Bot-Or-Not
a modest proposal
Firstly, there is nothing inherently wrong with bots. Bots are like a hammer: They can be used to build a house or crush a skull. Bots are tools which can be used to help or hinder.
While bots are not necessarily a bad thing, without accounting for them it can become problematic when attempting to assess the "health" of the Steemit.com.
To aid in human-users attempts to differentiate between other human-users and bots, I propose a modest solution:
Bot-Or-Not
Bot -Or-Not will serve as an "identity indicator", allowing users to indicate how or if an account is being managed (manually or by bot) or to indicate status/position within the steemit.com community.
Theoretically, Bot-Or-Not would be a "pay per use utility" and a "subscription based utility" to allow users to differentiate between humans and bots.
The first personal use of Bot-Or-Not would be free, as to provide baseline data for algorithm development.
Identification of users:
Humans and bots have different use patterns.
Algorithms have been developed to differentiate between humans and bots and more are being developed as I type.
Self-reporting is probably the best start.
If someone is starting up a personal account, it's free to use the first time.
Periodically, a bot checking bot will check the account for "bot tells" and indicate if their account is acting "bottish" or "human".
Acting "bottish" isn't a bad thing (if you're a bot), but if you're a spamming human it's bad. Bot-Or-Not reserved the right to strip or replace a public "identity indicator" (Icon ) of an account if a human user starts acting like a bot or a bot starts acting like a human.
How it could change the look of steemit.com:
A text explanation of how I see this working is located in the later part of this posting, if you would like to see it.
The bottom of this post contains all the information concerning the financial terms concerning the purchase if this idea and the associated accounts.
Witnesses, Alternate Witnesses, Developers, Investors and Patrons will automatically recieve a Bot-Or-Not "Witness icon" if they wish, based upon criteria to be determined at a later date. Someone with more experience would need to determine the guidelines for the investor, developer and patron icons.
Ghost Users
While I have no specific guidelines for a "Ghost User", I would probably start with four (4) or fewer logins/month and no interactions.
Dead Users
While I have no specific guidelines for a "Dead User", I would probably start with no logins in the past six (6) months.
Speculator Users
I would allow someone in the speculating/cryptocurrency trading arena determine the guidelines for this one.
Human User
This is generally the easiest one to figure out!
Bot Classifications:
There are two basic types of bots, Abusive (bots that do things without letting you know they are bots) Non-Abusive (all the rest of the bots)
Non-Abusive Bots:
Curator bot:
Bots that automatically curate content at the request of a Human.
Utility bot:
Bots that automatically provide a service at the request of a human.
Registered Bot:
A bot used by an individual which is NOT being used for up-voting, down-voting, commenting or handling financial transactions.
Money Bot:
A bot which is specifically written to handle financial transactions.
Voting Bot:
A bot which is programmed to upvote or down vote
Research and Development Bot:
These bots are bots which do not upvote or down vote, and are being developed for future use. When the development is complete, their designation will be changed to an appropriate bot type.
Hunter Bots:
Hunter Bots are bots which have been programmed to identify other bots
Example:
Bob starts an account: @bobisnotabot
Initially (after 2 weeks of data have been collected and analized) he would get a HUMAN Icon (identity indicator) by his name when he asks for a free one:
After a few weeks, Bob is getting pretty good at handling his account and spends a lot of time curating posts. When this data is analized, it determines that he's probably a curator. The Bot-Or-Not account tells Bob:
"Hey, you seem to be spending a lot of time curating. Would you like a 'Human Curator' icon (identity indicator)?"
Bob says "Sure!" and is rewarded with the appropiate icon(identity indicator):
A few months go by and Bob has figured out how to program a bot to curate for him. When the data is analized, it is determined that Bob is now running a bot for curation. The Bot-Or-Not account tells Bob:
"Hey Bob? Looks like you're running a curation bot. Don't you think all the other humans would like to know that it's a bot doing all this work? For a minimal fee, we'll replace your HUMAN-CURATOR icon (identity indicator) with a BOT-CURATOR icon (identity indicator).
Bob says "No thank you. I'll just start another account to run my bot on and indicate it then."
Bob sets up another account: @bobscurationbot1
Bob runs this account name through the Bot-Or-Not account, identifying the account as a curation bot, paying a minimal fee for a BOT-CURATOR icon (identity indicator):
But Bob doesn't run a curation bot. Bob decides to run a voting bot!
After awhile, the data is analized and Bot-Or-Not tells Bob:
"Bob, you paid for a BOT-CURATOR icon (identity indicator) but you're using it as a vote bot. For a minimal fee, we'll switch you to a VOTE-BOT icon, or else we'll strip you of your BOT-CURATOR icon."
Bob says: "Sure, I'll pay."
Bob pays and the icon (identity indicator) is changed:
Bob's bot is doing great, until people start griping about how his up-vote bot is upvoting bot generated posts.
Bot-Or-Not tells Bob: "Your vote bot is being abusive. Stop this shit or we'll pull your icon (identity indicator) in two weeks!"
Bob says: Fuck off!
Bot-Or-Not: Icon (identity indicator) is stripped two weeks later.
After 90 days, if Bob's vote bot is still doing the same shit, Bot-Or-Not will have @bobscurationbot1 flagged as an abusive bot internally on the publically viewable Bot-Or-Not account, but only when asked:
Bob lets the account go inactive for 180 days, so Bot-Or-Not puts the account on the dead list and when asked, shows the icon (identity indicator) as:
The end.
Purchasing Terms:
Item for sale: master login for @bot-or-not
Use of this outline
Option 1: 1,000,000 STEEM
Buyer will come to Oklahoma to meet me.
I will log into the account @bot-or-not.
Buyer will transfer 1,000,000 STEEM to @torquewrench1969.
Buyer will change master password for @bot-or-not.
I'll purchase dinner and drinks for up to 4 people.
Purchasing Terms:
Item for sale: master login for @bot-or-not
Use of this outline
Option 2: 100 Year VESTS Smart Contract Bot Payments
10,000 STEEM down payment to @torquewrench1969.
A "smart contract bot" will be developed which will transfer VESTS to @torquewrench1969 in the following manner:
Monthly payments of:
37 VESTS per HUMAN subscription account per month to @torquewrench1969.
37 VESTS per HUMAN subscription account per month to @steemit
74 VESTS per BOT subscription account per month to @torquewrench1969.
74 VESTS per BOT subscription account per month to @steemit.
37 VESTS per manual use to @torquewrench1969.
37 VESTS per manual use to @steemit.
Payments will be made monthly for 1200 months.
