On the 2nd June 2018, the 'fulltime bot brigade' started their upvoting mission. The goal being to provide the consistent creators of solid Steem blockchain content with encouragement to continue doing so, via the random and steady support of their content from the fulltimebots - managed by @fulltimegeek.
Image by @allseeingewe - cheers!
In just 52 days, the fulltimebots have dished out over 22150 votes to 260 accounts, and both of these numbers are rising constantly.
And this is the not the first project that @fulltimegeek has put in place to selflessly provide support for the huge number of accounts producing content and engaging with the community.
In late 2017, @fulltimegeek began the 'Stewards of Gondor' program in which he delegated his whole stake out to 10's of accounts and sent them on a mission to curate amongst their communities. The empowerment that this provided gave many of these accounts new confidence and goals and changed the way they approached Steem.
I am one of those people, and one of the 260 accounts currently fortunate enough to be on the end of a fulltimebot vote when my content hits the Steem blockchain. Both of these selfless initiatives have given me new insight into such actions as:
Self-voting: Earlier this year I gave up on rewarding myself for my own work and it is now in the hands of others to value my content accordingly. I'm aware that others think differently about what it means to 'big yourself up', or that some are paying for delegations and so gifting a vote to self helps cover this cost. Whatever works for you, but for me the extra 100% vote (I would normally use on my own post each day) is better 'spent' elsewhere.
Bid-bots: In the past I was a user, often slapping multiple bids on one post. I never really cared about the promotion aspect, it was profitable to use almost all of the bots back then, and of course there is a 'reputation' boost to consider - whatever 'rep' means these days - not much attests @mirrors, unless you fancy a few more Byteballs that is.
I read posts from the likes of @aggroed supporting the new trend, and at the time I felt able to hide behind the general feeling that
If you don't use them, another shit-poster will
Whilst I still believe this is partly true, and that investors will aim for the best ROI they can achieve (delegating to a Bid-bot being one of the best ROI's available right now), I'd like to think that in the future there will be other methods that provide as good a return, with the Bots still around to boost the new projects that must be seen - and not just someones breakfast.
Delegations: To people and projects, without payment, or request of a return vote. There is no way I or anyone else can locate, read, and support the content (and people) worthy of a vote - delegating can spread your vote further, and although you don't receive the curation rewards, the payback comes in back in other ways.
I'm lucky to have some of the most engaging posts on Steem - if comment/replies are the judge. Sharing some of what I have is a big reason for this, and has even earned me some SP delegations to my account - Thank you @yabapmatt, @krnel, @demotruk, and @fulltimegeek, your Steem Power goes out to many:
Witnessing: With encouragement and backing of @fulltimegeek, I recently entered into this aspect of Steem with @paulag, and our witness account, @steemcommunity. Whilst we've taken a few hits and accept we are not perfect, we run our witness account much the same as our own accounts. It is there to provide community support, encourage engagement and retention, and we look to provide support and guidance whenever we can.
And it's not just myself that has taken on this approach. Many of the 'Stewards of Gondor' run community accounts, host competitions, don't self-vote or sell their vote, push for a selfless approach, and some are now witnesses also.
There is even account born out of the original initiative which provides daily support for the ex Stewards - @friendsofgondor, which is the brainchild of @davemccoy - not even an old Steward himself, just someone who appreciated what was achieved by them, and of course @fulltimegeek.
All of the above would likely not have happened without the selfless and supportive actions of @fulltimegeek, who offered a lead by example approach on how to Steem-it. His work here is amongst the kindest and selfless I have ever witnessed, and with his bots on curation duty, there's even time in his day to produce some music for you all :)
Big up the fulltime bot brigade, massive respect to all you do for this community, you are an inspiration both to myself, and many others.
Thank you, and thank you all for your time today.
Asher