I don't get the same sense that you have that there is a powerful account that has an issue with dissenting opinions, I have been a truth-teller for a long time, and I have found a home here where I feel I am free to speak my mind, Gab and other platforms have tried to do this but when you think of it none of them are like Hive.
Smooth disagreeing with your reward payout is his right, as much as we might not like it, Smooth is his own account and doesn't owe anything to anyone. I told Smooth myself that his answers to why he does this are only fueling the flames. I said it was the main reason I don't support their proposals. His reply was to basically say that we content creators are very needy and whiney and we need to realize that we aren't the only people who matter and I told him without content creators Hive would be like github just a buncha devs sharing code. I think me and Smooth are friends :)
I spoke with asgarth and others that this gives off a sense of hierarchy that is very off-putting to independent journalists and writers. Please know that the best part of this community is that when you bring up issues like this the community hears you, I assure you that you are being heard and this downvoting issue has long been debated and I think it is time the community should try to come to a consensus on this.
Thank you again for putting this out there and I am making it my personal mission to try and reach a solution to this issue. I joined a few months before you and if you look into my work we write about similar things, it broke my heart to read that you felt like you were being targeted, your account and accounts like yours are vital to the success of Hive.
Thank you so much Joziah, I think you are right about Hive being better than most. If you have not been on the receiving end of habitual downvotes, be grateful, as many of us have, been going on since Steem days, on and off, different users, comes in waves it seems. Maybe this Smooth business is all about reward adjustment, but there are definitely powerful accounts who target politically incorrect content, maybe not smooth, but definitely altleft, it is habitual and very clear pattern for altleft and I do not think has anything to do with disagreement over rewards whatsoever.
For example, I have had 7 research-based posts in a row now downvoted, so hard to not see it as a pattern targeting me (which if so, I take as a compliment that I am ruffling feathers with the content of my posts), particularly when I go look at the users casting the downvotes doing the same to many others in the truth / independent journalist /conspiracy community. I saw smooth had repeatedly downvoted so many fellow independent researchers I support on here, it seems like pattern to me with him, but definitely is with altleft.
Your conversation with Smooth made me laugh, I have intentionally held my tongue regarding my opinions on downvotes for the duration of my stay here, so I'm not among those who typically complain about these things, but when I saw I was far from alone and that many are leaving because of such downvote patterns, I couldn't stay silent any longer. I am far more concerned about the bigger picture and ethics of downvoting over reward disagreement in general than any amount of personal rewards being diminished, as I often get good rewards anyway, and this was never about the money for me, but a free speech platform and building community.
You may not know, but I came here to what was originally Steemit because I was deplatformed on YouTube for my videos challenging the official narrative of the Parkland 'shooting' and pointing out lies about that official narrative, videos that had for the first time in my life gotten me a following of people who appreciated my content, so it is nice to have built up a solid following again here and to have met many like yourself that I probably would have never discovered apart from that censorship experience. So despite the frustrations of that initial censorship, I'm still thankful as it has helped greatly expand the independent researchers I follow and whose work I am now aware of and shown me the futility of fighting Big Tech censorship on their own platforms. I don't take Smooth downvotes personally, and as demoralizing as it initially is to be on the receiving end of such a massive downvote, I am not bitter and have already learned much from the experience.
Thank you so much for caring and taking time to talk the devs, I'm very glad the issue is finally getting their ear, the many people who see this as an issue appreciate any debate on the issue our relatively small voices garner, no matter what change comes about. I think anytime so much power lies in the hands of so few, such as power to decide how much users should or should not be rewarded, is a ticket for disaster, corruption and abuse of power. As the old adage goes, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Those with the power obviously believe they have the right to make such choices due to their investment, and to some degree I suppose they are right. To find a happy balance and particularly to ensure a censorship-free experience is of paramount importance.
This is why I join Hive https://peakd.com/hive/@wedacoalition/why-content-creators-should-use-the-hive-blockchain, but it is very similar to why you did and why I built wedacoalition.org
see you around friend!