Whale Wars And Flagging Wars On Steemit. Worrying Trends.
I recently was called up on re posting on my blog by steem cleaners. Now at first glance I was a bit shocked and like most of us who are told we are doing something wrong when we don't think we are my knee jerk reaction was one of irritation. At the time I was trying to get a contest going for other Steemers to find an old post that they created and re- post them to give it a chance to gain more exposure, and I had reposted myself that day so I was confused by the definition of an original work as spam. It wasn't plagiarized, I had worked hard on it, and rather than see the calling up on re posting for what it was I impulsively saw it as an affront to the post. In this I was wrong. I still didn't and don't see original works or resubmitting them as spam but I get the overall mission of set ups like steem cleaners on Steemit and their role in maintaining the health of the platform. Right now the platform needs all the help it can get as it's starting to look like it could become massively unhealthy. Let me explain.
Manipulation of the reward pool through bots, abusive up voting, and spam are massive issues on Steemit from minnow to whale. But recently I have noticed another huge problem that I observe, but never directly get involved in. Whales warring and flagging campaigns between disgruntled users. When I joined last year this was something that would be classed as rare if compared to its current frequency and it's alarming to say the least. Despite the fact that Steemit is democratic it's still a market place and in any free market place some have more wealth than others thus more influence. I am a minnow with very little therefore that is reflected in my vote, but what happens when you have the powerhouse users slamming into each other as a norm? Would the market place eventually become to fraught for commerce? What happens if the powerful merchants start to rip up the stones from the floor of the market that small merchants normally erect their stalls on?
This all seems to be happening with increasing frequency on Steemit at the moment. Whales and influential users abusing the reward pool, whales and influential users over riding other users votes through flagging and exercising their will on the platform over large numbers of votes voiced in a democratic fashion on a post, whales and influential users locked in flagging wars on each other and drawing lesser users into their conflict. As I stated, this used to be rare. Sadly it could be that we are being confronted with the reality that influence and prudence aren't the best of partners and that the more you have of one the less you have of the other. We usually see this in the temperament of any tantruming politician when they decide the will or well being of the many is irrelevant when compared to what they want. We could be seeing that here on Steemit.
I know that there is no ecosystem out there that exist in harmony without contraries. I see posts that don't appeal to me as often as I see post that do. If one that doesn't appeal to me has a large sum and large number of votes attached to it then great. I don't feel like that writer or artist or contribution is unfairly raping the rewards pool as it clearly appealed to the market. Same goes for clothes with stripes or quirky designs in the shops. I often think some things closely resemble a dish cloth but if someone is going to wear a dish cloth and pay a huge sum for it then great. More power to them. I like Steemit and I had always refused to use things like Facebook or Twitter because of how invasive they are in regards to data and privacy. I like Steemit because due to the fact that you choose your level of involvement, can market your efforts, be rewarded small or large, and it's all democratic. It's on online market place where the value of effort is supposed to be fairly voted on by taste or preference. But nowadays it seems that more than spammers, hackers, and crooks in general aren't the only threat to it. Some of its more influential users are.
But these are just my observations and concerns. I doubt that they have any impact either. I hope that flagging wars, whales and influential users setting to each other will mellow but I doubt it. It's worrying. I hope that those who have different tastes or disagreements with each other will behave prudently and let Steemit unfold and operate as a free democratic market place and platform. But I doubt it. Every market place in history has had it's merchants, craftsmen, thieves, and above all its oligarchs. Not many if any have had prudent oligarchs though so sadly I fear the worse here. Well guys, thanks for reading and I'd love to hear feed back from everyone else. I'm going to create a tag for this post called whalewars. I don't think one exist but if other users like myself who are minnows have thoughts on the topic then feel free to create a post and voice your thoughts there. I'd love to give them a read and perhaps vote and resteem. Many blessings and Steem on.
It's really sad this happens, but it's part of being in any system with 'rewards' - people love rewards and will chase them, no matter the cost for others. Quick gains? Even better.
The pain for me lies in a few Steemians who get punished severely, from first sight not because they deserve it, but because someone is sitting behind it's computer and having his way with the FLAG option. Power corrupts. This is not about keeping the system fair, at all, this is about having power and showing they have it.
I would love to know how to fight this collectively, but have no idea at all :-)
I guess start small. I can't help but agree with you in full and a way to have our voices heard could be to start a category and post our observations collectively as small users. I.e. whalewars or something like that. After that blog and try to attract other users who are worried or just disenfranchised by it do write up's on their takes on the situation. Momentum could be gained or the market will go elsewhere with their thoughts on the matter. There is that stereotype of the blogger being a petty keyboard jokey throwing his weight around cyber space but I disagree with that view many have. There are some great folks here who craft beautiful things and deserve a fair shake as bloggers, artist, writers, etc. I just hope they get one. Many blessings. :)
How about #mytinyvoice as a tag, you have to have less than set amount of SP lets say something like 2000SP to be able to use it. That by using it, you agree that a tiny voice can post a link in your comment section to something they feel strongly about. Basically spam your post for free. But people should not view it as spam, but as educational links to their idea.
Now as for the flag wars - - Let them roll. Sometimes I get bored, and well there is a lot of drama and reading material in those flag wars. Some of it is down right funny. Some of it lets you see who the arseholes are. To take away a person right to downvote, flag, and steal from the reward pool in any manner they see fit is an act of censorship. If the founder, @ned wants to end a persons raping of the reward pool he can, if he wants to ignore it, he can. It is after all is said and done, investor or user, or blogger, it is @ned 's toy. If he wants it to die, or if he wants to kill it, it really is none of my business. It is @ned 's business, not mine.
Someone, probably @dan, will make a new steemit. It will not have the problems of steemit, it will no doubt beyond all imagination ever be perfect, it will have it's own problems, and of course it's own thieves and ruffians, and of course it's own group of people complaining, talking and arguing about it. In the meantime, I'll sit back and enjoy the show, I mean it is not like I joined to get rich after all, just as a place to post without the bullshit of FB, YT, and all the other so called "Social Media" sites. So I'll just keep slowly steeming along and trying to have fun.
As always bash you give great feed back. The #tiny voice is an awesome idea as well. I think if anything it just worries me as I like the platform. Thanks for reading mate and steem on.
As a new user, I wasn't very concerned with the flagging issue because it didn't affect me, or I didn't think it did. I saw a flag war over a writer who was making a lot of money off of information that I could have read on the internet 15 years ago, about how to write, and get published, and I understood the issue. Why should someone who regurgitates information, and gives no new information live so well, while the rest of us sit for hours thinking of enough to write to make us a few measly dollars? Right?
But this hit home today, because one of the writing contest I am judging this week was flagged down to $0. These are new Steemit users who are entering the contest. Every story is original, and it is a great place for beginning writers to learn, and read others' writing. But the prize poll is based on the upvotes, so as of right now, there is no prize for the winners, and every one's reward is gone.
I haven't been here long enough to understand the politics of the whales and others, but maybe what we need is a few law men, who can use the power to right the wrongs on unfair flagging, and bring these posts back up to where they should be again.
It's sad to know you can't do anything to help, and that the upvote you gave towards the reward pool is now worth nothing. Sorry, but your post seemed to be the best place to place my rant. :)
Thanks for caring, and for sharing!!
Hey @mudcat36, let them fight, I am fellow minnow, the whales will eventually realize it's pointless and childish to carry on with this . And there will be peace once again.
We can only hope my friend. Many blessings and Steem on. :)
old news, same people doing the same crap sense i showed up on this site in 2016