we would be remiss if we claim that we do not know or feel the effects of bots in steemit and in other social media sites. In fact, as steemians, we see it in action for example against plagiarism (I am sure you all remember @cheetah and @steemcleaners et al ), up voting / down voting ( @booster , @banjo , @minnowsupport et al ) , posting and yes even commenting.

https://steemitimages.com/DQmZD6NdUMhubzB4VquimZbWoGizFdf4bFrvZNcGMzJaxu1/bog.jpg

Pic source

For example, when I replied to some of @frystikken posts I do get some weird response and thought that he was out of his mind-however I continued respectfully. This response continued for hours until I later figured out that I was actually chatting with a bot ( @frystikken smart guy indeed haha 😂😂😂)

https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://media2.giphy.com/media/26FPOogenQv5eOZHO/giphy.gif

and have to end the long conversation.

Moreover, I noticed that @blueorgy has a bot that informs him when his attention is needed and I even have a bot that takes care of me after using the toilet and sings good night songs for me while I sleep (haha just kidding 😂😂😂 ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKbpLQp509Y

Bots : Steemit killer or a strategic use of time?

Some steemians examples , @beanz and @demotruk , @personz , @bitgeek , @kyriacos , @stellabelle and @heretickitten have written and commented about this subject in an objective way and without a solid outcome to supporting that bots are always good :It seems self-evident that on a social network, no one can have a meaningful connection with a bot (unless the bot is extremely humanlike, but even then... ).

Additionally, @ozchartart through innovation has a bot that writes contents (even though not perfectly creative) and @renzoarg even perfected a bot further in content creation just to show the power of innovation- see post about it here : Is It Plagiarism Or Is It Innovative? - A bot written article (by LAURA)

Even though the advantages of these bots are visible , its disadvantages , however , cannot be denied. Examples

A bot cannot replace real users at steemit, in fact its mass adoption at steemit will render this platform too mechanical and uninteresting which will have a negative effect.
Yes bots can help us combat plagiarism and mass self upvoting, however they can also be used to spread spams like virus across the Platform.
Bots can lead to less engagement and sometimes unethical upvoting especially when people upvotes (via bots ) without even reading the authors post which might not be the case when they actually read the post. This can even affect steemit negatively if there is mass adoption of voting bots leading to less engagement in the site –which is a disadvantage.

In conclusion, bots are good if used in a right way and should be encouraged. Reason is that steemit is an innovative platform and thus should encourage innovation. On the other hand, negative use of bots especially in mass self-up upvoting (with many accounts ) , bullying other members via mass down voting , and spams should be discouraged.

What do you guys think?

All bots are bad
Some bots are bad :please indicate which, example comment bots, up vote bots, flagging bots
Not all bots are essentially bad, i.e. I do not have a problem with any bots

Send in your comment, Please resteem this for others to join and upvote to send your support.

We have a big issue in steemit with regards to flagging of posts-pls read about it via my former post see link : Down voting : A Motivational Killer or A Strategic Use of Power? and send in your comments

vinnyb