The Problem

Recently it was discovered that your 2 cent vote is worthless!

Without realizing it, many active Steemians had been wasting their votes.
- The wake up call was when @timcliff posted about an idea to fight spam.
  - Raise the dust threshold.

Here is the section of code that is currently checking the "dust threshold" (0.02 SBD).
If posts/comments do not reach this threshold, the payout is rounded down to zero.

Said another way...

If you vote anything <$0.02 SBD, you have wasted your vote.

Reaction

Tim's post has collected a mass amount of comments. As I read down through them, most are appalled at the idea of raising the threshold and many, if not most, did not realize there even was a threshold.

@beeyou put out the first reaction post I read.

voicing concern about the threshold
several valid ideas for those whose vote is worth <$0.02

After 18 days on Steemit (80 days ago), I set a goal to be able to give my 2 cents.

Just because of the saying...
I had no clue about this dust vote situation.
- So I have been pursuing that $0.02 vote.
  - Reading @beeyou's post gave me extra incentive.

But...

As if the $0.02 threshold wasn't bad enough, @thedarkhorse did some experimenting and discovered you actually need to have $0.03 or risk wasting your vote. He explains in this post

If your voting power doesn't allow for a 0.03 vote on a comment Don't Waste Your Vote! Instead save your votes and only upvote actual posts.
If your voting power allows for a 0.03 vote on comments make sure to use this as your cut off. Giving a 1 or 2 cent upvote on a comment is a waste of your voting power and isn't giving a reward to the author as you intended.

OK, no need really to complain, since it is what it is.

Do we complain if we drop something on the floor? Gravity is what it is. Complaining will not change the fact that if you drop something, it will end up on the floor.
- No need to complain about the required $0.03 vote so your vote is not wasted.
  It is what it is.
  - Just set a goal to get yourself in a situation where you can give $0.03 votes.
So that's what I did.
I used the handy dandy vote calculator on https://steemnow.com/ to figure out how much more Steem Power I needed to give a $0.03 vote.
- I leased some Steem Power using https://blocktrades.us/
  Under the top drop down menu, click "Buy Steem Delegation."
  - Voila! Problem solved!
    I could now give a $0.03 vote and not have to worry about ever wasting my vote again, right?
Wrong!
- Evidently I did this while SBD & Steem were valued fairly high.
  Since, then the price has dropped.
  - I can no longer give a $0.03 vote.
    I cannot afford to lease additional Steem Power.

Woe, is me, what's a guy to do?

The Solution @dustsweeper

Introduction Post

Dustsweeper Logo 1.png

This bot will upvote dust so there will be rewards.

No more wasted votes!
- It is not a FREE service.
  You pay upfront for the service
  - The vote will double any money spent.
    Example: If you send in $1 SBD, you will receive $2 of dustsweeper upvotes.

Brought to you by none other than @davemccoy and @danielsaori (a witness)

No membership fees
- Send SBD to @dustsweeper to initiate the service.
  - You get about 71 dust votes / $1 SBD.
The bot will notify you when you start running low on funds.

A scenario of how this works.

A person just getting started votes on one of your comments with say $0.01 value
- Before the dustsweeper service,
  if no one else voted on that comment,
  that vote would be wasted.
- Using the dustsweeper service;
  - When the comment is 6 days old, along comes dustsweeper and upvotes it to above dust threshold.
  - Voila! Just like that, now the minnow will actually get a bit of curation.
    Their vote is rescued and has not been wasted.