A recent post has identified the rise of identity theft on steemit. Some savvy individuals have taken it upon themselves to create introduce yourself posts that are nothing but lies. Now that we know these posts were lies we feel like our trust was violated.
Perspective is Reality
In an effort to cope with this violation, it is helpful to remember how this person made us feel when they made the post. That feeling was real, even if it was ultimately an illusion. They gave our community something we wanted and spent time and effort producing original content.
Many people who have posted pure fiction and gotten upvoted because we liked what we saw and we appreciated the effort. The catfish introduction posts are just another form of fiction writing that appealed to the voters.
In other words, the individual gave us all what we were looking for and put at least as much effort into their creative writing as other posters.
Going Forward
As Steem grows it is important that we move away from #introduceyourself posts and look for higher quality. People should still post in #introduceyourself so that we have a public record of who you are. One day that post might just enable us to recover your account if you get hacked.
I encourage people to stop voting on introduce yourself posts, but instead use the post as means to add people to your list to be followed. This way you can see more content from them in the future.
#introduceyourself is a great place to discover new writers that might be worth following. That alone should be enough reason to post an introduction. Financial rewards will come later.
Summary
Don't fret over spilt milk. People are going to game the voting and that is part of the "cost of doing business". Over time we will learn and voters will become more savvy. These catfish are just helping us learn. That which doesn't kill us will only make us stronger.
Thanks for the response to this. However, I would also like to point out that many of the identity thieves I have caught are actually plagiarizing introductory posts off peoples blogs -- they are not writing "pure fiction" as you say; they are actually copy-paste stealing the thoughts of real people.
Yes...and photos and names. I don't see how identity theft can be called "fiction." In my opinion, if something is a fictional work, it should be obvious as such....like "here's a short story I wrote." We see this in movies where in the credits it will say something about how all the characters are fictional and any resemblance to actual events is coincidental or something like that. Identity theft is illegal. According to this source, "One key piece to identity theft crimes is the use of specific kinds of information, commonly known as personal identifying information. ...[including] your name, ... photographs, or anything else that you can use to identify yourself." The penalties can include incarceration, fines, restitution and probation. @dan's post seems a bit dismissive in my opinion.
That is a good point, if it was copy/paste and we didn't catch it then that is a problem.
Some folks be like
Sounds legit..
A few hours ago i posted 2 solution for the problem https://steemit.com/steemit/@kuriko/response-to-the-rise-of-identity-theft-on-steemit-here-s-my-solution-to-the-problem-anyx-ned-dan Seems like if you don't have a name in here or your not a whale to boost your visibility you don't get people attention.
I wouldn't agree that you simply don't get attention outright, but you certainly get less attention until you have built reputation aka SP. It's a bit unfair but not that different from real life. You've gotten 58 votes on your post which aint bad, considering the devs aren't doing much in terms of "reaching out" for solutions. Good luck anyway. Steem on.
I am not the type to complain I promise! I don't value every single ones of my post at high rewards! I just believe in this project as a whole and when I wish to send out a message to the community about potential solution to a specific problem I hope I can reach them all! I don't have the best english either so that could also put me in a difficult position! lol but yes steem on buddy!
Kudos! You have a great attitude. :)
Thanks for the update Dan. Can we also try to do something with the whale bots upvoting shitposts ?
https://steemit.com/@benjojo
This writer was pretty good IMO, but went rogue on the autovote whale bots.
Whale upvote bots are a systemic risk to Steem imo.
I love that Catfish show :) i know that’s of topic but still.
:)
My brother and I just had this same conversation. Is it the reality of the post that makes it meaningful, or the mental trip (emotions etc) it puts you through? I think it is a bit of both for me personally, but I hope this doesn't start turning Steemit into a witch-hunt platform. Downvote the fakes and trolls, but lets try and not accidentally spread this to innocent users.
Scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - gif from giphy
@dan Slightly off topic, but along the same lines of 'gaming the voting system' I have noticed (along with a few others), there are 30 something accounts that seem to be instantly (<1min after posting) upvoting posts with the tag 'steemit'. Just thought I would post in case you are considering changing the curation reward algorithm anytime soon.
I would imagine this is one, or a few individuals trying to get around the 30min curation reward by upvoting the same content multiple times...
Such an interesting part of the evolution of this platform. I was plagiarized for the first time...ever....if my life... on steemit. I think it's a compliment....? The community stepped right up and called the person out! Great people make up the back bones of this community for sure @dan! :) Here's the link to my post that got plagiarized and also ended up on a shout-post! : https://steemit.com/life/@missjessica/this-shouldn-t-be-so-serious-can-you-still-have-fun
I'd like to think of these catfishers as still being proof of work, and adding value to the system even if that work is completely bogus.
It is testing the system and causing new approaches to pop up to deal with the hassle, which as Dan said is completely healthy for us. Creates more healthy work as a reaction.
Can't prevent all users from doing this, but as a community we also can't put a" lid on the bucket" at the sacrifice of getting new users to post.
This post talking about not voting up #introduceyourself posts (while being in the #introduceyourself category) has 155 votes already. How many more will vote for it because they want to be part of those, sweet, sweet curation rewards?
Heheh. Kidding aside. Great post. I was tempted to vote it up but out of respect for the content, I will follow the wishes therein.
People chasing curation rewards will learn quick enough that they won't get much until they Power-da-fuk-up.
Yep. There are people I've noticed who are powering up their main accounts and their bots as well. It's going to be interesting to see how it all shakes out. This post is now up to 175 votes while asking people not to vote for it. As much as we'd like the world to be made up of rational actors... well, yeah.
I would love a feature to be able to disabled monetization on posts. It might encourage more sincere discussion. Ah well.
I was actually thinking this morning that perhaps #introduceyourself posts or even #verification posts should be used and somehow made sticky (in the user's blog/post feeds) and that they should contain links to as many social media accounts as possible. Perhaps a short video of the person saying their user name and date stamping could be a big benefit for verification as well. Cell phones and other ways of recording videos are so prevalent these days the excuse for not being able to do this really shouldn't hold any water. I really, really enjoy what's going on here and I want to see it do well.
Edit: Also, maybe these verification/introduction posts should be blocked from collecting a payment and they should literally just be for verification.
I think everyone knows that, but how many of those people stay? Even if they do stay, how many other posts do they write and get nothing on before they start calling the site a scam and all kinds of other nasty names. It builds up false expectations and that's a bad thing for the longevity of the platform.
The other issue comes in when someone writes a bogus post like the one being talked about here and they take the earnings, run to the nearest exchange and cash it all out. This brings the exchange rate down and causes fear among the users. "Oh no! Not only can I no longer make a decent payment on my posts, but even when I do the value is just moving down, down, down!"
There are also potential legal implications from catfishing, especially on Steem, since you are attempting to directly profit by stealing another person's identity. Even on Facebook it is illegal (as far as I know) to make a fake profile of another person. Here, you add in the fact that catfish are profiting from stealing those identities, and it is almost certainly illegal.
This is what real leadership is - stepping in promptly to set things straight.
Such situations were bound to happen - in fact I'm surprised how few cases of catfishing, identity theft and abuse there has been thus far.
Kudos, @dan. Steemit is safe in your hands. :)
Since @anyx's post, I'm careful nowadays and always run a reverse image search to make sure the ones that have the verification aren't faking it. And thus far, I haven't found any positives. I'm sure others are scrutinizing too. If there is any abuse, someone will find out and the user will be flagged and shamed, I'm sure.
As for the genuine verifications, why not? Why would "hot chicks" not be interested in cryptocurrency and social media? According to Alexa, Steemit has more women than men anyway. Some of the best blog posts I have seen are by women too. Yes, I know, I know, it's a flawed statistic, but does give an indication.
I've enjoyed reading the introduction posts for 2 weeks now, and will continue to do so cause I feel its better for new legit users to get a warm welcome with votes and comments instead of just comment bots and no votes which may discourage them from being active. Although I agree that the posts some times got too many votes and value, I encourage young minnows like myself to also welcome them.
But like you said most of the value shouldn't go to those posts, and this will also remove the need for fakers to continue spamming that tag.
Anyway, great response time by the team! (the thread about the identity theft was created just yesterday) Glad to be a part of this all!
Thanks For Explaining the situation . I really hate that people are pretending to be other people for upvotes , I saw a post where the person said he was Mark Zuckerberg! , People are getting more greedy by the minute
Please tell me what posts are "clickbait"
tag challenge! @dan is right
we just need to be more careful with who we upvote. and be wary of photoshopped verifications (most are easy to spot, though admittedly I fell for one too).
I love the introduceyourself posts when they are genuine and have some substance.
so when it is clear they are genuine I'd still upvote them. In doubt best not.
Thank you @dan.
Let me know if there's anything I can do to help around here.
@Dan It is fine to say that people shouldn't fret over fraudulent posts but all they do is serve to make the platform look bad and discourage new people from being honest and posting the truth.
If I'm a newbie and I find that people can profit from posting fake stories why wouldn't I just copy the same pattern for a big payout?
This will just heighten the public perception of everything cryptocurrency related being either "shady" or at best on the boundaries of legality.
The community doesn't need any more of that kind of press.
Let me introduce myself. Congrats for the purpose of this community. You are doing an awesome job. What do you think steemit could do in the future as a blockchain infrastructure for projects like this one
@dan this viral video for you https://steemit.com/video/@maximkichev/the-first-viral-steemit-video
Cute girl with a steemit sign? $3,000!
I really think that is a great idea, I do think at v the minute introduce yourself is a annoying part of steemit.
That's right ! Go ahead!
Oh no, not just before my intro post!
😉 Thanks for this post, you nailed it on the head.
@dan
I have a question pertaining to the #introduceyourself tag/section.
Are re-introductions permitted/allowed?
If so, are they frowned upon in any manner?
For instance, I joined steemit not knowing what to initially post and not knowing how the platform worked, but now that I've been here a few days, I have a better idea of what to post and how better to convey the message I wish to present. Thanks in advance!
excellent post upvote
wellcome
I will agree with that suggestion. People to tend to pretend or cooked up stories about themselves due to a lot of #introduceyourself post raking rewards. @introduceyourself post is a great way to welcome new aspiring writers and create a following to yourself. Once you have following, user can write a great post and rake rewards from the voters. It's a much noble way to earn here and you will earn the respect of the community as well.
Well generally when people wrote in #introduceyourself post, most will mentioned are their interest. From there, you may get your following.
Good post dan appreciate the response to that thread. I agree while its good to see people introducing themselves ultimately we need stay aware that people arent always who they say they are and that these people are playing into the fantasy of others.
The idea of the introduceyourself tag was a way for everyone to know each better since the site was pretty small. Now it is nearly impossible to be sure someone is who they unless some else vouches for them. Then some has to vouch for the voucher and on on. So it's best not to vote on them anymore unless you know they are real. If they are are interesting but you are not sure then just follow for now.
Agreed. I have made that argument that fiction entertains and even as fiction it has value. But introduceyourself seems silly as a venue to generate a high amount. Thanks for this post
I have noticed several days ago that people stop upvoting #introduceyourself by themselves. Bot-robots are much more important - they should be more intelligent and fast. Cheetah-bot is great.
Disable #introduceyourself from the right side for a week and see the impact on people's behavior
Spilt milk is not good, let's put some chocolate.
I admit I just used #introduceyourself in a post that was not for it, for two reasons:
Neither of which I feel bad about.
One thing I often think about is - should I post some of my better work/stories before we can properly follow each other? If someone reads something good I don't think they're really trying to follow people since it isn't fully working yet.
The persons who have lied should be sanctioned, blocking his accounts "fake" and his principal account , and the respective loss of benefit in the above mentioned accounts.
A few terms should be added to agree in the register, included that the deception is a motive of definitive expulsion of the page and loss of the existing quantity in the account.
Other ways of check can be implanted, for example registering the mobile, the person who wants to be deceptive will need a mobile for account and though he will not avoid the deception it can diminish it.
It might allow the only account for IP, if some person uses two accounts in the same IP it will have to ask for permission to the staff and to check to the users extra that to use happiness IP, of the way that the staff indicates them.
Also the check for ID card as it is done in the pages of exchange of coins or virtual portfolios, let's not forget that here we are working with money and in any occasions of a considerable value.
I hate the liars.
Regards.
To think that I was working up my guts to do my own #introduceyourself telling everyone about me and this burst my bubble a bit :)
I agree with @dan's point and I don't:
It's just like with bots. If they clearly say they're a bot and have performed x or y action because they are programmed that way, I'm good. If the bot pretends to be human and congratulates me for my awesome post that he didn't even bother to scan...well, I'm not ok and i don't appreciate the illusion, thank you.
@dan: None of what I mentioned above means that I don't respect your opinion, or that I don't respect the unimaginable volume of work and sacrifice you've been through to get this baby (Steemit) born and gift it to the world. For this I will be forever in your debt and forever grateful. Keep up the amazing work!
Thanks for the exposure to such info, it is really important to be aware of this. Namaste :)
The Chinese are coming!
Valid point. I would like to see articles that comes after their introduce yourself. It makes everybody introduce yourself more fair game knowing everybody in the same seat from now on and a way to verified if your account does get hack.
Thanks for your positive message!
> I encourage people to stop voting on introduce yourself posts, but instead use the post as means to add people to your list to be followed. This way you can see more content from them in the future.
The sooner the better. It's nice to give new people a good experience but it's just tough to know who is real, what is legit, and whether this person will add value to Steem in the long-run.
The Whale in my Swimming Pool
https://steemit.com/humor/@apes/the-whale-in-my-swimming-pool