#steem

Downvoting: The Underrated Superhero of the Steem Blockchain

Actifit Tracking Day 34.PNG

One of the coolest parts of our blockchain that is often overlooked is how the ability to flag/downvote is actually a good thing because it allows you to fight back against harassment, and general ass hat level behavior.

Warning... this is a bit of a rant and as you can see - contains a few swear words! 🙈

Some of you may have seen me mention that I started a crypto Instagram account: Instagram: @girl_gone_cryto which has honestly been SO fun because I've been able to connect with tons of cool people in the crypto community and even spread the word about Steem!

You know what sucks about centralized social media though? There isn't much you can do when someone is a total douche. Check out these DM's I got earlier today.

First of all... he deleted the douchy message he sent me before I could screenshot.

He sent me a message saying "I want u so bad." Which honestly... you have to expect to get comments like that from time to time when you are a woman moving through the world - especially in a male-dominated sector. But this guy is actually pretty well known in the crypto space and has over 65k followers on Instagram.

I thought about leaving some snarky remark - but had a bad feeling that he might try to twist my words... so I just simply said, "Not interested". Which is where the screenshot starts. Maybe he's just used to people cowering to give him what he wants because of his influence...but he LOST HIS SHIT.

I purposely cropped the image to remove his username... because the point of this post isn't to send people after him specifically...but just to illustrate what a useful tool flagging can be. I'll get to that more in a minute... but for now - here is the conversation.

___

Why Downvotes with a Monetary Consequence Puts the Power back in the Hands of the Users

YES, yes I know... downvoting is often used on this platform in a negative way and the power is abused - but I wanted to take a second to highlight some of the benefits as well.

If an interaction like this had happened on Steem... I'd be able to flag him. And other's might see that kind of harassing/threatening behavior and decide to flag him too. On Instagram, I just have to say "well that sucked", move on and hope he doesn't actually start posting shit about me online to all of his followers. 🤷‍♀️

What are your thoughts on this? I know we usually talk about downvotes being a negative thing - so I wanted to take a second a point out an example of where it could have provided some good - or maybe even curbed that kind of behavior completely.

XO, Lea

Comments · 21

@speewave(40)· 2642d
Steem's done a lot of cool stuff with the downvoting/flagging concept honestly, and I don't think it gets enough credit for it. You see basic downvoting get abused on Steam (the game store) and Reddit and it's a really big problem from the former.

I can see the skepticism about people really putting in money to downvote brigade something. But for the average trolls and jerks, downvoting something won't be worth it.

Fair warning - a bit of thinking out loud below TL;DR: What steem has is pretty solid, but there's a ton of possibilities to make it better. Maybe even things that the decentralized nature of steem might make more possible.

If someone or even steem themselves looked in to some improvements on the whole downvoting system i think they could make it even better then they already have.

Like what if we could tell how trustworthy or valuable your downvote was based on if people think you're spamming the downvote button incorrectly. Maybe combine it with a system where we can say why you're downvoting a post (Maybe it's dumb, maybe it's harassment, Maybe i don't agree with it) Maybe i'm trustworthy at flagging harassment but i get a little too trigger happy with posts i don't like or something

There's a lot of ways it can be made better and the whole decentralized thing gives an interesting opprotunity. Not only are your posts judged by your peers but your criticisms of posts and people are also judged by the same peers.

Could work, Or not, i don't know, Just thinking out loud, would totally be an interesting social experiment though or to see what others would come up with
@arcange(79)· 2642d
Congratulations @coruscate! Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following category:
- Comments - Ranked 9 with 55 comments
@pizzachain(59)· 2643d
I'm not entirely sure about that... Of course, downvoting provides some sort of a way to fight against people who have less SP than you, but people with a lot of Steem Power can retaliate on you with so much harder downvotes that you will suffer harder than they will.

If he is, as you say, well-known, then chances are that he also got a lot of Steem Power, which makes him essentially invincible on here as well. If you downvote him, there's a high probability that he would do the same to you and perhaps harder as well.

I've downvoted bad people in the past and got downvoted much harder for doing so. The world isn't a very fair place and I'm not sure if Steem really changes that.

You acted well in the situation though.
@optout(59)· 2643d
I upvoted this post because it was excellent. However, I feel like I should have downvoted it to keep with the spirit of the subject at hand. (joke) Seriously though, that dude trying to white guilt you into sex, wow! I thank God I'm not a woman because I don't ever want a dic pic from anyone, ever.
@steemitboard(66)· 2643d
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You got more than 4250 replies. Your next target is to reach 4500 replies.

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@bluemist(66)· 2644d
That was really uncalled for... but I gotta say you really showed some great emotional stability.

Yes, Downvoting is going to be one of the main essentials of Stem ecosystem especially after changing reward to 50% Author/50% Curator.
@geekpowered(70)· 2644d
I was gonna make a stupid joke...but then I read his comments and now all I can think is "WTF is wrong with him?" Plenty of people have to live with hormones and shit and they make us stupid sometimes...but I don't get this whole "You rejected me so I'm gonna shit on you!" Maybe if they like insult you or something when rejecting you... Guys like him ruin everything for everyone.
@bitcoinflood(80)· 2644d
Would it not be the same to just not upvote crap content? This battle has been raging ever since I started two years ago and every move of course can be exploted in some way as will this one. Instead of working on these dumb hardforks all of their effort should have been and should be smt that where promised to the community last year. My hope in steemit as we move into half a year in 2019 is fading quickly.

Posted using Partiko Android
@stackin(78)· 2644d
I think I’m in trouble, I had a huge following in the past with facebook, Instagram, snapchat etc etc... I got tons of hate for no reason. 😂😂😂

Posted using Partiko iOS
@jacksonchakma(65)· 2644d
That is brutal...

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@marcusantoniu26(68)· 2644d
I am totally with you. For the ones who follow you and see your enthusiasm, it is hard not to get upset about what you experienced. Downvoting or flagging has a good purpose and it can be mishandled, of course. I did follow your Instagram with my business account (the only one I have) instagram@smopinions2013.
@thecastle(69)· 2644d
Down voting only puts power into the hands of whoever has the most steem power though. Lets say this creepy guy had a few million steem power.. He can nuke you from orbit because you didn't like him back...
@bluengel(71)· 2644d
@coruscate also good for upvoting good contents for Virtuous Cycle of Steem ♨ On !

Congrats Day ! 💙

SPUD2 D-Day Let's Together Participate Steem Power Up Day season 2 #spud #steem ♨ On ! #seven77

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@sparkesy43(60)· 2644d
Sadly, I believe the way Steem voting power is structured, then it will likely lend itself to more abuse and bullying than it prevents.

It could be useful, however, if all downvote were of equal value, but then what's to stop bullies just creating a bunch of new accounts and using them to downvote as well.

Posted using Partiko Android
@newageinv(74)· 2644d
Seems like it was premeditated! Incredible to think that he is well known. I think that the flagging and downvote is a good tool but like many things, depends on the user and its intended consequences.

Posted using Partiko iOS
@shaidon(71)· 2644d
I can certainly see the benefits of doing this. And on Steem, his comment would be stored in steemworld for you to screenshot there.

He certainly is a douche and to claim people are racist because you weren't interested shows he has serious issues.

I am reluctant to downvote anyone because one time I ran into a nest of white supremacists on here. All I did was highlight that a known white supremacist was in fact that on a video that was shared on someone's blog.

I didn't downvote their page. Just nasty ignorant crap directed at me in comments afterwards.

I could see their downvotes affecting my reputation score so I edited the comment to stop the harassment I was getting. Some of them still stalk my account!

But if it's the only defence we have then I am grateful for it.

Sorry you had a bad experience on Instagram, and I'm sure it's not indicative of the majority there.

Posted using Partiko Android
@nonameslefttouse(77)· 2644d
I'm thinking certain forms of social media inject narcissistic personality disorder into the mind. What's on the inside shines bright over the internet. He put a huge spotlight on his personal demons, and probably can't even see where he went wrong, because to people like that, they're wired to think they can do no wrong. I'm not making excuses for him though. Douche was the correct term to use here.

They should change the wording a bit. Stop calling them "followers" because to some, they feel like a natural born leader. I like "subscribers." Just the other other day someone pulled the same attitude problems with me. "I have six times more SP than you!" I think he made the mistake of thinking SP makes the man. I'm glad he said it in public though. No flags needed. I simply roasted him.

In life, these psychos sometimes have a little sparkle in their eyes. On social media, they always have that smile.
@joeparys(74)· 2644d
Let’s say hypothetically If some whale(or group of whales) didn’t like you/your content (whatever there reason maybe) and downvoted every one of your posts - hiding them - how would you handle this? If you try posting about how unfair it was they would just downvote you and the post would be hidden. They could literally downvote you or anyone right off the platform. I’m saying this just to give perspective of the other side. I personally think downvoting is not the way to handle finding the best content. Why Steemit doesn’t just do exactly what YouTube does is beyond me. Want to earn Steem? Instead of votes you earn Steem from ADs over / on your content - just like YouTube. If people like your stuff, they give it a thumbs up, if not, thumbs down. More watch time, views, or engagement, the content ranks higher. Simple.
@drakos(70)· 2644d
It's one of those idiots with the only argument in their arsenal is to call others racists or sexists. Brainless PC culture following main stream media indoctrination.
@esteemapp(76)· 2644d
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@ganjafarmer(76)· 2644d
Lol I'm not a girl... But I can imagine the attention that it brings.

Well best part... Him freaking out does show his heart. Oh what was that? He is a little insecure? Maybe not worth the time to date.

And nice throwing racism into the mix to make you really look like a knob.

Well you 1and him 0

Winner!

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First of all... he deleted the douchy message he sent me before I could screenshot.

Comments · 21

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