the guy who is sitting at 3 views and $0.05

I was in that position for months and still am not that far from it, but 99% of my account is built with the help of fellow stemians who organically voted my posts, the good and the bad. I tried for a short period of time bid bots and I saw a bit of a rep score spike, but didn't felt good about it. I came here to earn not to spend. Plus I believe that the rep bought is not actually rep, but just a number.
Thumbs up for your initiative and your support by manually curating! Wish there were more like you around here. It would really be a great platform. I do have hope though...