How can we trust people to accurately evaluate the quality of their own posts?
I'd recommend a twist on what you are saying... rather than coming to the conclusion that "it's ok to vote yourself up if its a good post, perhaps it would be better to think like "it's ok to use bid bots to UPVOTE OTHER PEOPLE."
Supporting others is the healthier way to do steem anyway. The paradox of steem is that by working hard to help others, you tend to get more for yourself...
But any philosophy that encourages new users to buy votes for themselves, just pushes steem closer to a "pay-to-win" economy, prices out the most marginalized people, and tends to encourage crappy mass-produced content over the good stuff.
This is an excellent suggestion for people with funds to do.
Some have zero funds when they upvote others or their own posts. Mine is pennies but I am working on it.
I do use tip u so I can pay more to others without having to give them a few cents.
So if a little guy earns a dollar it is asking a lot to have them upvote someone else by paying a bid bot.
They are best to give the fellow Steemian's post link to a curator who can bring more to the table.
Also without using bid bots I believe it is ok to upvote my own post. Some other minnows, dolphins, and whales do it. Taking a few pennies out of the pool to upvote my post is alright in my eyes...
Ya I agree with you, nobody should feel obligated to pay for bots to vote other peoples' posts. It's just an idea for how to use them responsibly if a steemian has the strong urge to do so
Lol good answer... it all boils down to money if you look at the majority of people and what they think. The slight tear is some minnows are afraid to use them due to pressure from folks with clout like yourself. They fear survival in the tank will not happen if they think outside the box of what is currently a controversy.
I say let it run its course..it will die out if or when not needed. The world operates that way but to use fear to make decisions creates confusion in the system.