Whale Downvotes (flags) hurt, but can they help?
Trust me, I was not impressed with the idea when it first came out, but I do believe that the goal is honorable. I’ve been getting my fair share of whale downvotes too, and the initial feeling is usually the same.
Should I just quit?
With delight and excitement, we watch our post payouts increase (when the posts aren’t completely missed). Many of us think, “Yes, finally a nice payout!” Then, suddenly, there is a drastic decrease. Why? Most often, a whale has chosen to downvote your post.
According to @smooth, who is at least kind enough to leave comments:
A downvote was applied to partially counter earlier whale votes as an experiment to reduce whale domination of voting influence. Not intended to express an opinion on the content nor result in a net reduction of rewards or reputation (automated notice)
Recently, I had a very original video I posted of baby Red-Bellied Snakes emerging from the sacs that they are born in. This is the type of stuff that you normally only see on Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel, but this was my own video that I filmed of the process. I’m guessing that few people have ever seen this in real life, much less filmed and shared it.
When that post crept over a $20 payout, I thought that was appropriate. Then @abit came along with a downvote and it dropped to just over $5, which is still not a terrible payout.
The message that @abit left stated the following along with a link:
Downvoted to counteract the upvotes from bots and other whales.
More info here: https://steemit.com/test/@abit/whales-no-up-voting-test
Yes, it hurts, but could it possibly be working? Here is the only evidence that I have.
When my approximately 25,000 Steem Power gives an upvote by itself, the maximum payout of that vote alone has never been worth more than a cent. If I upvoted a comment of yours at 100%, it will usually automatically go up to 1 cent, and then eventually be followed by a stream of votes that follow mine which do not increase the value.
Today, however, for the first time ever, when I voted first on my own post, it went up 2 cents.
2 CENTS!
Whether or not this is due to the downvoting that is occurring by whales or not, I can only speculate, but, it has never happened before this.
That particular post even climbed up over $10 in potential payout, and now has dropped to less than $1, also due to @abit.
Trust me, being able to have my vote be worth 2 cents rather than 1 cent doesn’t make up for losing $20 worth of post payout, but it may be a sign of things to come.
I’m not sure if this will pass, but perhaps it’ll be wise to save excellent posts for a time when excellent payouts are allowed… that’s just my 2 cents.
The automated explanations of the downvote are bullshit. I am seeing posts that have zero whale upvotes being downvoted by these "experimenters". And they have not defined the terms or parameters of their "experiment" so there is no useful data to be gleaned from all the turmoil they are fomenting.
They are trying to counteract a supposed over influence by some whales by an arbitrary and non-useful "experiment" that cannot produce accurate and useful data but can create enormous turmoil in the community.
The arrogance of their automated downvoting is stupefying and would be laughable if it were not causing such harm. Valuable contributions to our platform are being harmed and users are becoming disillusioned.
Downvoting requires conscious deliberation in order to not cause far more harm than good.
Yeah, @smooth was doing personal comments back when the votes were manual, but the whole thing is definitely playing with a lot of people's feelings right now. Thanks @marginal!
Not one of my downvotes has been on a post with zero whale upvotes. I can't speak for others but in my case that simply did not happen.
You are lying...I had no whale votes and you down voted all my blogs yesterday!
@smooth
I'm not lying, I just looked at one of your blog posts and it had whale votes.
@smooth
And the one worth $95.40 that you did not down vote, didn't...?
Not intended but there may be some occasional bot down time for upgrade or other glitches. Congratulations on your windfall I guess.
Here's one right here:
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@testz/youtube-bitshares-hangout-11-w-christopher-hering-and-fuzzy
That post was upvoted by summon and wang, both whale accounts, before my downvote, and my downvote at 2% was less than their upvotes (in fact less than half)
Lol, this really would've gone better if people knew what the fuck was happening...but I think I've caught up--This about right? https://steemit.com/life/@dreemit/to-everyone-who-is-not-a-whale-let-s-see-if-we-can-t-get-something-from-this-experiment-read-on
its a great experiment, especially if you earn 15 SBD then abit comes to fight whales, and bring u down to 3! even though u had just 1 whale who gave u 3 SBD and rest was cummulatie of other votes.
An interesting experiment indeed, and, to be honest, my downvoted posts still make more than a lot of users. Hopefully they will get some of that!
The experiment has a double edged sword.
The first test is to see the effect of dolphin-minnow voting unhindered by whales.
But the second test which I feel might be hidden beneath the first (but actually the one they also care about some what) is a test on the authors.
It is a bit extreme but I think that part of the experiment is to see whether those who get downvoted continue to produce content. Remember, the whole point of the experiment is to give minnows and dolphins more power. It is not so much a reduction of payout since we know that the total payout remains the same regardless. Rather, it is an opportunity for those with less SP than the whales to wield a little more influence.
I think this can be seen two ways. The positive way is that authors should acknowledge that they still have the same opportunity as anyone else to receive votes. And for once, it'll be less skewed by whale votes.
The negative view, is that large stakeholders are testing authors to see their commitment to the platform regardless of payouts. Which in my opinion is not a problem, but only indicative of design that doesn't facilitate natural human behaviour or natural motivations.
Right, we will see how many authors (whether minnows or better) go ballistic over this. I try to give others the benefit of the doubt, hope for the best, and encourage others to do likewise, regardless, but we will see what happens.
Thanks @sweetsssj!
I think the experiment was not carried out in the best way. People who publish quality content like you are highly affected.
I hope this has good results for the community at the end of the road.
Me too, I'm willing to "suffer" temporarily in order to benefit others in the long-term, so we will have to see if a benefit actually comes. Perhaps the whales could have just restricted their upvotes to 25% or something else instead... as that would have made a difference.
Even at 25% (for the larger whales at least) it is still massively more powerful than other users and completely dominates the influence over rewards. In fact many whales (especially those running bots) do often vote at 25% or lower so that wouldn't have been much change at all.
Good point, 25% of a million is far more than 10,000... so I get your point. A whale vote strike would have made a difference though, right? Anyway, hope this works!
being an automated experiment across the the entire platform is now showing it's value as a great experiment, the longer it lasts the better it will show results, at least a few weeks would be great, with some tweeking over time
Sure, it's been a relatively short time so far and already I've seen evidence of a change. Though it can be painful at times, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for your positive feedback @craig-grant!
There should be no pain if is for the good of the platform! I enjoyed your post and also @abit's post and I think it will be better if there will not be bots anymore! Cheers @papa-pepper!
Thanks @the-future!
No problem! Thank you for this great post!
Yes I'm of the same mind that this experimental phase may be beneficial but I don't think us minnows should risk great pictures/videos/thoughts during this uncertain time.
I enjoyed your two cents!
Thanks, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it. It seems that some things we have to share are very rare and potentially worth something here on steemit, but now may not be the best time to post them.
I'm in complete agreement. In fact, I'm going to stop sharing my herp posts with pictures until this is over, since so far they've garnered the most money for me.
I'm having fun thinking of all the other posts I'm going to make. I have a lot of random thoughts, and I think this will be the best time to let loose some of them into the wider world :)
When you do post them, spread them out too, rather than dumping a whole bunch of good material in one post. I like making a series out of them when I can.
Thanks for the tip. You've been on here much longer than I - how many posts per day is ideal?
4 or less. I usually try for one in the morning and one at night, but, last I knew posting over 4 times in 24 hours would reduce payouts too, so perhaps it's still good to keep that in mind. Also, don't sacrifice quality for quantity. Be consistently excellent!
Same here I'm with you man! I was rooting for you & I both to receive this nice payout. Yours especially as that was so fascinating to see such creatures born in the wild.
@abit(ch) had the nerve to call me a 'WHALE'. Wow! I've been complaining for the longest about not receiving rewards and NEVER received this much and was truly hoping to enjoy this payment ;(
I mean they took most of the rewards leaving me with $2+ what tha!!!!!!
https://steemit.com/family/@tradz/mulligan-fun-f0r-the-family
THIS is the reason why I was not liking(and still don't) the idea of this childish-ish. Why can't I enjoy this nice payout@least this one time and to top it off, I now have to wait longer for the payout?
What is going on here??????????????
Yeah, that's the toughest part... when someone finally gets a nice payout and then POOF it's gone. I'll upvote that one for you anyway!
tHX al0t I appreciate that I really do. Made me feel a bit better and funny how you posted this topic before me lol
I was going to link them to people who had more money in their accounts than me, who received their rewards.
This really did drain me out. All the excitement I had telling my family I finally made it to a decent level then this happens. Why do I suddenly feel like a looser when I know I'm n0t:(
I truly do enjoy your posts and hope to see more despite this chaos :(
I don't think that I'll be able to compromise my efforts into this platform, regardless of the actions of others. Glad that you enjoy my posts, and I won't be making them lame as an attempt to avoid getting good payouts, whatever happens!
Not you are the whale but the one who voted on your post.
It should be the other way around. We small timers should be the ones to downvote them, not the WHALEs downvoting us?
I don't think they could do it in another way. Maybe they hoped that most of the whales will agree on stop voting, but not that happened. I think there should be more, replied communication before all of this, because it seems most of the users don't get what happens.
I don't think the experiment is working. They underestimated how many dolphins and minnows have lent their votes to the projects like curie or steemvoter. That leaves very few other people who are voting independently.
Take a look at the front page or the trending - I think the quality has gotten worse.
Also, I love tea, and even started growing my own! In fact, some people even call me "Mr. T" because I drink so much of it! LOL!
Good point about all of those who have lent their SP to voting trails. That was another effort to combat with whales ruling steemit. I'm not involved as much with voting trails, so I had forgotten that part! Thanks @teatree!
That means it is working . We are finding what front page would look like absent whales. Still as I posted here we actually have to keep up the expirement until the bots are changed so that they are no longer front running whales.
That's very interesting... However, I don't agree with down voting for the sake of experiment at another users expense. Down votes should be reserved for poor content! If you're putting out good content, unless someone genuinely perceives your content as unoriginal, or just plan bad...there should be no down vote and you should not suffer the consequence of reducing your post payouts that you probably deserve! just my .0002 cents ;)
I completely know the feeling, but with the freedom to upvote however one chooses also comes the freedom to downvote however one chooses. Opinions about the purpose and requirements for downvotes will vary, but as long as people are able to exercise their freedom, they will do it in different ways... we will see what happens! Thanks @jaybird!
Ya I understand what you mean, and, also somewhat the point of the experiment being discussed. It just kinda sucks that someone who is generally putting out good stuff get's targeted. Isn't the point of this platform to reward users for putting out good content? Not penalizing them for it...
Right, I know what you're saying.
@jaybird
Exactly
I have noticed that my upvote is worth more. I noticed again just now voting for this post. It will be interesting to see how much minnow and dolphin votes turn out to be worth and what the trending page looks like. I am being a little more careful with my vote now!
Proper stewardship of votes is important, and it is nice to see it increasing in power, isn't it @richardcrill?
Thanks man!
Definitely. With more power, comes more responsibility.
yeah like mo m0ney m0 problems huh
I agree with the waiting. That's what I have decided to do. I'll still engage and Interact but as far as posting, I'll probably just give it a minute and see how everything unfolds. Just to think I was debating dropping $10K on steem and steem power just a week ago. Funny how things change.
Also, looks like 100% upvote is still worth 2 cents!
Indeed, I've got 10,000 liquid STEEM that I was considering powering up, so perhaps soon it'll make a difference. Thus far, I've known that it wouldn't matter so I've just let it sit there.
Thanks man!
Loan me some steem to play with lol
How much you want?
Exactly! My liquid StEEM will now go towards my Forex-Trading. I had planned on Powering it up but they pissed me off and so now, I WILL BE APART OF THE TOP ELITE FOREX TRADERS. NO MORE PLAYING AROUND ;(
And this is the problem with attempting to cancel out investor influence on a whim. They tell people to buy STEEM and power up to gain more influence - as the platform is designed - then cancel out your votes because you have "too much influence" and want the smaller users to feel more important. That's not a recipe for attracting new investment from those who are willing and able to buy a lot of stake.
Aren't you glad you waited though? That was a smart move!
I sure am glad I waited.
LOL! indeed!
Good point !!!
Im used to posting some pretty meaningful content (at least I think so)... But I won't be posting anything that takes more than 5 minutes until there little experiment over. Cheers, bro!
LOL - What if it's an ongoing experiment?
Maybe I'll do my version of latte art... LOL!
He blasted my post from 11-12 $$$ down to $2... It's not worth it
You seem to be on the fence, yourself...
This could really backfire and drive away anything resembling quality content...
There seems to always be the temptation to quit or give up, but I think that it's best to overcome and not let others influence so much. I cannot control the post payouts or other things, but I can control myself and my actions, so I must.
I'll drink to that... CHEERS!
LOOKS LIKE BERNIE IS DONE WITH THE FLAGGING
I wrote a community encouragement post today, got 5 or more flags, with massive 10% flags/DV, by the TOP whales, - when 1% would have been fair..... it killed the rep score and payout, and I had a lot of time and thought into it but who cares, about encouraging content right that is then worth $1?
It was a failed experiment and these flags, with no start or end date, or announcement, are driving good people off here daily. Poorly thought out, at best.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@barrydutton/steemit-people-i-m-thankful-for-mindful-community-engagement-encouragement-e-1-march-12-2017
You are mistaken and @sigmajin showed you the actual numbers elsewhere. All of the downvotes added together were less than the upvote so on net you still gained reward and gained rep.
On a positive note, i love how you used that steem border in your post . Good work with that!
I tried to use yours, it did not work for me, it did not download properly --- it came out about 1/10th the size it needed to..... so I made my own. I was just scared to do it, IDK why. I had fear.... which is really dumb, because look at all the MS Paint memes I do all the time, using all the tools, this ended up taking 10 mins.
I have no idea where all that stupidity inside me and fear came from, I feel dumb.
and replying to your other post here about not getting off your page, you are busy etc......(nesting)
-- That is why the odd time I really want you to see something, I know how busy you are -- I drop a note or link on your page since you reply to EVERYTHING and I know you will see it,
A couple good Christian scripture based things (ie last week) I wanted your input on, I did not hear back on too so sure I was disappointed and some days it just seems like I am a ghost on here and lots of people just want nothing to do with me, or be seen on my page.
I have worked very hard on here for a long time trying to earn respect, trust, and be encouraging - like you.
I do thank you for everything for months you have done and built, so do not get me wrong at all please!!!! I honestly mean that!
Understood, mutually. Thanks Brother!
Voted for my own comment taking your lead Papa. I am getting tired of all the nonsense on this platform by a few people.
It's a bubble due to burst. This is just too soon, IMHO
Time will tell, thanks for chiming in!
Nice post. You have been anchored to expect in a post reward based on pleasing a few whales. In reality those post were never worth that much. An expirement is imagine how much would a post earn in advertising on you tube. If you are earning more than 2x on steemit you were overpaid.
YouTube is what I use as a comparison. I am no video star, lol. But I have some videos with more than 10,000 views. I've gotten $50, $35, $25 for 10-20,000 views that accumulated over a couple years. It takes a lot more effort to make those videos than a post here, but they can continue to earn over time. It's easy to get 'anchored' with a few posts over $20 here -- and those are from whales or curie or a guild. So I slacked off on my YouTube posting, lol. I do think this current experiment has mentally freed me up to do more experimentation, though. So that's a good thing.
PS: It's is interesting that my best paying video, when I turned it into a static post, was also my best paying post here -- with 4x my YT earnings here on Steemit, back in August when payouts were higher. I'm going to do another post that corresponds to my 3rd most-viewed video. I can't predict how it will do here, lol. I will be surprised if it makes 2x my YouTube earnings in the current environment.
Great comment. This is very interesting. This is what steem can be. but how many views did your steem video get? I think the right payout is around 2-3x the you tube payment per view. This accounts for the fact the author makes what he used to make plus the margin that YouTube makes. It would be an interesting post for you to share videos posted to each platform with total views total payout to see any ratios tha emerge.
Oh, the views of my Steemit posts (written posts, not videos) are so, so, so tiny. I think the most I've had is 70 views! I've heard that view counter is only for views within Steemit, but still -- that's just about the same as no views at all. So the Steemit rewards are even more overpaid compared to YouTube views.
Your idea is really interesting. I should post every one of my videos here. And turn them into written content. Then I could do some good comparisons. That would be a nice 3 month project. It makes sense to spread it out over time, so I can make the written posts. I think I will do this project! Thanks!
Yeah, I really have no prior experience in any of this, so it's all new and arbitrary to me.
It's fascinating on so many levels.
Indeed it is!
The 2 cent pepper! Ha ha! Excellent read papa!!
Looks like I'm moving up around here!
Tis' the time for the slaves to become the masters now ;)
Perhaps! Nice attitude!
I remember that for 100 years we have fought these machines. I remember that for 100 years they have sent their armies to destroy us, and after a century of war I remember that which matters most... We are still here! Today, let us send a message to that army. Tonight, let us shake this cave. Tonight, let us tremble these halls of earth, steel, and stone, let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember, THIS IS ZION AND WE ARE NOT AFRAID!
~Morpheus~The Matrix Reloaded~
No, it doesn't help. If the only answer they can think of is to bring everything lower, it is a recipe for failure. Who wants to aspire to get flagged? If you want to know more just go look at the dismal state of the blogs of the people downvoting away rewards. At least, before, there was a miniscule chance for me to get rewarded. Now I have no possibility.
Good thing I'm only doing it for my followers. When I run out of benefit for them, I'll be done. I'm sure most whales will be happy when I'm gone.
Smooth even spite flagged me and pretended it was part of the experiment.
Sorry to hear about that last part, and that you're planning on leaving. But... I've considered it myself...
The chance that once existed was decreased due to the falling value of STEEM, and now, this is making it even harder for sure, so I don't blame you. Thanks @lifeworship!
I'm not out yet. I have plenty of material for my followers, in fact, I'm drowning in it. It's just that, when these flag spasms happen, the community gets discouraged, and feedback on my posts goes down. Posting without feedback leaves me rudderless. Rewards are nice, but comments on my posts is how I know I'm providing value, and gives me direction to go forward.
I understand that. Often I get swamped just replying to comments made to me, so I don't "get out as often as I would like" to check out others posts and comment on them. I'm glad that your material is not running out and that you are engaging your audience and having fun interacting. Keep it up @lifeworship!
To the bitter end. Grab your harpoon and tie it off. Thar she blows!
www.wildernessfolk.com/images/knotterms.png
Hey @papa-pepper I agree that this could turn out well. In the short term it is bad p.r. especially for newbies. It should have been better explained.
The fact is that we need many people to succeed for Steemit to work. This may help in achieving that goal.
Like you, my vote also adds 2 Cents when starting from zero but it adds a lot more when starting from 50 cents or a few dollars. It's exponential.
I went through and UPVOTED all of your comments so I gained you back 10 cents or so. Are you jumping for joy?
I'm not going to bother posting until I see how all of this blows over.
All the best to you and you family!
@kus-knee (The Old Dog
There will certainly be those who miss your posts, but you are correct about the PR and difficulties that this is making for n00bs. Hopefully it is just some temporary growing pains. I'm too tired right now to jump for joy, but thank you my friend. I'll tell the @little-peppers that you said hi, and thanks always for your kindness, care, and generosity Old Dog!
I up voted this post 100% with my 13,000 Steem power and it went up $0.17.
So yes it makes my vote do something. Yet I am not a whale, so if it gets too high are you going to still get down voted again?
I don't figure on any of my posts really getting higher payouts right now, but it's not just for the money then is it? It's for the community too, and this experiment is as well, so we will see what happens. Thanks for your 100% man!
I voted 100% to see what it could do, but to be honest with you any post I up vote I tend to vote 100%. I vote comments up 15-20% usually. Though I am flexible.
It's not about payouts for me either. Yet I do have concern over negative perceptual harm to the community. That's way important than the current payouts.
Yes, when minnows bleed, there can be community damage done, and when good authors get scared away, that is not good either, so I know your concern.
I had really hoped you would comment on my post today and read what I had written.
I am not sure why the odd time I try to ask for your input on a post, too, you seem to steer away from my page. It's happened a few times now.
Honestly Barry, most of my work is done offline, and I struggle to post and respond to replies these days. I try to do what I can, but rarely even make it off my own page at the moment. I hope you can understand.
I'll try man, busy too! My apologies.
No one (to my knowledge) is downvoting based on rewards just getting too high at this point and frankly as long as whales refrain from voting (with high weight) or are countered by downvotes it isn't likely to happen unless, perhaps, the post is so extraordinary that it gains massive support from dolphins and minnows. The extreme concentration in rewards at the top that we have become accustomed to is a function of the massive power of whale votes (often multiple whale votes) combined with the n^2 reward function. (The flip side of that function in the presence of whale voting is no rewards and no meaningful influence once you get any distance from the very time.) It doesn't behave the same way when only smaller stakeholders vote.
That was my thought too. I like this experiment, but if we all save our 'excellent posts' for a later moment what good content can we expect in the coming days... We'll see...
I'm not sure how many will take that advice, (I really can't), but for some minnows it may be a good idea, so I figured that I'd at least mention it. If the whole platform decreases in quality, that will not be good either, but people can make their own choices.
Thanks @penguinpablo!
Thanks for your 2 cents pappa_pepper. It's always welcomed. You're a good dude to know and I hope you power up soon. I love it when good whales are a part of Steemit community.
We will see if I ever become a whale, but that could be nice.
Thanks for the kind reply and encouragement @pitterpatter!
To everyone, who says:
Because it's fake payment. It won't be that decent without the experiment.
A potentially valid point. They may have gotten a good payout without it, but it sure would not have been as large.
Good insight @tibonova!
I see you have just had a smooth visit. Like you I see the intent. It is the execution of the plan which has let everyone down but there is a method to that madness - Hamlet gets everywhere doesn't he?!
There is a method and a goal, to be sure... we will just have to see how it works out! Thanks @ebryans!
The problem now is that @abit apparently wants to try to "counter" bots and trails that are voting, so it's not just about "whale influence." I think it's time to call it quits, as many smaller-stake users are completely disillusioned by this and stating that they will leave. And the investors who have actually bought their stake - and given value to our precious STEEM - are being told that their whale's share of influence is a problem and needs to be canceled out. I really see no silver lining in any of this. We are only seeing exactly what could have been and has been accurately predicted by understanding the code and social behavior.
Good point that it certainly has shifted away from just countering whale influence, as @abit shared. Hopefully, somewhere in there, is a silver lining @ats-david. Hopefully
That will also skew the results of the experiment. So if that continues then this is not even a valid experiment as the targets have shifted beyond "what happens if whales don't vote". The entire reason they are supposedly flagging is to counteract whales that are voting when the experiment is to see what happens when they don't vote. Yet if they then go against bots, pools, guilds, etc then they have shifted the target and it is more "what happens when whales only down vote".
Well, the "experiment" wasn't even legitimate in the first place, but yeah - I agree. It will be over soon though.
https://steemit.com/flaggingbullshittest/@berniesanders/fuck-the-flagging
okay, now I finish throwing tons of my 1-cent vote on you. it's time to let me taste your 2-cent vote? :) com'on!!
Honestly, I have trouble just making posts and keeping up with replies these days, so I don't get out to other people's pages much, and for that I apologize. Thanks for being a good friend, and for encouraging me to get out more!
no need apologizing papa! thanks for upping my post, though I meant my comment here only. but it's better that way! :) I did not follow all your posts too. I hope that you find it getting even more difficult to follow others' post soon - BECAUSE MILLIONS ARE COMING SOON! that's why we will have sub-communities in Q3!!
Got it!
it is an honor to have all the pepper family support/votes. So I upvote myself to squeeze in there. :)
they could have done that much.
I think that to a degree, they did, but I know what you mean.
(Nesting)... BERNIE IS MY HERO!!!
It's shockingly easy to generate bad will on this platform.
I disliked the idea at first because I felt it is unfair to those whales who purchased influence on the platform legitimately, then I liked it when I saw some positive effects, then I disliked it when I saw the degree of bad will it was generating.
There are some serious problems on this platform between abuse, the difficulty of curbing abuse, collateral damage when we try to curb abuse and the balance of power. I have some ideas which I've written about, but I really hope we can get this right as I think this platform has serious potential once we do.
Agree with you. It is the underlying causes that need to be addressed, eventually.
Well, having no clue about how that whole whale downvote thing is playing out, I just watched that snake video! Waaay cool! Loved it. I upvoted you at 100% and it added 14 cents! Much more than has been in the past.
Glad that you enjoyed that video!
I haven't curbed my voting habits at all. Yes, I have a SteemVoter account but the accounts it follows are people, like yourself, who post quality material on a regular basis and usually no more than 4 times on any given day. I'm pretty strict with my parameters as far as that goes. The rest is organic and usually followed by a comment not too much shorter or longer than this one.
Intention gets a B+. The execution of this "test" gets an F.
An F for eFfort?
Nobody intended to curb your voting habits. In anything the opposite. Your votes are more influential as a result of the experiment and more important than ever in identifying and rewarding the best content.
Honestly, I don't agree to disagree with what is going on. I just wish more was explained about this "experiment" so that I knew what information I was going to gain from it. Right now I feel like I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting to see what happens next!
You are not alone. Want to try to make 250 STEEM with a meme while you wait? You can check out my last post if you want to try.
Motivation is lacking in the world of Steemit now!
I spent time Sunday and put up two good posts that got down voted.
Creating this: Why bother putting time in and making it quality?
Thanks @papa-pepper, for bringing this to the table. I was tempted myself.
If someone downvotes you, that reflects on them.
If you post junk, that reflects on you.
Options are limited.
Yup - and motivation is limited as well.
Knowing they may down vote for no good reason.
I rarely have much to say about the drama around here. It's just not worth it. But this has been the single most asinine and destructive thing I've seen on the Steem blockchain. Payouts being knocked down from over $30 to less than $5. Some are getting whacked into noseeum status.
The stench of these cronies playing with other people in this so-called experiment reeks of totalitarian despotism. Has a group ever gotten together and asked, "How can we destroy Steem and most effectively crush the morale of as many people as possible?" If they did, this was the answer.
As I mentioned to @steemitqa, it's akin to serving tables and every patron, plus your coworkers, having the ability to negate your tips. I've rarely seen something so vile that wasn't at the hands of the state, a corrupt corporation or a narcissistic sociopath (been ripped off by all of the above at one time or another).
It seems to be showing itself as a failure more and more by the minute. Check the wallet of @abit and the recent messages and you will most likely be even more disappointed. Not exactly how to run a real "experiment."
It's not an experiment at this point. Perhaps it started out with that intent, but has turned into an exercise in crony despotism.
My latest post got cut down from 13 SBD to less than 2 after I got 4 days of very poor payouts. There is no justice in this world. Should I just grin and bear it?
What options do you have?
I Go on strike until this madness stops. Maybe wait for the Hard fork, I guess.
This is total bullshit! I do not in the least feel empowered, in fact I am ready to quit!
Posts with zero whale votes are predominantly being down voted...probably because @abit doesn't like what they are saying...this is fascism...
So, in your opinion the experiment was poorly executed and has utterly failed?
I think if they would have just called for a whale vote strike for a period of time, the real results could have been seen without messing with everyone's emotions.
@papa-pepper
Now you are some one with a brain...
So far, but I could still lose it!
A downvote was applied to partially counter earlier whale votes as an experiment to reduce whale domination of voting influence. Not intended to express an opinion on the content nor result in a net reduction of rewards or reputation (automated notice)
I know, thanks @smooth!
You're replying to an unconscious bot? And thanking it? Do you also shake your fist at the sky if it rains when you are at the beach?
I read most of the replies to the bot comments. If I miss some, it is by mistake.
This is smooth's account, he is using it personally, it isn't just "an unconscious bot".
I think that makes it worse.
I mean he gets notifications about the answers. I don't know if he cares for the answers for the bot's comments, though.
How does that make it worse?
Though the message may have been automated, @smooth is not. Some downvotes and comments may be programmed, but if @smooth is supposed to see that message, it'll happen. I do think that it is beneficial to have the automated comment come along with the vote, and for that much I can be thankful. I also think that @smooth is attempting to improve things (though obviously not everyone will agree with the methods) and I appreciate people exercising their creative efforts in attempts to improve steemit.
I try how I am able with far less Steem Power and @smooth is trying another way, if that makes sense.
No, I disagree with that! I believe @ned/dan will see this
Downvoted to counteract the upvotes from bots and other whales.
More info here: https://steemit.com/test/@abit/whales-no-up-voting-test