@themarkymark I really wish Steemit actually starts stopping this kind of pimping of the system. Right now what is happening is that people with enough SBD just buy votes and get even their really mediocre posts on top of the trending posts - it's a huge disservice to newbies or those who write or post decent material but can't get enough exposure because they are not in a position to keep pumping money.
Sometimes it's jsut sad when genuine bloggers spend hours carefully crafting posts and getting steamrolled over by those who buy their way into all the hot and trending categories..
This results an system that ensures the rich get rich and the poor get poorer - reminds me of a crony capitalist environment.
Steemit should provide for egalatarian opportunities and there should be just an offical promoted section where promoted posts are featured and this kind of underhand dealing should stop for keeping steemit fair.
And yeah, now bloggers like me feel the heat to look for paid upvotes so that our content can get some decent exposure, and to think when I joined steemit, I believed, having great content was the one way to get good exposure and rewards..
Sigh, if only wishes were horses!