OCD

An uninitiated opinion - Voting behaviours

I came across an account today and noticed the user self-voted every single comment they made at 100% - Every comment.

I scrolled back a ways and saw the same self-voting pattern to the tune of about 0.26 or so each time and thought I'd take a look at SteemWorld and see what I could see. The image above shows that users voting pattern over the last seven days...That green section is the self votes, by weight, totalling 78.07%. The next closest is 2.48% and it drops off from there as you can see.

It got me curious about my own voting pattern and I decided to take a look, something I haven't done for about twelve months or so I think.

That's me above in a snapshot taken today at about 4pm (28 January 2020)...It's weighted a little in my brothers favour as you may imagine, in the last seven days at least, however I'm proud to note there are no self-votes.

I've added the chart below using the by weight metric also as it shows a little more diversity of accounts on which I've voted in the last seven days.

I'm not trying to level an accusation or judgement at the account that, quite obviously, makes comments with the sole intent and purpose to self-vote...I believe it may be called fishing...We all have a right to act as we see fit here on the blockchain. It is for this reason I have chosen not to disclose the name of the account here.

However, I wonder how many accounts may be doing the same thing and what repercussions it may be having on the entire community and the subsequent price of steem.

There are so many posts receiving 0.01 in reward, some even 0.00, many good ones too, and I wonder if a 0.26 vote on those posts could make the difference between that user sticking around or leaving disheartened and disillusioned.

We all want steem prices to rise and in my humble opinion that's only going to happen through growth of users, content and engagement. I don't know, maybe I'm missing the point and will be happy to stand corrected if indeed 100% self-voting ones' own comments to is indeed a legitimate way to build and grow steem. Please enlighten me.

Below is a snapshot of my SteemWorld page and where to check your voting chart as I have above. You may not be interested, but it could be a good exercise to see what your voting pattern looks like.

Just go to the STATS TAB on SteemWorld and click on the OUT VOTES TAB as circled in green.

Just to be clear, I don't have an issue with smaller accounts dropping a self-vote on their own posts - I did in the early days, however I fully believe that those multiple 0.26 100% self-votes on every comment could be better placed to help drive the community forward, support smaller accounts and in turn drive steem prices upwards, something we all benefit from.

There are many ~~good~~ great community-focused initiatives out there doing some great work...@innerblocks, @curangel, @ocd and @c-squared just to name a few...There's also many users selflessly working in the background to promote steem, support new accounts and drive engagement...It's quite uplifting and positive really...However if users like the one mentioned here were to add their 41,000SP-powered vote to assist a new account here and there rather than self-vote every single one of their own comments I wonder what difference could be made.

We all have choices in life though, and all need to accept the ramifications of the choices and actions we make...I hope some of you guys make the choice to check out your own voting habits as it may give you a great perspective. We're all here in this community together and together we can make a great difference.

Just my humble, and uninitiated, opinion. Maybe I'm way off-base here and happy to be set straight int he comments below.

Tomorrow isn't promised - Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default _{An original post written by a human} _{Discord: galenkp#9209} 🇦🇺

Comments · 15

@leighscotford(65)· 2399d
Thought I’d throw mine out there. I did upvote my own once recently. Solely down to a noob error on dtube though. So I think that’s forgivable.
@janton(71)· 2401d
Howdy sir galenkp! Great topic here, I really enjoyed the comments!
@arcange(79)· 2402d
Congratulations @galenkp! Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following category:
- Comments - Ranked 8 with 45 comments
@ryivhnn(73)· 2402d
I don't think I've ever self-voted, not even when strongly encouraged to for the curation rewards, always seemed kinda dumb to me ^_^;

Also I'd really rather drop that vote on someone else but I'm weird like that.
@meesterboom(81)· 2403d
Ooo, I hadn't spotted that tab before. Must give it a whirl!

I haha people that do the comment self vote thing. In that case it's just abuse
@holoz0r(78)· 2403d

This is the result of my following several curation initiatives on steemauto. My self votes come from being picked up by the very curation trails I follow... (Perhaps a victim of my own success?) I don't think I'm an abomination.
@por500bolos(68)· 2403d

I've added the chart below using the by weight metric also as it shows a little more diversity of accounts on which I've voted in the last seven days.

Sheesh!! Van Galen. I couldn't see my username in this 2nd weight metric chart that shows a little more diversity of accounts. Not even at 0.00% at 0 x. Hahaha

Wussup brother? :)
@dandays(73)· 2403d
I’m proud to admit the only self voting my account has ever (EVER) done is when a trail I’m previously supporting votes my content. I know when they come through and vote my content, each time I kinda cringe kinda—“danget!” One of those double-edged sword things.

I understand the business aspect of the platform or, any platform for that matter, and having the ability to pay yourself is the ultimate goal. I, however, see self voting, specifically the habitual type, as a form of selfishness. Just my two cents—currently $0.15 but who’s counting?

I’ve always considered a self vote as one less vote I could give someone else so I’ve consistently tried to avoid it. Another nice write-up, @galenkp. Enjoy your day sir.
@hanen(65)· 2403d
I find it a kind of abuse and should be reported to SteemCleaners or other projects who are fighting abuses on the system :(
@dramatoken(62)· 2403d

You've got DRAMA. You are going to be a Whale!

^{To view or trade DRAMA go to steem-engine.com.}
@mrnightmare89(74)· 2403d
!DRAMATOKEN !SHADE 5
@mrnightmare89(74)· 2403d
you are very correct, that kind of of vote (0.26) is already something for an smaller account. If it will use to those accounts that neve4 gets notice. I'm sure it will make that person happy for it and continue on living on steem. It seems the #newsteem mindset was gone nowadays. I hope it won't since the steem is slowly growing..
@qwerrie(78)· 2403d
let me throw in my 5 cents - considering me. I almost never self-vote now, tho I did it in the past (in the beginning, when my posts attracted 5 readers, hehe). I do about 1 post per day, sometimes more sometimes less, but it is about this figure... and 95% of my posts are self-voted -- as I belong to the TalentClub voting trail, and I am a member of this community, which votes my posts on a 1 post per day basis. so the picture looks like this -- and I think its as simple as that, no big drama and pattern to be deduced here.. and probably I am not the only one in this boat.

(but ofc 100% voting of self-comments ... it is something special!)
@eveuncovered(80)· 2403d
I think your voting pattern looks about right 🤓🤓
@thatkidsblack(72)· 2403d
I like this perspective a lot. I read a bit about an initiative from your brother as well, checking myself and the habits I may stray into. It's a nice reminder, and the site does show a bit of the cadence it did in my early days. This could be bias or positive sentiment or both - either way, I like it.

Comments · 15

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