RE: @haejin EXCEEDS 11,200 FOLLOWERS!!! THIS PROVES People Follow for GOOD CONTENT NOT BAD CONTENT!!!
Meh, they are really about the same right now. Both pretty bad in terms of downvotes.
The flag is necessary to judge the value of the content. I agree that his product (teaching and analysis) has potential to be useful to everyone, but not everyone wants to make use of that potential. I doubt most people would bat an eye at your upvote. This whole thing started from a single user with a +300 upvote on every one of his posts. Now, while the system allows such power over the reward pool, it does allow the steemit community a method of recourse. That recourse is the downvote. Now, it got a bit too overzealous and blanked out one or two of his posts, but that was it. While he doesn't force your vote, using his considerable influence over the reward pool would force the reward pool to pay him if the community members didn't have the ability to downvote him.
I get your guys' point though. The flag really does have a negative connotation everywhere, but it doesn't quite mean the same thing here. It really should be two different things. The flags on haejin's stuff should stop at around $120 or whatever similar post types dictate. I'm not even that upset with 200, but if they were unchecked, they would be $1000 per post, and I don't feel like that is an accurate representation of the value of that post to the community.
For example, I sell a product here on Steemit that costs 20 Steem. Now, if I accepted upvotes as payment for that product, I would be wrong. Here's why: it cost the community, not the upvoter. The funds belong to steemit and the community is given the responsibility to spend it. If they do not have the ability to counter the whims of a whale, the system will continue to be scammed.