After flagging a spam comment on a post and adding my own comment, the apology came to say sorry for hurting me. No, spam doesn't hurt me, it hurts the spammer, it hurts the platform but most of all, it creates a negative feeling in the people who have not yet built up an active follower base. After they post, and get a comment only to discover it is another spammer, it cuts away at their motivation and drive as they are hoping for honesty in the interaction, and spam is not that.
Spam is a lie, it is play, a con, a manipulation to evoke an action from those who do not know better an upvote, a follow, a link click. It is feigning interest to satisfy desires. It is a bad date with someone uninterested in anything other than what they want.
Of course, it will harm the system as those who are already outside of their comfort zone, already trying something new on a platform they do not fully understand get the small amount of courage they have crushed as they realise no one is listening, no one cares what they have to say, no one even reads it.
But, there a counteractions for Spam, namely flags but if ones Steem Power is low, I do not recommend it as people seem to take flags poorly. However, if they are flagged by a high Rep, high power user, they are likely to either apologise, or move along. I am happy to flag and I will become increasingly tight on the content over time as the behaviour should not be tolerated.
However, this bring up a much more important point that I would like to impress upon at least my followers. Comment well but, do not only take your time to comment on the high rep, high SP accounts. Comment well on the low rep, newbies with good content. Motivate them to keep going, help them over some of the hurdles you may have faced alone, this is a community but do it even if you are selfish.
It is these people who will become your support base of the future, it is they who will slowly but surely build their power and as prices increase, it will be they who's fractions of cents turn into fractions of dollars and perhaps many dollars in time. Just as small amounts add up, a few words can build a career, a few people an empire. Invest your time in others, drop one or two comments a day on people with lower Rep, people who need the support.
One measure of a person is not how they treat those above, but those in need.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
@tarazkp
Yeah it really sucks. Spam sucks in general but when they write the same bootlicking comments with everything generalized, not even the slightest reference to the content, it also makes angry. Because you know they are lying. And it also relativates the compliments of people who really mean it. How stupid do they think people are? It takes two clicks to see the copy paste in their comment feed on their profile. Don't they even recognize it stays on the blockchain forever so everyone can check them being spammers even after weeks? smh
It's just plain laziness in hopes of geeting a quick buck. People get blinded by greed and sometimes that worls apperently... But that's not a long term plan to success...
They don't seem to know/care as they are here for short gain.
But they will not gain anything but a 2 or three dollars before anti-spam-bots wil flag every of their comments. Simply stupid.
They usually only get caught when reported for spam to Steemcleaners.
Here is the link:
https://steemcleaners.org/abuse-report/
What many don't seem to know is there are small rewards given for reporting, especially plagiarised content.
I did not know this... I've only ever flagged one comment, and it was already caught by Cheetah I think. But maybe I am used to spammers from having a 5000 follower twitter account where I gave away Doge all the time... Lol! Your article brought up some interesting points I never really thought about before, I agree, support the little guy. Cheers.
Hey thanks @tarazkp i will definitly check that out. But is it risky? Do they see who reported them and hate-flag you?
I guess people spam, because of what the want. Spam to get an upvote from a huge sp account.🤒
If i don't know what to comment in a post, i just ignore and give my little upvote. I think that's better than spam.
Not commenting is definitely a better strategy than commenting with nothing.
So true - a long time ago I used to trade comments with a new friend on Steemit - and one day they went on to become a whale - always give everyone real feedback, you never know how things may work out.
And "nice shear, follow me dear" just won't cut the mustard...
Great post as usual Taraz! This really seems to be such a vast issue these days, countless spammers trying to snatch those couple of cents on high SP accounts. Personally, I take about 15 mins a day scrolling through the new page, reading the odd article from a fellow minnow and encouraging them with a resteem or comment. From my personal experience, it really helps when someone else praises you on your post and really gives that little boost of confidence to aim high in this crowded ocean. Thank you so much for all you’ve done for this platform and for the time you take to check out some of my posts :) . Thank you Taraz and looking forward to your birthday!
You are such a Stalker...
It is all anyone really needs to do to make a difference here.
I am so glad i saw this. I was almost flagged for not upvoting a post before commenting though my comment was in-line with the post. i try to comment reasonably on posts and also give upvote. Anyway, i'm lucky he let me off with a warning.
I won't be repeating my mistake.
I don't mind the no upvote as sometimes it depends on voting power but useless comments just waste everyone's time.
Yes, spammers like garbage between user comments that are honest. And it's unpleasant to read spam, where something is written "neither about the village, nor about the city," that does not apply to this topic at all.
And, of course, everything is secret, it becomes obvious and therefore the spammer gets the flag.
Only those people which drop a comment with the words like good post, nice post i love this post and to much more they mostly used smae words for every one
I think you are doing good by flaging them itts good to drop a comment but a meaning full and related to the post is a good and appereciateable comment because it a way to communicate and learn new thing
You spam that person in your last post and then she apologize you i read that conversion thanks for explaining your views
This is something that needs balance in my opinion. Commenting on high SP accounts is necessary for growth and to put yourself into a position where you tourself can start supporting people. In the meantime, while I am collecting that SP, i try to interact with my followers and the people in the comment section i can relate to, regardless of their SP. That's how I try to give back to others.
Like I said, it's something you have to balance and have to be critical about. But it's a very good topic to sometimes think about again.
By the way, these aere beautiful pictures you took. I love the heart-shaped flower :).
Some of the people I started with and interacted with a year ago, minnows like many others here with dust in the account are now in similar positions to me. The thing is that they were stand outs in terms of content and commenting already. It is relatively easy to see who will do well, especially if they are encouraged along the path.
Of course, balance is need but in the long term and as distribution increases, the power of the whales will decrease slightly and the many minnows will be all the more important to success.
The pics are from outside my apartment in the forest during the summer.
That's also very true. i'm in a Dutch community now where we share articles with eachother, and although we're all very wlow on SP it's motivating that we follow eachothers blogs and take the time to comment on them. It's not about the value of our votes but about letting them know we have read and are interested in what we write about. That in itself is also a big motivation for me personally. It would be awesome if some of that community could stay here for months to come and climb the ladder togheter. That must be a great feeling and accomplishment.
There is 'one day' communities coming to the UX at Steemit too. It should help a great deal in many areas.
What's the UX? :)
user experience
Really? This breakdown so touches me.
I’ve been spammed and flagged, but only just beginning to do so myself...
Thank you, @tarazkp, for the reminder to be authentic and kind. I’ve been helped by many, here and elsewhere, and it only seems right to give a hand when we can 🙏🏼
Soothing images, by the way 💗
@tarazkp beautiful these images are!
Spam is annoying, agree. Copy paste comments and one word generic comments are not welcome on any posts! Having said that, most of the times, new steemians tend to do it to catch attention of dolphins and whales! If you think about it, that's the best they know or say, that's all they know.
But there are so many educational posts by many veterans here on how important it is not to spam and what could be the consequences! I really hope more awareness can bring it down. Also, it would be kind to give first time spammers a warning. I think an honest mistake can be forgiven! 😊
I think that most people 'think they know' but have never read the FAQ let alone searched for articles.
I often do give them a warning but I also often check their comments sections. Often, they have been warned multiple times before. I generally only flag at on percent unless they are very persistent.
Makes sense! 😊
You said it very right here. But the one thing I do not understand is the why self-voting is considered a bad habit here. Actually if you post a good comment here and if after that a lot of people post their comment on the post which are meaningless and have no values but your comment moves down due to it. So we have to upvote our own comment in that situation to bring our comment on the top. What do you say about it?
I don't self vote comments but I think it is 'ok' for minnows on good comments. I don't like seeing big accounts self voting themselves up to the top as it detracts from a lot of the smaller accounts. The worst I saw (not value-wise) was for a competition run by @kpine for accounts under 40 rep where two dolphins hijacked the top positions. It is very low class.
I do think bumping up a bit might be okay but again, that takes cents to get above spam, not dollars or hundreds of dollars.
Yes cents will do the trick.
your camera is superb, it takes nice shots, thank you
I sure like how this article ended. Great insight indeed. It's easy to always follow the big accounts but from time to time, this very thing that you said hits me. Keep it coming!