Take Two. And... Action!
A couple weeks ago, I posted a controversial piece about a certain whale who had been gaming the system, possibly with the help of a few of his whale buddies.
There was a lot of activity on the RocketChat, as he floundered to explain his early support of @msgivings, a well known account whose plagiarism was exposed. Eventually, after nearly two hours of simply claiming no knowledge of his early votes on @msgivings posts, he made a claim which was vaguely plausible but not disprovable at the time... I was forced to redact my post.
Oddly enough, the plagiarism which was to become @msgivings downfall was published after the account had attracted vocal suspicions from Steemit users.
It seems that the perpetrators of this sort of fraud are plagued with hubris. They think they are made of Teflon (tm). But in the end, the truth has a way of revealing itself.
What follows is my original post, which I was forced to delete. I've since become convinced that my orginal accusations were indeed well placed. His story doesn't add up. Additional evidence has been gathered which draw out a pattern of collusive activity designed to extract liquid rewards from the platform.
As a bit of a teaser, I've included one such piece of evidence at the end of this post... But without further delay, this is the full text of my deleted post.
In my previous post, I asked whether @msgivings was a sock puppet. It was clear that something wasn't right about the account and its content. And as it turns out, my suspicions were vindicated when the account was flagged into oblivion for plagiarism and fraud.
As of this writing, @msgiving's recent post was flagged an impressive 109 times!
Way to go, @msgivings!
The Battle Against Sock Puppets Rages On
Enter @honeyscribe and @lifeisawesome:
Two other accounts created about two weeks ago who immediately found consistent spectacular results!
If they are sock puppets, who is responsible?
In my post about @msgivings, I hinted at a possible suspect...
@kushed voted on both of @msgivings first two posts, within two minutes of their creation.
And it turns out, their fingerprints are on these sock puppets as well...
The account @lakers created both @honeyscribe and @lifeisawesome, and began upvoting their posts....
The @lakers account was mined using the same active key as another account, @salus.
Both @salus and @kushed withdrew funds to the same Bittrex account:
Stop Witness Voting For @kushed
Head on over to https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Find @kushed's name on the witness list.
If it looks like this:
Make it look like this:
If you weren't voting for @kushed to begin with, you can accomplish the same thing by voting for a bunch of the other witnesses... Have fun with it!
Thanks for doing your part!
After I posted, @kushed showed up in chat and struggled to respond, for over two hours... eventually, he presented the following explanation for the two sock puppet accounts that I had identified in my post.
I redacted my post, because the claim was so bizarre that I was unprepared to disprove it. I didn't buy it, but I knew in the moment that I had to back off... At the time, there were several whales present and thus a lot of pressure to either "put up or shut up." So.. I shut up.
But, then @lifeisawesome made a funny comment...
Surely a "Huffington Post writer" would realize that Huffington Post's reach is still far greater than Steemit's. It's clear that @kushed was being dishonest, in order to save his own ass and keep the money flowing.
Even if it were true, I see little benefit to the platform by bringing over sub-par writers just because they blogged on some other platform (Huffington Post has well over 100k unpaid bloggers). The quality of the posts is certainly not going to benefit the platform, and the secrecy involved would provide no marketing benefit...
That being said, I don't believe it was true in any meaningful sense. And myself and others have set forth to document a pattern of suspicious activity which will be unveiled in the following days. So far, implicated accounts have drained the reward pool of over $70k at a time where the price of Steem is declining and legitimate authors are unable to make any money at all.
You might want to stock up on popcorn.
Watch this space. ;)
(1) You are a harasser and you are now in my permanent crosshairs. You are toxic to Steem and I declare that your motivation is to undermine the platform. Even people from steemit abuse have stopped associating with you.
(2) It is hilarious that practically all of the accounts voting for this post are sockpuppet scam accounts created by account farms.
Downvoting now and in the future with a vengance.
@bacchist: Below are sockpuppet scam accounts created by an account farm, all voting for this post, all created by @steem (Steemit) on 9/7 and 9/8, voted in reverse order in the way they were created. Why are they voting for your posts?
gallfekree, lauritaurew, gornketaxe, nuecolaura, samurgobei, mefeglaurita, ariathnath, necedelaurita, malascedar, aciwelaurita, gavigarmar1, nureflaurita, pewynlariel, nureslaurita, nilardanrad, storex, fetaurbarn, originate, basujoc, nelearalar, nueflaurita, nikusfenrik, refevlaurita, kerildalen, qalahas, malalarkarn, meerklaurita, takakijar, celetlaurita, merrmnelis, aderelaurita, zurnmoralen, manelaurita, brahnmondis, nuterlaurita, nikorakele, ravelaurita, yotgrojind, laderlaurita, terinekus, nevetlaurita, munilvkekus, acerlaurita, kagarkelar, hedeferria, molorekern, meselaurita, lalsamonis, meterilaura, agalvgrorr, ujerfeddia, jiretevisher, dihnnalkis, nurewexia, molvnalore, unerittise, golebakus, deseccrata, nawyntule, nireweticia, manndouhn, ubertoto, garismath, uederisha, goletauzahn, nuterfeezza, kalarcetius, geferizaca, mogelvmanos, defegrasa, moledalabar, munerettia, nagdabura, merecinea, maloremom, unevedessa, lairanakele, nierefgeza, tiereffina, dornmabei, mereyesca, mulvvubar, milannarose, nirnbrafym, lavirka, dutfaugal, kerelaurita, dilkisbo, nujewlaurita, dagdatarn, deferensial, celsaararad, esedlaurita, dagdakenris, umverrisia, tosidavukus, yerewlaurita, aunnmudi, tenelaurita, maririusdim, kadalsaitus, kabarbagas, bugartemi, narilsha, zolornbra, cegahelm, nualmeenaza, delalvsilverpick, jojolmaranmegami, daigorbrightbrew, balsabloodhunter, aranilasida, dalalorefelozius, fordregetruewood, mumtefym, drelawieldnirana, dohuginnfelosius, moranayashalbine, kegebagal, zalunegoldenfont, anagralandajurus, malozarcerejurus, perimthodor, aralejo, grilhaladalmaran, keratiusjushakar, tegamiarashigore, lightpickrexskin, gholbilisthogelv, drelagrinnhuriel, nokol, faurabroadhammer, saithrisadrierim, doubledex, bragelvmanagrinn, hesawop, balladwynmalasar, jojuruscordagelv, sternfontdelanis, fordregarkerabor, cejurusmuninadar, vojinddarkbourne, mazularzulkitaxe, tojajinngholbira, delanisdalalanim, moranadarfausida, shadowstaffmogis, nakusdarkbringer, mnethwhitecaster, thosidagholbirin, zusidaballadotus, imunopowers, felolakmoragrinn, kazshuramobandis, dreladargoltijin, colakshalilmeena, buhuginnhugithis, goltishakargaran, stonecliffganrad, arashirisarmalar, buhuginnianthris, balboaroky, mugrelshazragore, bluddwelleragann, agamanradgalkree, dianandiskeraril, faegalchillblade, kelerdredmonara, nilsearive, oilostatime, sibotawernop, kajiranrainstaff, malasidarainworm, mightkillermogda, dvorsimko, shagoremalakinos, kulathrisbeadwyn, direwormmazutaur, orojonywe, kelekusmarinius, viwnubo, nidarkajishicage, gralsaakinotaxe, anadardawnworker, satelitostar, datiuscordajurus, landadorgashura, ishndarkdweller, gradolivensa, granithisnuahelm, analmeenavizahn, ishnnnmeshicage, erinobasone, yozshujasgridar, broadstaffsakus, wolamusbah, coniusbroadfire, nalrajasgulkree, doomrunnerjonis, meztigisfaugore, huthrishellmoon, kezilbluehammer, pomabilosa, nostracozi, modisidadaisida, dianaristhordana, aurilsnowterror, goltinosshasius, gikax, jokebatfur, nofobinmis, centrirnsinwing, taugiswhitepick, marmorunt, felhardanakefym, lucascarletyo, drelagrinndagar, trobomobs, unotregud, dalaranarexworm, hipomiroji, manrisishnlmeena, samopoezi, targgoldenfury, zolokasatazuru, dalalaspurebrew, gardashoconjuath, faushomullador, nowmowbuw, bavaribarca, arcaneforgebokus, romotonicsa, evrodolame, voodoonriskasida, grarahelldweller, devosevorobi, arlekimono, golkissilverfont, einsteinpotsdam, gotaurpainbrew, dagdarimmiratus, anarandisaganin, aririlflamefang, redsingergador, vudosidamowield, zuluzragoreketh, dujoravoodoogarOMG ?!?! I am sorry but I do not understand this. No wonder people like me can never reach trending pages. Oh well ! Now I am really more confused than ever after reading this hidden article with all comments.
Yeah, good question... we both know that all those accounts combined wouldn't register a penny of rewards. I'd classify this as a sybil attack, basically.... but I fail to see the point. Maybe the hot tab nobody ever looks at? I don't get it.
At any rate, I can't control who votes on my posts... you can only control who you vote for, right? Whether one account or 50, that is up to you if nothing else.
The hot tab isn't Sybil attackable any more (and is actually useful now). It was changed to use SP. So I don't know either. I find it interesting, but don't know what to make of it beyond that.
baccist, the only explanation i could thing of would be, that someone who is followed by these bots has voted you and therefore the bots jumped in and voted.
I want nothing more than to see Steem succeed and live up to its promise. But I watch people abandon the platform in disgust on a daily basis. Why? Because it's painfully obvious that there are people gaming the system in order to extract short term gains with little regard for its impact on the platform. Honest efforts to contribute to the platform in meaningful ways are often completely disregarded, while repetitive low content posts are enthusiastically upvoted consistently by a small group of powerful whales. It's been happening on some level since the beginning of August.... but since the price of Steem has declined and the reward pool has dwindled, the efforts to extract liquidity from the reward pool have accelerated. Since everything appropriated in this manner is unavailable to other users who were promised the chance to earn money for their contributions, it is quite literally squandering the growth potential of the platform by producing dissatisfied users who will be left with a bitter taste in their mouth.
Flag me, that's fine. I expected nothing less. But I will speak the truth as I see it. Even with your "permanent crosshairs".
Thank you, thank you!
It's so blatant and obvious since day 1. Now over 2 months have passed since the July payout and it seems like this situation has barely improved.
Is it gaming the system or working as intended?
I had and still have high hopes for the platform, but if we could have addressed this openly 2 months ago instead of getting marginalized and called whiners and envious all the time, perhaps things wouldn't be as bad as they are now.
Thanks again, @bacchist , for keeping up the fight on this front. And no thanks to the whales that set up auto-voting for their favorite "authors".
Does it seem at all reasonable that a post should get hundreds of dollars due to a few whales that auto-upvote an accounts posts while the readers only see fit to leave 1 or 2 comments? If the content is interesting and engaging one would think that the readers would want to engage to some degree. Even with a "Wow, that was a really nice post!" at the least.
Meanwhile other authors can have 20 or more unique comments from users that clearly are enthused about the content and the author gets a few pennies.
So, who is really bringing true value to the platform?
Perhaps there is a fundamental flaw in the system and the only way to rectify the problem is to start over from scratch. Keep everyone's Steem, SP, and SBD intact, but start over with an improved incentive and algorithm, etc. Damn, I want this site to work out!
That's an understatement.
Why do you call this poster toxic to steem? Is he wrong? If he is how is that toxic and if he isn't why does it upset you?
Consider yourself lucky I bother responding to you. @bacchist is a chronic troll who will continue to attack people. But for it to be effective he needs to come up with a couple of thousand BTC and buy himself the vests to make a difference. Steem is not a political institution. It is an economic entity, and I am going to show him the difference.
Wow
Incredible work! I wish people would stop this! I have noticed my curation rewards drop a TON. While I am thankful for all that I have, We need to be honest on Steemit! Otherwise this great platform will fail.
"Let the people with the most money control the content? What could possibly go wrong?"
-- everybody when steemit was brand-new
Looks like we have some turds in the punchbowl... Figures though, this is crypto. :/
I'd say that we only have a little bit of punch in the turd bowl.
If you feel that way you seriously should not be here. There is nothing wrong with working to improve a flawed system from within but when you feel there so little good about a system that it is mostly "turds", there is no legitimate reason to remain. This further reinforces to me that your goal is troll and spread negativity and hate. There is nothing about Steem that makes it immune to the sort of vile internet trolling that we see elsewhere. The main difference is that the owners of the platform (i.e. SP holders) have a direct tool to attract people who don't troll and withdraw rewards and visiblity from those who do. Unfortunately you have decided to place yourself in the latter category.
I have to agree with Smooth here. Your have consistently added negative comments while also complaining about how more people aren't supporting your personal projects. I've been less enthusiastic about supporting your efforts also because you come across as a negative person based on the comments I see. If this platform isn't meeting your expectations, maybe somewhere else would be a better place to spend your time?
If that's what you believe, then you obviously have not been reading my blog posts. And you're free to stop following me at any time.
I specifically mentioned your comments. I think your blog post have been positive and optimistic about a potential future where people do value helping others via their votes. I believe in what you are trying to accomplish and will continue to upvote them as I see them, but I don't see the value in calling this system a "turd bowl." That perspective, to me, is completely counter to your goals on Steemit.
:-o I have heard the suspicions myself but I have been afraid to mention.
We can't give in to this fear. If we don't call out this activity, the platform is doomed anyway. There's no use walking on eggshells. If this continues, this site has no future.
When I mentioned the above facts before I was threatened with powerful downvoting.
Also, because of my criticism I completely lost chance for any potential upvoting support from whales. Obviously, I am unofficially blacklisted.
You are not blacklisted by me. If you post in manner that is positive and adds substance and value, then I will upvote you. If you continue to spew hatred jealousy and trolling, then I will downvote you. The standards are the same for everyone and the choice is yours.
Perfect reply seems as some whales are gaming the system. But I can see you are genuine.
I dont know why but I kindof feel the same
Same as you.
They've put a burn notice on you? :-D Sorry, I couldn't resist!
100%.... To say otherwise is to say "You can beat cancer by ignoring cancer"
I am not going to say whether this is a good or bad thing to do, but it is allowed and people do it, so..
If you are willing to pay around $10 worth of BTC, you can create your own "sock puppet" account using anonsteem. You can then use that to post whatever you want, without it being connected to your main account.
The problem isn't anonymous posting... It becomes a problem when whales collusively vote for their own accounts. In this way, they are able to drain the reward pool of funds that are ostensibly intended for content producers who garner popular support.
or voters curation rewards !
Yeah, we are talking about slightly different things :)
My comment was specifically to @claudia about what she said as far as being afraid to post things. I was suggesting to her that she might consider using an anonymous account to post things she might be afraid to post on her main account for fear of retaliation. I don't know if it would help in her particular situation, but it might be a good way for her to share things without being afraid.
This is why I left.
Decided to pop by for the first time in over a week, saw your post flagged so I had to read it.
Looks like nothing's changed. Yet.
433 up-votes and $37.00.
WTF
Seems like the whales don't want to touch this.
Ignore vote count. It's easily spammed by bot votes with no SP and thus no value.
As evidenced by all of the farmed accounts that @steemed mentioned.
On first glance, that looks like 150-200 or so. Man, this system is messed up.
@yogi.artist: "Room for improvement" sounds so much better than "this system is messed up."
Why? If we value the vote count, then yes, it is. If we instead value SP weight, then it isn't so much.
"isn't so much" still leaves room for improvement. It's encouraging to see, with the recent implementations, that there is an appetite for improving though. I have a little idea that I might float, if I can get something drafted later.
not surprising ...I got over 196 upvotes and 23.85 including whales votes....lets be thankful. right ?
Knowing your content though @mammasitta, I'd doubt that the up-votes on your contributions would be auto-bots :)
Oh NOOO ! I rarely see whales and work very hard like you , to get my followers 😎🌸
I know and I love your work!!
Just keep doing what you're doing. It looks like the recent implementations, and future plans are at least aiming to address issues.
Wow, bro. Some serious work. It'd be nice if you could get a couple of respected whales backing up your efforts.
Maybe. But there are political considerations that people have to factor in. It might not be worth it to stick their necks out. I have much less to lose... But I completely respect anybody's decision to stay neutral. Not my decision.
Great research. I was naive in supposing face value on posts. This has opened my eyes. I hope you keep up your investigations as Steemit wont survive being milked, bloggers will lose faith. Thanks