If an average user had flagged it for rewards, it wouldn't have been bad, but when the whales abuse their power, in part just to make a point. It is kind of like being a victim of a drive by shooting. Sadly this platform is an excellent idea that just isn't growing.
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
See my point about hiary dogballs above. Yes, it sucks that @smooth can remove a large part of the rewards of a post. Yes it sucks that @jamesc can give a large amount of rewards to a post (especially since that amount is taken from everyone else recieving rewards.). The huge disparity between the early miners and the average userbase is one of the worst qualities of steemit (and this is an opinion that i expect many whales would agree with)
I don't agree at all with @smooth 's particular take here. In fact, i think @kernl is one of the better posters on the platform. But at the end of the day, the existance of whales and the huge disparity between the biggest actors and everyone else on the platform has benefitted kernl, not harmed him. Even in determining the payout for this post smooth downvoted, kenrl gained more from the @jamesc upvote than he did from the smooth downvote. This disparity in power between the largest users and the average made the payout to this particular post higher, not lower.
There are exceptions, but on steem the people who are hurt most by the disparity in power between whales and the average user are the little guys who get no rewards or almost no rewards when they post because whale upvotes assign most of the rewards to other posters.
Point well made.
How many whales upvoted it? No real imbalance on that point.
Yes, it is a whale's world isn't it. There is a saying.. "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". I know you said you aren't voting much, so I just want to thank you for signing in once in a while and flagging a user who is attempting to feel successful on the platform. Your strategy is brilliant.
"Yes, it is a whale's world isn't it."
In terms of voting (both directions), yes. Singling out the whale influence in one direction while ignoring it in the other direction does not make things better, it makes it worse. In the extreme, perhaps whale votes would cancel each other out and the rewards would be determined by the wider user base. Does that sound like a bad thing?
@smooth in the early days you were my favorite whale, I mentioned you in an article once, about how much you educated me with your blunt style on the decentralized blockchain. My first threat of a flag was delivered by @berniesanders for making a Moby Dick joke about Masteryoda being flagged by either Dan or Ned. (I can't remember) So, I have not focused on any one whale and their activities.
I have been here for 5 months. What I think would be great if the whales tried to diversify their voting more and either read content or pay someone who will instead of setting up bots that vote on the same ole crap every day. All the whales involved get to take responsibility for our declining users, stagnant price and grumpy community.
Since you seem to know exactly what end-users want, please do tell if you did any "Test Market Studies", or even a survey? Do you hold a marketing or business degree? How many successful internet companies have you worked with? Are you even an adult? These are rhetorical questions. To me you are just some fake name in a mostly fake community, and you "mined" your shares, giving you a lot of power. I find it very difficult to believe anyone besides a Crypto Trader would invest in this envirnment.
You came up with a really great idea recently, you were going to give a random vote each day. (This would have made someone's day) However, it was too much of a bother to tell anyone who won, or if and when and if you did it at all. ) After all, you have one of the biggest reasons to care (your stake). Just a thought, why don't you see if there is anything you can do to improve user experience instead of acting like a whale of a bully and showing off your power?
The random vote went away due to technical difficulties (the person who was helping me with hosting my bots gave up given the increased hassle and resource requirements from chainbase). I hope to bring it back in improved form and your suggestions are good.
Just a general reply to your earlier comments, what difference would it make if I were nothing but a crypto trader with no education nor relevant experience? Would that make my views any less relevant or potentially correct? Would my desire to increase the value of my investment by having the platform grow and succeed be any less sincere?
I never claimed to know what end users want. I have my views on what is value to the platform, and why, and what are the healthiest and most value-creating ways for rewards to be distributed. That includes thinking about what constitutes attractive markets and what does not, mechanisms for reaching and serving those markets, and finally whether or how doing so would bring value to stakeholders. In many ways I strongly suspect many of my views agree with yours (based on what you wrote). In other ways they may not. To the extent we agree on goals, perhaps we have some disagreements on how to get there. This is all reasonable and healthy.
@smooth - Annoying nesting response.
Discussion is good, debate is good, and one thing I have always respected about you is your willingness to stay engaged in the conversation.
Regarding my slightly harsh comments about who you might be. I feel I went a bit too far. I am sorry. However, the reason it matters is there are industry standards that Internet companies do to gain users, revenue, and market share. They are not that hard, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. I am not talking about copying another company completely, but there is something to be said about taking ideas from proven models that have proven to be successful.
Thank you for engaging. I hope and wish you will pursue your idea of rewarding random or different users and use your stake to improve the user experience. You have the power to help users enjoy this site. For your success and mine, I hope you use it.
By the way, it is in my best interest that your investment makes your filthy rich. (We are all winning and losing together here)
How many readers viewed it?!
Not enough. The platform needs to vastly grow before any of this matters.
EDIT: I didn't notice the positive change to flag rules, but I'm very glad it went through!
Original comment: This is the problem with flag wars. Encouraging a subjective use of the flag leads to further abuse.
I wonder if it could be done, that if the community could scrape together, say, 1000 votes we could toss anyone, no matter their steem power, out on their ear. I'm not firm on the 1000, I'm just floating an idea. Any thoughts?