"about how some perceived necessary evil can actually help attract the masses/mainstream (much like porn for the internet and silk-road for bitcoin in the early days)"
The general idiocy on Facebook was certainly not an obstacle to adoption.
"maybe I'm just bat-shit crazy."
I think you sound like you have some interesting ideas.
" bot upvotes and downvotes"
I wrote an article on the drowning whale downvote bot. It's an interesting idea, but obviously, financially disincentivized by its very nature.
Eventually, competition for bots will leave them at a RoI loss (perhaps, even if you front-run curators) and their "abuse", too, will be mitigated by design.
I feel less crazy when I reply to your post lex.
Up-Voted for Reducing Occupancy in the Asylum