I personally do not support the use of vote bot services

That may be very commendable and honorable, and I'm sure you have your (probably positive) reasons for it. But to recommend those services in the same breath... Well, I find that pretty counterproductive.

the reality

I know the reality. I know it all too well — and now, having been part of a curator team myself, I’ve been confronted with it again in its most extreme form.

The moment I saw the first Upvu vote years ago, I made my stance clear. Publicly. Hundreds of hours, thousands of comments, countless discussions. Sure, even back then, about all the auto-votes and vote-buying bots. That’s when creativity began to die, and greedy capitalists started to take over. Back then, we still had our little niches...
Forget it. I’m tired. So very tired.
I won’t raise my voice again.