As some of you may have noticed, I have an argument with the imitator bot - @resteem.bot
A lot of spam was made due to that and I want it to stop.
Here is some information about the 2 bots:
| Bot | Created | Creator | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| @resteembot | 34 days ago | @investigation | Advertisment, Retaliation |
| @resteem.bot | 29 days ago | @flauschi (*) | Accusations (**), Spam (***) |
- * - @flauschi never admited being the creator of his bot, or if he did - I didn't see that.
- ** - he accuses me of spam, because of the volunteer bot program. You probably know it, because it is likely the way you learned of my bot.
(There are 4 active volunteer advertisment bots. One is me. The other 3 are my friends. There was a fifth one, but he has more important stuff to do with his account.)
They do indeed write unrelated comments in many posts, but they also upvote all these posts. 90% of the replies (excluding @resteem.bot's) they get are "Thank you! I will check it out."
Therefore the reason I do not take his accusations seriously is that the people being 'spammed' are thankful of it. - *** - he writes his accusation in posts that have nothing to do with me, other than being resteemed by me.
Here's how it went:
- He wrote accusation comments, insisting I stop advertising (for the crazy reason that people might think it is him, doing it)
- I tried reasoning.
- He wrote the same accusation comments, insisting I stop advertising.
- I tried ignoring.
- He wrote the same accusation comments, insisting I stop advertising.
- I tried told everyone to stop advertisement for a week, hoping he'll forget about the matter and do something else.
(Everyone needed to recharge their voting power anyway. A pause was needed.)
- I tried told everyone to stop advertisement for a week, hoping he'll forget about the matter and do something else.
- He wrote the same accusation comments, insisting I stop advertising (after that week passed)
- I tried trolling him (with this image)
The problem is - this dude is really stubborn and thick skinned.
Help me!
No, I don't want you to act against him. That would be stupid and childish.
Instead - tell me how to resolve this.
I honestly don't care if he exists or not, nor do I care where he posts, as long as he is not deliberately targeting me.
I just want him to leave me alone and do his imitation thingy by himself.
He can follow and get followed by all the fake users he wants. He can post his picture around in as big resolution as he wants.
Just to stop trying to sabotage me - the person whose idea he stole.
I want your ideas in the comments, but before that, some notes.
- I do not want to downvote him. This will waste the Voting Power I dedicated to You, my customers.
- I do not want to spam on his client's posts.
- I already tried ignoring him and it didn't work. Still... If you think that It will work if I persist longer... say that in a comment.
- I thought that if I humiliate him enough, he'll be ashamed to post more accusations. I was wrong. I don't think he knows shame. I only made him more agitated and active.
- I can simply terminate the advertisement campaign (and admit defeat) but I don't think that will stop him (because I do not believe that the advertisement is his real reason for spamming). I believe he'll just find another thing to annoy me with.
So...
You are communicating with someone else. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Trying to humiliate or criticize someone is likely to provoke a negative response.
Always, always, always stay "classy" in your communications with this person. Be positive, stay positive, speak in a positive way.
Don't invest money, power-up, and get into a down-voting battle unless you have a ton of money that you are able to use for that purpose. This is the last resort: economic violence. All it does is cost everyone money that could be better used for upvotes, instead of downvotes. And, it produces bad feelings all around.
You can only control your own behavior. You can not control anyone else's behavior. If you behave in a way that is good and positive, at least you will feel good about yourself while looking in the mirror tomorrow morning. It isn't "rocket science" to know that "Good Behavior Produces Good Feelings." Sometimes, it rains on everyone - and we have no control over any of it. The only thing you can really control is your own response to whatever events come your way.
"Bullet-proof" your @resteembot account by leaving more of the payments in that account. The more steem power which resides in that account, they more it will take for any detractors to damage its' reputation by downvoting it. Don't take profits from it for a while and let it build itself up into a much stronger position. Money talks.
That being said, I have been regularly using your, @resteembot , and I appreciate the low-cost of the service you provide. I don't mind that it posts an little advertisement comment in my comments section. Some people could call that "spam," but I see it simply as a way to confirm that my post has, indeed, been resteemed. If people don't like it, or they call it "spam," then they should not pay for the service.
Personally, I would just ignore the situation and leave it alone - maybe respond to the other persons' comments, on your posts or comments like this:
I believe this response places the ball in the other persons' court, reminds them that your comments are in response to being paid for a service which you have provided, and places responsibility exactly where it rests: with the actions of other people. You take no action, make no comment, unless it is in return for someone else who first solicited your services. Take what steps you can to diffuse the situation, without offering offense to anyone who complains. We are all human - maybe they are just having a bad week? There are truly some types of people who are "toxic," but I find them to be a rare breed. These types of people are best to avoid and ignore. Most people who at first appear to be "toxic" are just responding to their own inability to cope with life in a negative way - then they regain their composure. Don't be the one who "loses their cool." Be the cool person.
This comment is great!! it deserves my upvote (even though my upvote is a little, haha)... I couldn't give a better advice than that... especially the part put in quote mark.
It's always nice, to be nice.
You misunderstand what I mean by advertisment campaign.
There are 4 accounts - @investigation, @motomania, @counterweight, @extras who actively look for new posts, upvote them and write a long comment like "I upvoted you. Check out @resteembot".
The people are usually thankful for that, but it is still not clear if it is spam or not.
It is a bit of a gray area...
Otherwise - thank you for your great answer.
Ok. In that case - yeah, people can be justified in calling what you are doing, "spam," because it is unsolicited bot activity. This can be very annoying - especially if the bots' upvote is basically worthless (less than 2 or 3 cents).
People are coming here who crave real human interaction, which steemit is good at providing. Coming back to your post after a while & seeing it covered in comments by bots is disheartening. I have experienced this same thing, recently, and it's not what I want to see steemit become. I would keep on doing your resteembot - but don't use bots to advertise. Only do an "advertisement" for your own resteem service if you are manually curating, upvoting and commenting on posts - that way it is coming from a real, actual person. "Advertising" is generally annoying to most people - but it is sometimes less annoying if it's at least coming from a real person.
You would do just as well to make a post every-other-day with your @resteembot account which explains how to use your service. It will attract interested people. People who are not interested won't click on it - and they won't be bothered.
So, seriously - knock off the spam-bots, in my opinion. They have a tendency to provoke a very negative response from some people. I blew one of them up about 5 or 6 weeks ago, because it was annoying the hell out of me. The guy did change his tactics, I believe. He wasn't a bad sort - but most Steemians like the fact that we don't get spammed to death on SteemIt like you do on every other social media site in existence. At the very least, keep your own "advertisements" at the bottom of your own posts. Rarely would I insert it on somebody else's posts. Maybe one time, to somebody who introduces' themselves to steemit - but no more than that.
I understand your point, but at the same time I can't fully agree. The bots are part of SteemIt and that was intended by design. That is why we have been provided the tools to easily make bots.
Even some 'spamming' bots are nice. Especially the ones that give useful information on wellcome posts.
I have seen many great posts with my advertisment on them only. I read them because I saw them through the advertisements.
If I didn't, nobody would have read them at all.
It is not a normal type of attention, yes, but how is that worse than having 0 views?
Ask the mods on the @minnowsupport Discord if they can mediate. Steem is big enough for the both of you.
what can they do?
I hope they can stop your spam bots. :) @resteem.bot
Maybe they would, if those are indeed spambots.
What does that have to do with you?
...
But they can't.
They can't stop you from posting around me, either.
...
At least I don't see how they'd stop you...
Mediate. They are good at descalation - which is what you want. It might work. It's better than economic warfare.
I don't have enough money to downvote him anyway.
Neither does he, but it doesn't stop him from trying.
Do you think he'll listen to them? Why would he? What is his benefit?
He might not listen to them, but you never know. An end to a pointless, resource sapping war might be to his benefit.
To me it appears, you either have a troll or somebody with the same idea as you whom you beat to market. He might be bitter about that, but parallel invention is totally fine.
Ok.
Sounds reasonable to try.
But before that I want to spend some time on bot improvements. There are some stuff I planned, that were delayed for too long.
Can you please stop your spam marketing bot network? People think this has something to to with us.
Your spam bots:
https://steemit.com/@investigation/comments
https://steemit.com/@motomania/comments
https://steemit.com/@counterweight/comments
https://steemit.com/@extras/comments
We distance us from spam like this. @resteem.bot Team
Delete this.
This is not the right place to post this comment.
Who is @flauschi? :) @resteem.bot
I don't know. Some German beat that upvotes every second comment of yours for some strange reason.
He also writes in the same distinctive style as you - ending every comment with his name.
It is probably a coincidence.
Do you stop your spam bots today? @resteem.bot
The volunteers are resting for 5 days until their voting power recharges.
Okay. So we see us again in 5 days. :) @resteem.bot
I don't believe you.
I think you will bother me even before the 5 days are up.
A spammer like you won't simply mind their own business, just because I happened to be on timeout.
But I might be wrong. You may be able to prove me wrong. Try it. Prove me wrong.
Some german beat:
@resteem.bot
Hahaha
It is so easy, just stop your spam bots. :) @resteem.bot
Ok.
I am willing to tell them to stop.
But you need to offer something in return.
I will not stop them just because you want me to. Nor will I because you are spamming me.
I want you to give me an actual reason.
Something that will make it worth it for me to stop the bots. A compensation of any sort, whatsoever.
I will do you the favour of stopping them, but what will you do for me, eh?
Without compensation like that you are just a bully.
You two would do better to help re-steem each other's posts for free, or something like that. Join forces to promote both of your services. Think about it:
What is better than a Resteem? How about 2 Resteems??? Set apart by about 45 minutes of time. Double your customer service, come up with a reasonable fee of, say... 0.10 SBD, share your customer base with each other, and agree on manual advertising only - no spam bots. They are annoying to some people and will draw some fire - especially if you continue using them. The longer you're on SteemIt, the more you will learn that advertising spam is not wanted - even though you are offering a legitimate service. You can ask people to advertise for you, if they like your service. Word-of-mouth is the best way to do it here. Real people, real relationships - it leads to a real network that can make you really good money - but there are no short-cuts. You must put in the work. It takes time.
Bots are seen as a way to "game the system," and that is not what SteemIt is about. Trust me - if you try to game this platform by using bots, there are some whales out there who also have bots - and they will "educate" you as to what is acceptable or not. You don't want to get that kind of attention. Can you imagine how badly it would damage your reputation if @adm gave you a downvote at 10% power?!?! I have seen it done - and it was not pretty. Don't learn the hard way - be smart, play nice, and work together. That is what SteemIt is all about. You'll both make more money that way.
Agreeing or not to remove the bots is something I will think about. Your comments are indeed helpful.
But I Will Not cooperate with this person.
It will not bring me any benefit. Only downsides.
His followers are fake, after all.
Mine are real exactly because I advertised to actuall real people.
I don't know what he does, but it is not finding real followers.
Working with him is like giving him half of what I have for free.
Also - if I do stop the advertisement, would that stop him?
Really?
He was in the way even before it. He was advertising on my posts even before that.
This post is about resolving our argument, and stopping the bots will not do that, will it?
It was just a random idea & a suggestion on my part - an example of maybe trying to change your perspective on the situation. Some things can't, don't, or won't work out - but at least I think I nudged your thinking in a different direction, which is what I set out to do. I hope it was helpful. Again, thank you for your resteeming service - I count on it to help get my posts out there!
I had a good idea actually, and your comments were part of what made me really go for it, instead of wasting time on trolling a troll.
...
My idea was that if he can imitate me, I can imitate myself even better.
The easiest way to win over him is by making him less important. Who said there can only be 2 cheep resteembot's? Why should I fight one on one?
I am developing a second bot - @reblogger
I am also thinking about a few other bots (that will not do resteeming).
...
He can troll me, because I am a single person with a single bot, but it won't be possible for him to troll many, right?
...
I am also designing a bot for rewarding people - a bit like @tipU, but working in a completely different way.
This post received a 2.4% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @resteembot! For more information, click here!
Ignore him
Read this post again.
Look at the comments.
He is annoyingly hard to ignore.
You both are offering great service to all minnows.
Who is right or who is wrong is up for debate.
But one thing for sure, both (@resteembot and @resteem.bot) should not be debating on posts that have used your services.
There is the Steemit.chat channels and even discord channels where you can resolve the issue.
Do not make people lose faith in your services.
Cheers :)
Thank you. We love the transparency here. We have nothing to hide. :) @resteem.bot
I already tried to invite you to a chat. 3 times.
It was the Discord's PAL channel.
And how can you say that you love transparency, when you won't say who you are, behind the bot, @flauchi ?
You even claimed that there are ~90 people behind your bot, without naming even one.
You do not like transparency.
When do you stop your spam bots? @resteem.bot
I am the author of @resteembot.
I don't like true transparency, but I can endure it, as it is important,
You... There is nothing transperrent about your @resteem.bot.
Forgot the point.
too many bots!
Why do you hide?
Tell me who's behind that bot, you transparency-lover.
Let's chat.
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by resteembot from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
This post has received a 1.04 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.
Congratulations @resteembot!
Your post was mentioned in the hit parade in the following category:
The community has to decide if this is acceptable. This account and the comments advertise a service that others may find valuable.
I have had questions from the community about these specific accounts advertising @resteembot and my response is "If you don't like it, flag it. If they flag back come and find me."
My suggestion is to ignore him and listen to the community. You and your friends need to be aware that this type of advertising could get your comments flagged and you need to accept the flags without retaliation.
@patrice
The Spaminators
Well... apparently @blacklist-a & @adm didn't like it.
All volunteer bots received huge whale downvotes.
Good or bad, there will be no more advertisment, I guess.
It is really funny how their downvotes are surrounded by the upvotes of the people being "spammed".
Well... money talks.