A few days ago, I wrote about how some legitimate content creators on the platform are feeling demotivated due to unjustified downvoting. I received a lot of thoughtful responses from other users, which I deeply appreciate.
First, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who engaged with my post and shared their experiences and perspectives on the issue of downvoting here on the platform. That post turned out to be one of the most engaged-with posts in recent months, which made me realize just how many users are negatively affected by this problem.
Importantly, I didn’t even touch on the financial consequences of unjustified downvotes. I focused solely on the emotional impact, how these downvotes have made some users feel unsafe or discouraged from posting or participating further.
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In this post, I want to highlight the key takeaways based on the comments I received.
One thing I’ve realized is that there are varying perspectives on the issue of downvoting on Hive. Encouragingly, there are also users who are actively working on solutions to minimize the emotional toll of unjustified downvotes.
As I read through the comments, it became clear that my post sparked a heartfelt, constructive, and wide-ranging conversation.
Many commenters agreed that unjustified downvoting can have a real emotional impact on the recipient, especially when the downvotes are unexplained or perceived as personal attacks. This reveals that, unfortunately, the downvote feature is sometimes being weaponized for personal reasons. Some users seem to have forgotten the intended purpose of the downvote system and are instead using it to exert power over others without offering any meaningful justification.
In my view, this is one of the most troubling aspects of downvoting on Hive.
There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with another user’s opinion or with what they express in their post. That’s exactly why we have a comment section, to allow for discussion, debate, and the sharing of different perspectives.
However, it becomes problematic when a power user downvotes a post simply because they disagree with the author's opinion or with how that author chooses to use their rewards.
One particularly striking case comes to mind, perhaps the most absurd misuse of the downvote feature I’ve seen on this platform. It involved a prominent and well-respected content creator who is also an active member of a large curation group. Despite their credibility, they were downvoted by a power user whose justification was that the author had cashed out their post rewards.
I found this deeply disappointing. In my view, that power user forgot the fundamental values of this platform. It seemed they were so focused on protecting their own investment that they felt threatened when others claimed their well-earned rewards. What’s even more absurd is that the power user wasn’t even upvoting that author in the first place, so their reaction made little sense.
This example perfectly illustrates how the downvote feature can be misused to assert dominance over others. And it reinforced for me how critical it is that we, as a community, reflect on how we use the tools available to us and whether we're upholding the spirit of fairness, respect, and constructive engagement.
On a more positive note...
There are users and developers on the platform who are taking this opportunity to create solutions that help reduce the emotional impact of downvoting. As of now, I’m already aware of two working solutions that aim to lessen the negative effects of downvotes. To be clear, I’m not referring to the financial impact, as that is something we can’t fully control. At this point, no one can really stop others from downvoting. However, there are ways to minimize the emotional impact, and one of those ways is simply to hide the downvotes altogether, haha.
This type of solution focuses on changing how the author perceives the situation. In this case, the developers configured the frontend to hide the downvotes. While the post rewards are still affected by the downvote, the visual indicator is removed, so the negative feedback is not immediately obvious to the author.
The Ecency frontend has already implemented this solution, which is why using Ecency feels less stressful in this regard. It looks cleaner and gives off a more positive vibe, unlike other frontends that display a dramatic broken heart icon in bright red or a dull grey color, which can come across as discouraging.
In the end, it's encouraging to see members of the community stepping up to find thoughtful solutions to a problem that affects many creators emotionally. While we may not be able to control who downvotes, we can work together to shape a more supportive and respectful environment. Let’s continue the conversation and strive to make the platform a place where creativity and expression are truly valued.
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The fundamental principal of Hive is decentralisation of authority that's dependent upon how much stake you have invested, and censorship resistance. The rewards for content creation are secondary, however, I do understand that this is all 90% of users actually care about.
The solution is a simple one. Post content on Blurt, Steemit, read cash or noise cash. There are zero down votes there. A user can post what they wish with impunity. That way, they will experience no negative emotions.
An analogy.
If I want to eat chewing gum in Singapore, I'm presented with three options.
Eat it anyway and face possible negative consequences.
Don't eat it and abide by the rules.
Leave Singapore and eat it where it's acceptable to do so.
People have choices, none of which are perfect for an individual but are the best available to suit the majority. You can't please all of them people all of the time.
You'll notice that none of the platforms I mentioned that reward people have as strong a user base as Hive does. Ask yourself why that is.
I notice you didn't mention specific people in your post. May I ask why not?
Keep asking the difficult questions, mate and stay authentic.
Have a great Sunday :-)
Here is a name
Lol. I knew the name. I was just interested to know why he hadn't mentioned you!
'The name' does evoke a certain trepidation in many people.
Hope you've had a wonderful weekend and my your rocks continue to land with accuracy. 😀
lol. I know that you knew the name :)
Also interesting that the author mentioned content discovery and wondered if that exists or not. I wanted to assure that content discovery works. :)
Great analogy and solid points. You're right... no platform is perfect, but it's up to us to improve what we can within Hive. As for not naming names, I felt the focus should stay on the issue, not individuals. Appreciate your thoughtful comment!
And I also want to find out whether content discovery is still alive here in hive so I barely tag anyone in any of my posts (especially regarding downvotes, LOL), I wanna see if i could get some reaction from the people who will just came across my post. :)
Happy Sunday mate!
Off topic... I thought we are having a very warm weather here in SG at 29deg but as I check Thailand's 35deg made me wanna ask how you're dealing with that kind of weather. Hope you're doing well over there.
I recommend to re-read this comment in your previous post , and all people complaining about downvotes:
https://peakd.com/downvotes/@curamax/the-emotional-cost-of-downvotes#@themarkymark/re-curamax-sz0d98
People don’t want facts they just want to be the victim.
I have no problems with downvotes, provided that those who do so must be extra cautious and responsible in using such power. I experienced it several times that the downvoters are careless, without basis, and it seems like a power trip.
This irritates me. First to downvote, but never did they support the content of the creator even once. It is as if the only reason those accounts exist is to hunt for violators and penalize them.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I completely agree... downvotes should come with accountability and context, not as tools for unchecked power trips. It's frustrating when users who never support others suddenly show up only to penalize.
Hopefully, with more awareness and open discussion like this, we can encourage more responsible use of downvotes and improve the experience here in the Hive platform.
Yes, that's frustrating. When you asked them for an explanation, all I read was appeal my case in their Discord channel. That to me is adding insult to injury. They have to prove their case that a violation indeed has been committed, not the other way around.
Exactly... using downvotes responsibly should be a baseline expectation, not a rare exception. What you shared here really helps shed light on the issue (in my point of view).
haha it looks like you started a fire. Honestly, it is what it is. You play the game you follow the rules right. Unless someone out there wants to make a hive proposal to remove downvotes, they can try you know or have a proposal that adds an additional step like justifying the reason for downvoting. If people don't like the downvoting, then there's alternatives like owning their own blog instead of being here you know. Technically if someone downvotes you, it can also be just because they feel that a person was overrewarded for their post and to define that as well is tough just like how people can reward you for the post as well. I don't know if I sound harsh but that's the reality.
Fair point... the system is what it is, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t challenge its flaws. A proposal for downvote accountability is actually a great idea worth exploring :)
Yup and we are able to do that here on Hive which some systems in real life we can't and a lot of people get fucked by it but that's how it be. You can actually challenge its flaws which is one of the good points in hive lol. we can vote to make changes so if you feel it's really needed maybe you can take the initiative to start the proposal!
Hmm, I don’t think I’m ready to take on that responsibility yet, especially now that I’ve just started researching it more. I’ll continue my research and observations over the next year and see what I come up with.
Hopefully, I’ll find some good solutions for it. :)
haha alright fair enough. I hope you do find good solutions and do something :D
Negative is really not good, try to always steer towards positivity
Absolutely agree... positivity and respectful dialogue go a long way. That’s the direction I hope more people take here on Hive. 🙌
those Blurt campaign comments lol sometime it makes me itchy
Haha, I know what you mean! Some of those comments do feel a bit out of place :D
[@PowerPaul:]
Hey buddy. Greetings! Because of your participation in the CryptoCompany community you received a vote from @CryptoCompany and its trail! Thank you for your participation in the "Banner for Boost" campaign.
Hive a great day!
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Credit: reddit
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I will talk about my personal experience, which has made be start a power down of almost all my HP. I will keep a bit just to have RC since I play Splinterlands but I'm done posting. There's a Splinterlands player who calls himself the ambassador of Splinterlands yet he's driven away so many from Hive and also from the game itself. I was having a discussion on Discord in the Splinterlands server. It wasn't just with him. We disagreed but there was no disrespect, at least on my side. I checked my posts and all of my posts had been downvoted by that person. Except for the 2 weekly contest posts. He also had done the same 6 days ago and I have no idea why. I downvoted his current posts too. He went nuclear and downvoted the 2 weekly posts from the contest (which also takes away rewards from Splinterlands and the DAO) and now I'm basically done with Hive. This is a child bully who never did anything meaningful in life, somehow got rich probably due to inheritance and now uses their money to feel powerful on this platform.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm really sorry things ended up this way... it’s upsetting when disagreements turn into targeted downvoting (it happened to me as well, in the past and until now), especially when it affects broader efforts like Splinterlands and the DAO.
Your story reflects exactly the kind of misuse I was hoping to highlight. I respect your decision to step back, but I do hope the platform becomes a better place in the future... one where you'd feel welcome again.
Wishing you the best!
Thanks again. I don't have much hope for the platform. That's because these users with power do that stuff while pretending to defend the platform and they keep growing their assets without any investment. They even participate in vote trading and other things they are public critics of. Often in ways that are a bit more hidden. When the worst people here have a lot of power and that power keeps growing, there's no way for it to get better.
I have noticed that These guys are just downvoting anyone who has made $$$ with Splinterlands, actifit, Bitcoin, Tron etc … Blocktrades, Buildawhale, themarkymark, azircon, acidyo, solominer, gogreenbuddy and a few others
I'm so sorry for your experience, please if there's a way out of it, find the solution and stay. Reading people comments and I'm getting scared 😳 already. Best wishes to you.
Thank you for your words. I won't be leaving 100% at least while I still play Splinterlands. But I won't be making posts anymore and I started powering down my HP.
Nice decision. Stay safe. And you're welcome 🤗.
Sheez mate! could you have been more contradictory and overly diplomatic (not to say hypocritical) in this post by saying that hiding the downvotes in the UI frontends actually would remove the harmful effects of unjustified downvotes?
Are you perhaps implying that a moderately intelligent author would not immediately realize that he has been the victim of the downvotes that these motherfuckers have given to his article out of whims upon seeing that suddenly his post has been made invisible and with zero rewards?
¡Holy crap buddy! How do you believe that by hiding the downvotes from the frontends and thus preventing that people actually know who the hell are these SoBs who love downvote content left and right only for personal reasons is gonna be beneficial to someone?
Wadda hell man! review again what you have said and how you have said it. And additionally, tell also to the Devs of Ecency that they stop being so pussy trying to hide the unhideable. Since we all here actually want to know who exactly are these sons of bitches who likes to downvote just because they feel like it and so that we decent people can subject them to public ridicule each time they behave like authentic SoBs.
Stop talking your head off "back and forth" trying to please everyone. And take a single, solid stand on this matter. Otherwise, you'll end up pleasing no one, and your credibility in trying to provide a solution to this problem will just go down the drain.
I hear you, and I respect the passion. My suggestion was never about hiding the truth... it was about easing the emotional blow. You're right that transparency is essential, and I agree we need both emotional safeguards and visible accountability.
I checked your blog page and now I understand why you're feeling frustrated by the downvotes. I'm not sure why someone seems to be permanently downvoting you, but have you tried reaching out to them to start a dialogue?
I’m concerned your comment might get downvoted, so I’m sending you a $HIVE tip instead.
!ALIVE !PIZZA
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@geneeverett(12/15) tipped @curamax
Come get MOONed!
Am really short of words. It's so disheartening that one will wake up to see that all rewards in his or her post has been removed to $0.00 with no reasons or explanations. At least let the person know where he has wronged the system and make amendment's. I also experience downvote's which I don't know what offence I have committed. Most people here earn their daily bread from this space, and when all the rewards are gone, tell me how such a person will survive.
I wish those in authority will have the same mindset of yours, empathy. If the do, this space will be a better place for us.
Blocktrades, Buildawhale and themarkymarkMark are just downvoting everyone now on Day 7 and removing all rewards. They seem to be jealous that some Hive Bloggers bought Bitcoin.
Breaking News :
Blurt fixed all these problems 6 years ago. No Downvote button. See you on Blurt.blog and Blurt.media
Https://Blurt.blog
Https://Blurt.Media
Https://BeBlurt.com
Dramatic much?
What is a weapon? As per https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weapon
You are posting content in a social media platform, No one gave you any entitlement to get any rewards. Some like your post they upvote, some don't, they downvote. You have no right for the rewards corresponding to your post until 7 days. Whatever that you get after the net result of like-dislikes after 7 days is yours.
That is all.
Consider not being dramatic. If you don't like it here, there are other social media platforms. Please consider using them.
Power trips that's for a certain but misuse of power is just one of the thing that might cause one problem either knownly or unknownly.
Like you mentioned, comment section is a place where one can tender is opinion on the content, am sure no sensible person will get a warning or corrections over something he ore she did wrong and person will continue same way.
Instead of stating your mind or the reason why you think the person doesn't deserve a reward instead you have the person placed on permanent downvotes for as long as you wish to use your power,because you have power.
Downvoting the person till he leaves the system does it solve the problem, or does bring growth to the system?.
Well said. Using power to discourage without dialogue hurts both creators and the ecosystem. We need more empathy and transparency in this space.
On my own case it's obvious the downvoter has sworn with his life that I will never receive a reward for my original content and who am I to question power 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄.
That's indeed very demotivating :(
Blocktrades via Buildawhale and themarkymark are just downvoting anyone who bought Bitcoin … they are friggin crazy
You're not alone in feeling that way... excessive or unfair downvoting can really harm the community spirit. Hopefully, more users will reflect on how we use this feature.
The “for no reason” aspect is the most frustrating part of downvoting on this platform. I just wish downvotes were used with proper justification and discussed in a constructive way, rather than as a means to assert power over others.
Thank you for sharing your feedback. I sent you a $Hive tip instead of an upvote, as I’m concerned you might get downvoted.
Is there any payment required to create a Blurt account?