Help I was unfairly flagged, I'm not a "bot" I'm a manual curator!
As I told already on my introduction post I AM NOT A BOT, I am a manual curator of new accounts on steemit.
My journey was just welcoming each verified new user I could MANUALLY. There is nothing wrong about that, but whale @smooth decided to flag me, destroying my reputation and so my ability to greet new steemians. Just look at the messages on my introductory post and you will see how much I was apreciated for this initiative: no one complained.
This is unfair! Flagging me as if I were a "bot" is an insult to the time I took to salute each new steemian I could.
No one complained about me and only positive reactions from new steemians is what you could read (if my reputation wasn't destroyed by @smooth). So what kind of "spam" is the one that makes people happy when they are personaly greeted when they join (and how could this be compared with an "spambot", it's my time that was there dedicated for this task). What is the problem if I found time to do this "repetitive" task?
Looks like @smooth did reply to your intro post 5 hours ago. "Carbon-based spambot" sounds about right to me. I get that value is subjective, but when you're pasting essentially the same thing (slightly modified) to everyone, that's kind of what spam is defined as. Some may appreciate it, but it certainly looks like spam, in my opinion. If you really want to welcome people effectively, why not get to know them, ask some questions, find common ground, etc. Pasting an image on every thread in a given category doesn't (IMO) add any value at all to the network. Maybe change your goal to connect to just 5 people a day using your own voice in a genuinely real way.
Did you took the time to actually research how I interacted with people when I welcomed them? Apparently NO, because I did just this: "ask some questions, find common ground, etc."
Unfortunately, steemit.com won't let me see your reply, but I can see it on steemd:
Yes, I did take the time. I looked through your comments section before I left my comment. I saw image after image. I did not see actual relationship building. I'm glad you asked some questions and found common ground at least some of the time which I missed. Most of what I saw, as I said, were images.
My advice: create a new account and try a different approach.
My introduction post is a week old (7 days).
I managed to create 89 custom made welcome signs. This means each welcome sign has directly welcomed a specfic new steemian onboard. Let's do some maths:
89/7 days > 13 "welcome messages" each day.
So you asked this:
What if I had the time to welcome 10 people a day and did so? I'm being called "a bot" for working harder on this that what you would consider "normal". That is not a reason for banning.
That's not true, I replied to each and any one that wanted to interact and helped many of those steemians with tips, like how to "validate" the account, etc. You could also have actually welcomed those 89 people isntead of just watching what I did, right? If that was the norm, then I wouldn't have created this welcome project in the first place.
None of the 89 flagged me, just @smooth did, destroying for the moment this project.
Remember steemit is not just a "blockchain" it is a social platform. To build a social-platform instead of a ghetto you will need to accept the fact that lots of people will act based on free-will and act independently. I am not asking to be included on @smooth circle of "SteemPower", I'm just asking that he lets me do my thing to help build a strong social network. And there is no way I can be called a "bot" when I humanly can't create more than 15 custom welcome signs per day and take care of 15 people per day on their first steps.
There is people acting like if they ONLY want new users to be approached by "their" team and "punish" outsiders. That kind of agressive power game may be usefull in term of SP and SMD (I really don't know) but certainly is harming the social-network aspect of this platform.
I played by the rules, it is better to restore the working capabilities of this account. The fact the there existed "welcome bots" before my initiative indicates that there is a "market" for welcoming new users. I was just providing a service to a small portion of that "market" avoinding that new users feel isolated and alone when they sign-in. "Some people" is acting as if they wanted that those users feel that way. And those actions are not only unfair, but are harming this social platform.
If you act like a bot, you'll be mistaken for a bot.
I didn't acted like a bot. I did a "repetitive task" but like we humans do. There is nothing wrong about doing a repetitive task in order to avoid that new steemians feel "alone" when they enter this social platform. I'm quite sure you didn't check how I actually welcomed new steemians and helped them with the firsts steps on steemit.
No, if you act like a bot, you are a bot.
No, I am an human being and the fact that I am wrongly accused of "being a bot" doesn't convert me into one. What really happened is that I did a service that was previously handled by bots. BUT I didn't handle the "welcome" service as a bot and the proof is on the 89 introduceyourself postings.
NO bot could replicate that what I did...
I support you. I was under the same predicament few weeks back.
you're welcome
Thank you @ace108!
For those who want to follow the conversation, you can do so here on steemd.
I agree with his opinion that you were not building a strong social network. Posting image after image seems like spam to me, as I've already mentioned. Spam on a social network = bad.
It would be very, very easy to program this process to do it nearly instantly. If you were rewarded for this, others would do it also in an automated fashion.
A welcome message that's just an image is, to me (and apparently others like Smooth), not a genuine welcome message. I get that's a subjective impression, which leads to my next point.
So did Smooth or anyone else who flags your approach. Saying "no one else flagged" me isn't much an argument (IMO) because smart new users aren't about to start flagging things on their first post.
Take a look at their reputation scores now (@wang, for example, is a -16). That should tell you something about how this network feels about welcome bots or activity which mimics (or can easily be reproduced by) a welcome bot.
That's not true. Because I actually was just saluting each individual in person, using a coustomized sign for each one, that took my own time to create. A bot can't do that. Bot's are pre-programed. Those programs has no clue if the actual person that enters the network deserves a welcome message or not by judging their introductory post. Bot's can't handle a personal assitance like I did. And lately I wouldn't do any kind of software for that because my aim was totally the contrary and any one in good faith taking the time to actually check for real how I interacted with newcomers can easily confirm that I am being unfairly accused for no valid reason at all.
Stop naming me a "bot". The "network" can't feel. Also a "network" if you mean as social network means individuals. @smooth and @smooth.witness is the same person, two accounts and the only one who decided to "flagg" and destroy my initiative. Maybe he doesn't like competiton for this kind of tasks, who knows?
An indication of "how the network feels" is also the fact that NONE of the new steemians complained and also the positive feedback on my welcome message before I was censored by @smooth. That's like 100 people alltogether.
Also an indication of flagg abuse, by the way.
Reputation as of now can be easily destroyed by ONE individual with enough SP and that has nothing to do with a "network feelings", it's just a power game for a very few.
At this moment @ned upvoted this post, but I don't want to start a "whale fight", I just want to get some of you into reason and don't a like "bots" destroying user's reputations just because you can.
The fact that MANY people liked the service of the @wang bot just proved there was a need for someone taking care of newcomers. And the ones who flagged @wang said it was because it constituted a "bot". You talk to look at the -16 rep of @wang, why don't you look at the messages of many steemians backing him? That is a "network" of people. And guess what? Since I'm not a bot I manage to do my task without complains from the ones who were welcomed. So now comes the "steemit police" and destroy my rep when there was no "victim".
@smooth calls me a "spambot" and that just isn't true. I am a human curator that welcomed in a nicely way as much people as I could rationaly handle. I did it, because it's very sad to see newcomers with introductory messages being ignored for hours. So by making them feel that they are not alone on steemit encouraging them not to early abandon this platform.
And I acted as an INDIVIDUAL not as a member of a SP gang being rude to others just because they are not on my "team".
Let's talk about how humans like to abuse their power over and over again and NEVER understanding that at the end it will always harm everybody not just their "enemies" or "competitors" (real or imaginary ones).
I said:
You said:
I don't care enough to write you a bot which could inject into an image the author name of an introduction post, dynamically create an image, and post it, but trust me (or do the research yourself), it is certainly true and possible.
As to your larger concerns about the network and how you were treated by Smooth as an individual, I recommend taking it up with that individual in chat.
From your perspective, you were providing a valuable service to new users. From other's perspective, you were adding spam to the network. Since we're talking about subjective value, who gets to decide who is right and what process do they use to do that?
For the record, I don't agree with the site completely hiding all comments from those negative reputations. I think there should still be an option to see them, for those who want to, much like the "show" button does for reputations between (0 and 25).
And then what? You are wrongly stating that I did just that. It is so obvious that you didn't check what I actually did when welcoming new members.
It's not about just welcoming with a sign and that's it. I also guided them on their first steps and as any new user of steemit has different needs then that guidance needs to be "humanly operated". Try to "easily" write a bot for doing that......if you can and it is obvious that you don't, because you would need to recreate an human brain for that task.
You are trying so hard to make people think I was just spam when in reality what I did is welcoming new users and helping then entering easily to this platform. My REAL interventions are still there, you are just ignoring them in order to "prove" that my work is just "spam" and easily replazable by some software. LOL.
I was only referring to the repetitive image posting. Without that, your actions would be commendable, IMO. I don't think anyone should reward repetitive behavior that is easier for bots to do than humans. If we do, bots will fill that space and provide spam because, as you said, they are not thinking humans.
I already said this:
I made my judgements based on what I saw browsing briefly through your comment feed. I guess I missed your other helpful interactions. Why not just be helpful without the repetitive image?
If you think the image provides value and others don't, that's a discussion to be had. As I asked in my previous comment, what do you think is the best way to go about having that discussion?
Thanks for brining up this issue though, as I see you are clearly passionate about it, and I do think you're making some important points about how subjective value is either rewarded or punished.
Bot's CAN'T do this:
Neither to help @judeperl being accepted:
Neither suggesting @seedsofliberty how to be best recognized as a real account:
Or @marissah
I have more examples to show and prove your statement wrong if you like.
It's not about a "repetitive image", it is, for example, about "rewarding" new users when they properly introduce themselves, so that they get more acceptance from this network instead of just being ignored. You can't program a bot to do what I did unless you program an human brain.
I welcomed 89 users in one week and took care personaly of their needs as new users. And didn't acted like "a bot" as it is falsely stated. I acted as a human being. An by "repetitive image" then now having a special sign is equal to "spam". I think it isn't.
I was unfairly accused of being a bot and my reputation (that got from 25 to 31 in one week) was destroyed in just one click.
Exactly.
Repetitive posting is spamming. Don't be repetitive and add value with each post and there is no problem.
A good question to ask in assessing any behavior is, "What would happen if everyone did it?" If everyone posted a repetitive and/or meaningless (even if individually innocuous) comment or image on every new user, the system would be destroyed not only by the clutter but by the sheer volume of comments. If every user looked at each new user and made a careful decision about whether or not to engage based on common interests, etc. and then did engage in a meaningful manner, the system would be improved. Please consider the latter.
I did exactly that and already explained how I handled and helped each of the 89 new users I welcomed in 1 week of work, none of them complained (alltough a 100% satisfaction is also not humanly reachable on the long run).
Each welcome image is unique and aimed at a specific user and is "posted" at the right moment as a kind of "reward" that the #introduceyourself post is according to the expectations of this community.
It takes about 20 minutes of my time to handle an average new user. I am proud of avoiding them the feeling of being alone on their first steps.
That's just what I put in my post on reputation. :)
Maybe these things should be discussed before a rep goes to -2 though. A flag without that discussion can be quite discouraging for someone who believes they are adding value (even if others disagree). The value is subjective and should probably be discussed, IMO.
That's not posible for humans to do as I already stated on my own introduceyourself
I said:
In 1 week I could reach 89 people and it took me about 20 minutes for each "welcome action" because (once again) it's not about doing "the same" over and over again, each case was handled accordingly. Talking about a "repetitive image" is like saying using the "steemit" logo over and over and over again is like "spam". I just used a sign, but that doesn't convert me into spam or a bot, because each action was unique and handled according to what was needed.
If another person wants to copycat what I did, then better he'll be ready to exchange 20 minutes of his life to welcome each new user. Actually what would happen is that someone would be welcoming a set of 10 users and not precisely the same set of users I did, because there is no way to reach them all with this approach, that's the difference with a bot.
The common interest here is avoiding the feeling of entering a platform helpless, for those 89 there was someone (me) welcoming and ready to help on the firsts steps.
That's the difference regarding how bot's handled the "welcome service needs" and how a human can handle it. And there is no doubt that a lot of people here in steemit apreciates such a service, there is even people who miss @wang, I just fullfiled that need but the label of being a "spam" creator or "bot" is unfair, because the demand for that service is real and if it is done by a human that invests 20 minutes of his time to welcome onboard a new steemian there is actual some value added allthough you personaly can't subjectively see it, but others do and apreciate.
So I'm just asking for laissez faire, let me provide to that market...
Thank you for those examples. Those were certainly not the ones I saw. Have you contacted @smooth on chat about them and his flag?
@lukestokes I still have the 89 custom welcome signs created for the 89 new steemians. There is no way I would took my time to make a custom sign if I before haven't read and checked the #introducemyself post of the person. And that's why some were saluted with the welcome pic and others were first aided on how to best write an introductory message to avoid being ignored.
You are free to approach @smooth by chat and tell him about this if you think it helps. I really prefer the blockchain and defend my case with solid arguments here aiming at constructing a better policy.
I am aware we are in "beta". I have a "cause" here and I think it is the right one. There is a market for welcoming new users. The "bot" approach with pre-programed messages could not properly handle that market and I agree. So it is my thing to take care of this "boring" task of being the welcome guy...
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