DISCLAIMER: I am still a noob, feel free to calm my worries :)
Do we really want to live in a world were there is an economic incentive to self-censor, not disclose your true beliefs and don't say anything that could be regarded as mean or offensive because it could cost you some $$$? Tyranny of the majority on class-A steroids. Its beginning to feel dystopian to me. There is zero point in a censorship resistant platform if it aggressively encourages users to censor themselves and flag those with unpopular viewpoints or who post things considered offensive. Thought crime much? Its impossible to browse the content on this site naturally because your constantly considering the economics of what you are doing. This is literally the opposite of a free society, which I find incredibly ironic given this place is flooded with so-called Anarchists and Libertarians.
I think steemit is amazing as a sociopolitical experiment and incredibly valuable as a history lesson for developers of decentralized technology. I will continue to use the platform, however I am becoming more and more disillusioned as time passes.
Good points. Flagging a post should only be used for inappropriate content like porn, viruses, spam or phishing attacks. Not if you disagree with the author.
On other social networks people will mostly not vote for a post if they disagree on it. Unpopular viewpoints will never rank high. That's how it works and I see no problem with that. As long as other viewpoints can be shared without them being flagged down.
Question for Steem is: Are people upvoting because they like the post or are they upvoting because they think others will upvote. Let's be honest. Most people here are voting for the money so they only upvote the viewpoint of the mass. Even if they disagree themself. I think that's a problem.
I agree with that last statement, I Upvote posts because it's stuff I like to read about, or because it's a somebody I know is going to garner a lot of votes. Get on the bandwagon. But it still requires me to learn about that subject, because if you can get a good reply out and start interaction, you can reap even more benefits. So it's probably good to do both.
I agree there should be some countermeasures for malicious content such as viruses, spam or phishing attacks. However what consists of inappropriate content is entirely subjective and that is the problem. They're should be a place for everyone. However, I would not be against a "clean" front-end for steemit that moderates "offensive" content. I just don't think the flagging should be baked into the block-chain. This is antithetical to steemits claim of free speech protection.
Its like the real world, if you spew hatred you could loose out on it socially.In the case of steem it would be a monetary loss. I get what you are saying but my advice is don't sensor yourself!
This is a great platform for debate and discussion about all thoughts and opinions. If people like what they are reading they will upvote and you get paid. I think what you are talking about will become less of a problem as steemit gains more users and opinions.
You should also know that the way steemit is designed, the whales have diminishing power in the platform at a rate of 10% of every 5 years.
"This is a great platform for debate and discussion about all thoughts and opinions." If the platform goes mainstream what happens when two groups with opposing political viewpoints want to exist on the network? Its going to be a constant flag-war to eternity. Or worse the debate will never even begin due to self censorship.
Luckily for the discussion's sake and integrity it benefits nobody to flag or downvote unless everybody else does.
They can discuss their views and maybe minds can be changed for the better! I would not like it if this became a place of self censorship as it was made to do the exact opposite. If free speech exists here, people can have constructive conversations, decide how they feel about the given issue and vote based on how they feel.... At that point I think Steemit has created democracy and better democracy than the countries we live in. I value your concern and have spent countless hours debating the same stuff in my head and with other people.
Ultimately this will become the most liberating and disruptive platforms to date. If it continues on this path. Right now it is still an infant and our content is baby food!
Have you seen articles that have been flagged that you think should not have been? I have not yet but I've been off for a week. I have seen articles flagged that I felt should have been flagged. I'm not saying that you're wrong, I just haven't seen any and there's thousands of posts a day that I don't read or see. The censors I've witnessed have had a place because of outright attacks against a writer or attacks because of others point of view. I haven't seen any ideas censored yet. I do feel that there is a lot of scrutiny, but being such a young platform I think it needs to be scrutinized so it doesn't just become another Twitter or fb. The only downside I've seen so far is quality posts not getting enough attention, but again being a young platform everybody is still focused on steem articles, Bitcoin articles and anarchy. I think as it ages every sort of category will get more attention because of the sheer number of people. But as for outright censorship I just haven't seen it yet. But it's a valid point and please tag me if you see any so I can view them myself. Censorship where it isn't needed is just wrong.
Latest post of @dollarvigilante has been flagged down 33 times (by now). Pending payout reduced to $0.00.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@dollarvigilante/want-to-be-a-steemillionaire-here-are-the-crucial-things-to-do-for-newbies-on-steemit
That is messed up, is it jealousy because he did so well on his first couple posts?
Thanks, a perfect example of the problem.
The whales have a powerful role in curation that is absolutely useful to police tone as well as content. This is no different than the power of curation that a newspaper editor has. Whales are more important here than moderators are at Reddit.