of the time (you should not except every post will be liked by every follower) they will upvote your post. Not only is this the real way to grow it is better. As you get bigger on the platform your follower gets bigger as well. The bigger they are the more their votes are worth. So that .02 vote now can be worth a hue amount in 6 months. The bots are dead end and if you stop paying for the vote they stop voting. Do as you wish but keep this in mind before you use a bot.
excellent comment brother
you can use @appreciator, @upme, @upmyvote, i use them all the time and they pay well. very good profit margins
Are you sure on the margins part? Have you checked already on other solutions?I made a breakdown of how these bots work in my blog, check it out, also there is a new voting solution where you need to pass a quality test to avoid voting on spammers.
Check smartsteem and the bots article. Hope it helps you to get the full picture.
good comment boss
Ive used @jerrybanfield and it worked well for me. It is a lot to wrap your head around. I've been on here a month or two and I'm still figuring it out. I found that the #whaleshare community is extremely helpful as well. You can find them in discord. Talk, chat, ask questions... its a learning curve for everyone.
:) USE SMARTBOT : more about smartbot
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@msg768/introducing-smartbot-the-official-smartcash-tipbot-for-steemit
I can totally relate
I feel like automatic is the future, but we will have to sacrifice some quality
There is nothing wrong with those bots as far as I know. They are the ones (as well as mine) that had votes on these user accounts. I blacklisted them on my bot and removed the rewards on the scammy posts.
thx man
You need to go take a look at jerrybanfield, I think he may also be frauding users with his "upvote bots" and "giveaways" which are rigged to all his accounts. Take a close look at his current writing contest Supernatural Writing Contest, the rules he implemented, then go find some of the entries and you will see that any that used his bots got up votes and those complaining in the comments of those stories are asking without any reply back when their stories are going to get voted. So even though in the contest rules it says you don't have to use his bots or donate proceeds to him the only articles being promoted are the ones that are.
Investigate Jerry?
You must have not updated your navigator.
You took a wrong turn somewhere back there.
The CIRCLE is THE CIRCLE!
Untouchables.
So you are saying that this dude markymark is in the inner circle of jerry therefore he won't go look into the allegations of abuse?
That's what you are saying actually.
Simply utilize the Shrelock within you.
To either validate or debunk that statement.
I have no power over what Jerry does, I can only control who abuses my bot. I am not SteemIt police (no one has that capacity as it is decentralized), I just have say who can or can't use my promotion bot and make a post about anything I see out of place.
If you believe he is doing something wrong, write a post about it and hopefully the community can deal with it.
@teknow is just mad I flagged his rude comment about approving the actions of a spammer.
......probably because at this point I can't see myself wasting my time writing something that I wouldn't even be able to get a foot inside the door for anyone to see it.
You on the other hand are already in the room, you could, at a minimum, look the situation over and determine if what he is doing is questionably fair to those participating and write a article on how contest run like that discourage participation and makes it appear the system can be rigged . You have way more exposure than I do to bring awareness. If I had to guess or make my own personal assumption based on other things I see, like what you depicted above, I would come to the assumption that he also is doing the very thing you described. It would seem though you may not be able to do anything about it it may bring awareness to someone who could or someone who could write guidelines to people entering contest about what techniques could be deployed at one's disadvantage. Simple as saying if a contest ask you to give up your rewards for something other than a charitable event it may be questionable.
He put out a contest with rules that he is not even voting on the content that was created following those rules. And a few of the ones he did vote on did not follow the rules. Yes it is rigged. But than I loved the idea behind the topic. So I wrote a post on it myself. I did see your entry and I thought it was well written as well. I even upvoted it. But than I am still small so it is only worth .02 right now.
I appreciate that, I do better at commenting then writing elaborate stuff so every penny counts to keep me swimming and rewarding others, I get down to a couple bucks and I am sweating it....(lol). I just like blogging, it's a hobby and as nice as the thought is of making money off your hobby sounds it's not always a realistic expectation. Do you have a link to your story? I loved to read it.
here is the link to mine. https://steemit.com/jerrybanfield/@curlfamilyvlog/the-day-i-felt-my-soul I too love the idea of just having an open community that I can share my story with.
You soft cock you're not man enough to discuss the truth.
On your very post about rape there sits on top a spam post.
On your mind also.. there sits the truth about the real rapists here.
BUT YOU ARE A PUSSY WHO WILL NOT SPEAK UP.
REWARDS TOO GOOD TO JEOPARDIZE. COCK RIDER.
Thank you for doing the Hard and Tideus leg-work so that we can all enjoy this platform and do it on a level playing field, so-to-speak. The greed has got to end people . Be original and have fun! Don't make this another one of those Great Ideas that gets ruined because you have no self-control. Again thank you and Good Luck to all my fellow Steemers!
good
good info
LOL good info for who?
The whales who now have eliminated another 'civilian' from raping the rewards?
The guy was utilizing the system EXACTLY how it was designed to be used.
Yet he had to go. NO CIVILIAN SHALL RAPE. ONLY WHALES.
This initiative is so laughable that I wonder if this markymark really does think he is Marky Mark there making sure that the Funky Bunch can get to go party backstage like they were accustomed to.
This is what steemit is developing into.
BOT RAPE PASS ONLY when you are granted that right by those who run them.
YO, YOU WANT IN ON THIS RAPE PARTY?
OK FIRST, I MUST APPROVE YOU.
RUB ME RIGHT MINNOW.
Yeah MarkyBitch...... THE TRUTH IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH.
No, it's that is out of my hands. I am not the Steemit Police, I can only deal with things I have control of, and I can control an abuser fraud with 51 accounts from using my bot.
You're a damn witness! You're not a nobody around here. You're NOT powerless. Anyway, these minuscule "return to the rewards pool" achievements are a valiant effort yes, but fall way short. It's like watching someone expel water with a bucket out of a sinking ship.
It's as productive and idiotic as the initiative of berniesanders thinking that his little flag poke is doing anything beyond embarrassing his sorry ass and creating a fragile platform for everyone else to move cautiously and lethargically on.
That should really be everyone's concern.
What is the real consensus of stemmit.
Within these walls, it doesn't mean shit if they all know the words to the song. It doesn't mean shit if they all sing along.
What matters is outside of here. What is spoken during that moment of "word of mouth". Sure there are many virgins who like many, fall for the concept. For every virgin though, there is many who speak negative about their experiences. Many have been here, and then gone. Never to return.
The most dominant reason:
A VERY BROKEN REWARDS SYSTEM.
Yet the movement to onboard more and more seems to be priority. Not communities anymore. Well that's a double edged sword. More users will have a positive. However, the more that come and go.. and then pass on their view.. that the platform is broken. A SCAM even. Rigged. This is not how systems and platforms grow.
Even with a dedicated campaign, a reputation is hard to shake.
One cannot build a mansion without a solid foundation.
You have the same false impression many do, witnesses do not have any super power to stop any abuse (nor is it in their job description, I do it by choice).
Stopping abuse is merely a system of who has more Steem Power. I can, however, stop them from using promotional services I offer to further their efforts.
I'd love to know your "return to the reward pool" achievements. Maybe we can compare notes. I blacklisted over 200 people this week from abusing the system, how many have you?
Shit if one individual could initiate 'grumpycat' and force a new code of conduct for the bot owners and users. Then it would indicate that ranked individuals do have powers which they might not be aware of, or maybe.. don't wish to explore.
And as you say, you do it because you choose to. (which I applaud) So to chose not to is thus an option too. One exercised by many. That's the thing. That many who are here long enough know via observation. It's clean up here, this, that... but all that going on up there. .. .... .. . . ..
I have zero invested here but interest. So yeah I can't be an equal to you. Obviously your end question was rhetorical. I appreciate you engaging in conversation though.
@grumpycat also wields a huge hammer, is able to cause damage to lots of innocent people. I refused to yield to the demands of a hypocritical terrorist because of the way he went about it and the fact he does the same thing with his comments, even though I completely agreed with the end goal.
I eventually changed it because in the end I believed in the reason behind it and I had bigger issues to deal with and newer users were getting hurt in the process.
It cost me a lot but such is life. But I think you are disillusioned if you think I have the power to change much here outside of what I control. I tried that as well and well that didn't go well either.
I've come to terms that I need to focus on what I can control or influence.
I owed more then what you sent @buildawhale
...
The rewards are back in and this guy is here to steal them.
I think we found a new campaign for @steemflagrewards. @lasper you are now on our radar.
lol Oh no he's taking $2. The outrage.
Whales taking thousands...... no no... we don't go there.
@teknow look at the screencap. He's taking in way more than that. I'm not disagreeing with you, however.
I think whales taking thousands would be too meager an estimate. Maybe tens of thousands
But @themarkymark? Out of all bid bot owners I have interacted, he is likely one of the most principled. I mean he actually made a decision to sacrifice his curation rewards in this case.
I don't like bid bots in general but if I had to choose one to endorse. It would be his.
Yeah I must agree themarkymark is a good guy here.
Fuck it though, this is still a pointless initiative.
BOTS grew to BE the system.
Now everyone's papers getting checked.
Not the Whales though.... hand on cock and staying that way.
Now up we go.. and down... and up.... and down....
lol sorry.. this pic is too funny.
And that's exactly the reason why I advocate to BAN THE BOTS from Steemit. Furthermore, it is not only me. If someone has the technical knowledge to do a survey among all users of this platform, I can assure you the vast majority want the BOTS GONE
Think there are good bots and bad. Take @gentlebot for instance. He upvotes non-self voters. That is really cool because greedy self voting is largely incentivized. I hate it with a passion and my adamance against them (pattern self voting and excessive bid bot use on subpar content primarily) has drastically inhibited my account growth and influence.
Some people say the only reason they use the bots is to keep from falling behind the more manipulative trenders. I can kind of see that but I just can't bring myself to go with the flow when said flow is directly contrary to my ideals.
I'm going to make a reasonable attempt to change things with my meager minnow power and scripting ability but I will eventually make an ultimatum to myself as to how long I will tolerate it.
I have ideas for a more equitable blockchain based social media project. If all else fails, maybe our kind can come together and start something new. Something with a more fair rewards system that is stake neutral in terms of authorship.
I know the whales probably get annoyed with my complaining ( I am doing something about it tho) but I am certain that most fellow principled low stake holders can relate.
Yes, there are some good bots, I like the Chetaah bot that identifies plagiarised content. The problem is that it would be almost impossible to review all bots to determine which ones are good or bad. Thus the solution I propose is to limit accounts to one per user and NO BOTS. Anyway, I will start promoting the concept of NO BOTS and while we minnows do not have any power we have the numbers and if we stop following and upvoting whales they will be forced to listen to us
Good to no
power to the community. It is all about fair share.
There is no such thing as equal share.
Again fair share.
Keep on steemin'
agreed. automated vs organic... its a tough battle to win. can it be won? its like recycling will the earth ever be free of waste? but we can always do our part to recycle what we can and know we are making a difference no matter how small of an impact 1 can have on a planet. These things always begin with awareness and then adoption. For me trying to get outta bed and into the gym before the work bell starts is always the expectation but it doesn't always happen. But when i do i know im working on a better me. Same goes For @themarkymark here I'm proud to see 1 browncoat here trying to mop up the automated trash in steemit. Cant seem to stand it when users are abusers and destroy the organic things that make a place so great. It's great to see someone taking their time to focus on making this place better for us, and with the difficulty of onboarding new users, and this trash getting in the way, it doesnt make things any easier. Theres a new sheriff in town... and he's comin'
Organic upvotes are always better, they are a sign that there are people who truely appreciate your content. Nonetheless if you can make money and get your content seen by a large portion of the steemit community through inorganic upvotes there isn’t a problem with it unless it is abused.
Understood. Just two different paradigms of thought hoping for favorable outcomes
좋은 정보 감사해요!
I'm more confused than ever! I just stay away from the bots and keep plugging away old school hoping to build a tribe of people that actually want to read my stuff. :)
im in the same boat my friend but reach out to people always to educate myself on how they work and what they are. They are an integral part of Steem. As a new user a month in i am staying away but educating myself as i grow i may need them who knows. People like @themarkymark are governing the space to make it better for us, as he has bots as well and is always willing to educate anyone on best practices, including bots :)
useful information!
You know, I really don't get these spammers - why the hell would you do this? First, they're hurting the platform AND the community. Which is ungrateful, to say the least. Not to mention, undeserved by those of us who do actually work on our posts and actually struggle to grow the community and help it prosper.
Second, don't they realize Steemit is this golden ticket? That it's too good to be true? You get to meet awesome people and be rewarded for writing what YOU want and still you try to steal and abuse it?
No wonder change is so hard...with people like this trying to screw it up at every step.
I think you made a good decision themarkymark. You're one of the good guys.
I couldn't have said it better myself :)
Agree with this.
Steemit has a lot of potential.
But only if the platform is actually full of good content, not mediocre stuff being fluffed with bots.
No one wins if Steemit as a platform doesn't win.
thank you D:
I liked your comment
Not a fan of all the botting, need original material.
I think it's awesome that there are people who actually care about the platform more than their own personal gain.
Cleaning up activity like this is necessary to retain the value of the platform and its currencies in the future, everyone is still motivated by money, lol.
Ooh, ooh me!!! Call on me!!!!
I really don’t care about the money. I usually just give away upwards of 75% of payout value equivalent in fiat to a non-profit. The rest I put into increasing post visibility, not to make money, but to get more eyes on what I write.
It’s not because I’m better than anyone who is motivated by money.
I’m actually worse, since my motivation is probably best described as something approaching an almost unprecedented level of navel-gazing vanity.
In other words, I want lots of people to read my stuff and go “Ooooooo,” and “wow״ and just start chanting “That guy’s great! That guy’s great!”
It’s really unbelievable that there’s even room left on the blockchain for anything other than my ego.
But still, ya know, not motivated by money...
Virtue signaling is one of the favored pastimes on steemit, you will go far with that attitude. Hell, I just put it in my username.
Oh you have no idea.
I’m on like Virtue Signaling-The Lost Levels.
I make a point to compare myself to a piece of garbage on a regular basis, and to figure out the nasty things people will say about me in advance, so I can head them off at the pass and just do it myself.
Strangely, even though it all has the utility of virtue signaling, its all also not an incorrect understanding of my own self-worth.
Follow this stuff down into my psychological rabbit hole and you’ll find that all the “admitting that I’m a walking talking ego trip” is just a cover for some incredibly deep rooted insecurities and neuroses.
My psyche makes Woody Allen look like a hyper-confident alphamale.
So I should take up virtue signaling? I'm not sure I can do that as I am most certainly the most useless poster on the blockchain.
In fact, I'm surprised I don't have a negative number of followers...although there's always @charitybot to save the day.
Let me see if I can find a way for everyone I come in contact with to marvel at my amazing self-deprecation and I'll get back to y'all.
P.S. I'm now following @ilt-yodith (despite having no idea wtf that name means) simply based on this post: https://steemit.com/funny/@ilt-yodith/we-re-all-just-socializing-on-the-toilet
yeah that one was a masterpiece of filthy crap, definitely not a recommended read for the weak willed
This was a masterpiece. Extra credit for subtlety referencing a toilet during your self-deprecation.
If you can condition people to think of toilets whenever your name is brought up in conversation, you’ve essentially earned a Masters Degree in purposeful self-loathing.
A+
thank you for turning me on to him/her.... i have since read 95% of his/her posts and laughed and pondered and genuinely loved it all. can't wait for more LOL
Haha, I've been thinking a lot about how to work steemit into non profits. It looks like there's a lot of opportunity here to raise funding.
ahhhhhhh THIS is where i first found you LOL. it was the last tab to close... lol
Yep, when there's no police force to keep people from abuse, the people have to do it!
Your writing is very good, and very beneficial. And I am also motivated for your writing. And I say thousands of thanks for writing you wrote, semonga you and I we will be successful together in this steemit. So that can add more income .. beloved friendship may we healthy always yes.
This is not surprising. Where ever there is money to be had. Someone will try to game the system.
Good job pointing them out to us.
Yep, those are the incentives around here for sure.