That made me cringe about as much as being thrown under the bus twice this week by @isnochys over here. I don't even have a problem with him and he's sitting over here calling me a fake...
Not cool. Anyway...
Rather than being disrespectful to fellow community members, I've decided to take it upon myself to respectufully push for reform:
https://peakd.com/hive/@justineh/hive-witnesses-or-more-communication-needed#@nonameslefttouse/re-justineh-q7rouv
More constructive communication is needed. I was happy to see the response under that bid bot post. That response alleviated some tension. I'm glad we're bringing that culture with us.
It's people being cynical. Don't take it too personally.
I don't. I really don't. But it does have a snowball effect. On steem people would see money beside a post, then not even look at it because they assume it's trash and only trending due to illegitimate practices. I bet if I stop voting for people for an entire year, some would still be applying this disgusting 'circle jerker' label to my work without actually looking at the goddamn facts. It would be nice if that negative nonsense could just stay on Steem. If you're treated poorly for doing well, there's no incentive for others to try and climb the ladder. The environment becomes toxic and the folks who really try hard end up leaving.