I do flag what I consider to be spam comments. It will usually only be with a few percent of a vote unless it's something serious like phishing where we need the comments to be hidden. I want spam to sink to the bottom of the comments on my posts. I've come across very little seriously offensive content here.
I would consider flagging those who are selfishly just taking from the system, but I'm wary of retaliation.
Retaliation is a big issue with flagging, absolutely.
We like the idea of "Dark Steem" which used to float around... where (perhaps) you could earn curation rewards for flagging content in the same way that you earn "Steem" for upvoting content. This might provide some necessary incentive for flagging, rather than pure risk of retaliation. Food for thought! As communities here develop surely there will be more structured policing ideas modeled off of the way SteemCleaners and Cheetah have worked, etc.
Some of us are happy to curate for no reward. An improved Steemit is worth it.
Amen bro, I am reading this articles because I consider its way too important to cleanse steemit, but I don't want to do it wrong and hurt someones account for no reason or when instead you can promote a better use of the platform. Its hard to tell when theyre doing it blatantly and when its an honest mistake.
There are plenty of accounts where it's very obvious what they are doing. Generally those have no community support. I think it may be best to join one of the groups who deal with it, such as @SteemFlagRewards. Plenty of discussion about the issues in their Discord.
Thanks a lot, this is quite useful, complete noob even to cryptocurrency, I saw flag rewards but was wary that I might be some kind of scheme. I still kinda think that if steemit didn't want to reward flagging it should stay that way. Hopefully the platform grows stronger and adapts to this issues.
Amen @steevc!
Allowing rewards still wouldn't stop the assholes like @berniesanders from downvoting people with his 20 accounts because they disagree with his actions and dislike him as a person in general.
If flags could somehow not affect rewards and be forwarded to witnesses to decide on whether a post is hidden or rewards are taken, that would potentially stop this kind of abuse.
Yea its probably a smart idea to only flag those who have similar or less SP than you, at least the way it is today. I would never flag a whale or even a strong dolphin these days as the risk is simply too great. It's like suing a billionaire.
I am wary of that. Some people have set up flagging bots you can delegate to. It's not totally anonymous, but it makes you less obvious, especially if they can gain many supporters
Vote selling is reward pool rape!
There are s one who just vote for themselves and don't support the community. I'm some cases they are making serious money. We can each make our own judgements
Voting and flagging are tools for curation. They can be used and abused. I want to see good content get the rewards out deserves.
Who is qualified to judge? How much SP you have should not determine that. I rarely flag, but it will be for blatant spam and cynical money grabs. Only the whales can deal with the worst cases. I want Steemit to be a good experience for those who come with good intentions. Of course some will try to exploit it. That is why we need moderation tools. My power of fairly low, but I do what I can.
buying votes is necessary for people with smaller followings though. if you want to hit trending or hot you HAVE to buy the votes unless you have thousands of followers.
however, some people do abuse it so I can agree with you on that.