Recently, there has been a considerable amount of spam being posted here on Steemit. It is time for concerned members to take action.
It seems like there is a new spam post every few seconds. Because of this, a lot of really good posts are being lost in the sea of spam posts.
It is sad, when you know that some people put a considerable amount of effort into creating their posts, but get very little recognition for their efforts. It's not fair. Period.
The spam posts I am referring to are the ones that a member posts a picture / video / story, but does not make reference as to whether the content is original, or if it was taken from someone else.
The rule for plagiarism is clearly stated on the Steemit Welcome Page:
Text Source: https://steemit.com/welcome
If the pictures or content within the post were taken from someone else, the source of the content should be included in the post. THAT IS THE RULE. But that doesn't seem to be happening here lately.
The other type of spam posts that are very annoying are what I call the "Three Second Post'.
Why do I call it the "Three Second Post" you ask?
Because it looks like it took about all of three seconds to create!
I am referring to the post that has just a title, with a picture or a video, but with little or no story line, or description of of what the photo or video is all about.
Either they don't understand how to create an interesting post or they are just too damned lazy.
But they have no problem asking for an Upvote - Follow - Resteem!
Lets face it. There are a lot of new members posting here. Learning how to create a good post takes time. We all had to start somewhere.
As for the lazy posters, maybe they should go back to Facebook and quit clogging up the Steemit airwaves.
So, what is the solution?
My first reaction was to flag these spam posts. I have never flagged a post for as long as I have been on Steemit (almost a year), unless I did it by mistake. Personally, I think flagging should be restricted to a committee of members that have common sense, but that is a whole different discussion.
I do not think flagging is the solution.
I believe the solution lies in EDUCATION.
Image Source: http://theork.com/?p=582
I believe that if enough people volunteer to help educate the new, or lazy members, it will improve the overall quality of the Steemit user experience.
It may akso help the spammers realize that Steemit may not be right platform for them.
I have created the following pictures that are free for volunteers to use. These pictures can be inserted in the reply form box of the spam post. I did this to save volunteers the time of having to type these educational messages manually.
These picture messages can be found at the webpage I created:
https://sites.google.com/site/steemitspamposse/steemitspampossepictures2
The following message is for the post that does not mention if it original content, or if they have used someone else's material.
The next 2 messages are for the post with a title, a picture, with little or no explanation of the picture.
The next 2 messages are for the post with a title, a video, with little or no explanation of the video.
Note: The photo's in this post, unless indicated otherwise, are original photo's created by Michael Stobierski.
If you decide to volunteer, please use good judgement in using these messages. I am not trying to start a war, I am only interested in improving the quality of Steemit by educating its members.
If you have suggestions for other educational messages along this line, please post them in the comments below. Please limit them to a medium sized paragraph. I will use your suggestion if it is useful in educating Steemit members. And please, keep it clean!
I have never asked for a re-steem of any of my posts. It's not my style. But I am asking you, if you feel as strongly about this matter as I do, please re-steem this post, and ask your circle of Steemit friends to re-steem also. I ask this to help spread the message to other concerned members in the Steemit community. I also ask this in the hope that the spammers will see this post.
If enough people take the initiative to help to educate the new or lazy members, I believe it will make Steemit more enjoyable for all users.
Thank you for visiting. Have a great day!
Michael Stobierski
https://sites.google.com/site/artbymichaelstobierski/home/gallery
They wil keep on douing it as long as they earn something!
Very true. I don't see them earning much, but they keep coming back! Thank you for visiting.
I am not just visiting you @michaelstobiersk. I am following a great blogger :)
You are very kind! Thank you.
Excellent post dear friend @michaelstobiersk very interesting and topical, it is a shame that these unscrupulous are destroying our beloved platform.
Every time I can post some references to these topics.
Thank you for sharing this message.
Have a great day
Thank you @jlufer! There has been a lot of negative changes. I hope education is the answer. Have a great day!
Thank you for resteeming!
I agree with you this is catastrophic and I resteem. Let get involved more Steemians into this post. Up my friend :)
Thank you Margaret. It certainly a problem. Thank you for resteeming! I appreciate your concern.
Yes it is. I would even say huge one. I have a problem but I flag
It really is a problem. It seems like it has let up a bit. Maybe the spammers will go away when they realize this isn't a get rich quick platform? We can only hope...... ❤
Yes, totally agree.
👍🏼😁
Great post my dear friend Up&Resteem
Thank you very much for your support and RESTEEMING!
This post received a 4.7% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @michaelstobiersk! For more information, click here!
Thank you very much.
You're so right my friend! It's awful what going on last few weeks... People don't understand that success is built on their values, not overnight! Great post :))
They really don't understand, or just don't care. Education is what they need. Thank you for visiting. I appreciate your support.
You're welcome my friend! I agree with everything :)
I think a big factor here is "careful who you follow". In general your feed (made from people you follow) should be about all you need to "hunt" to find the content you like. Unfortunately, we can get caught up in earning curation rewards more than evaluating content and end up with some spammers in there... solution: unfollow (and mute in my book)! Solved!
Enough people doing this and they'll get no traction. Another way to help fight them is to re-steem the GOOD posts. Make sure they keep getting refreshed in the listings and find their way to the hot/trending sections and nice and high on everyone's feeds.
We literally starve the spammers of attention until they wither and die like a weed beneath a thick shrub.
Great idea. A little education may help also. Thank you for visiting and commenting!
This is not what Dan wanted , he wanted to spread peace and philosophy , I feel nowadaways this platform lacks the ability to do so . A lot of spam bots are here along with fake accounts and so much more . I am very disappointed 😔
You are correct. The quality of posts has declined considerably. Maybe education is the answer? Thank you for visiting!
I agree , plus I feel like people wait for something to happen before they actually stop
I agree. Maybe a wake up call is overdue.
i too wrote a post recently where i was sad about the spam that was getting over too much and where ever i go i could only see spam spam and spam :(
It is sad isn't it? It's not fair to people like you that put a lot of effort into creating meaningful posts. Thank you for visiting!
as long as they earn something with it they will keep doing it I guess. Meaby they turn away or do more efforst when people dont upvote those posts.
You would think so, but I see some people posting one after another of garbage posts. Thank you for your support.
I don't think education alone will do it. People are always looking for an easy way. Easy money, easy success, and they see Steemit as a way to achieve that. Just like in business there is no get rich quick. You have to work on it, and hopefully when they realize that these people will just move on to their next method to get rich quick.
I know what you mean. Make a quick buck and cash out. I wish there was a better way to get rid of some of the spam. Sometimes, a friendly suggestion may, or not so friendly suggestion may curb some of this crap. Not upvoting is the best way. Eventually they will go away.
Agreed with you!
You bring really genuine issue .
Thank you for your support!
I will always be on your side !
Very cool! 👍🏼😀
Thanks my friend !
I agree with u sir most of the members post and comments only for the purpose of getting upvotes and make spams. but I love the way you teach those persons by educating them instead of flagging them. we are always with you sir. keep motivating us and sharing your beautiful ideas and thoughts...
Thank you for visiting and commenting. I appreciate it.
You're most welcome sir. We are always with you... keep posting!
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keep up the good work !!!
Thank you!
great topic you have discussed. like it
Thank you for visiting and commenting!
Great post , we should protect this great community against spamers
thank you so much
You're welcome. Thank you for your support!
great post michaelstobiersk! keep it up! and thanks again for following!
@ahlawat
Thank you for visiting!
Sir, you are welcome. @michaelstobiers
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