People talk about the transparency of the blockchain and it is all there for the world to see but, this isn't quite true is it? To be able to pull data from the blockchain requires specialised skills and time, two things not everyone has. In fact, even when people do have skills and time, two different people can have different numbers returned depending on how they query it. The 'transparency' of the blockchain isn't transparent to everyone as not everyone has the required literacy to read it.
Transparency requires open knowledge and when that comes in a specialised language that many do not understand, it is not good enough to say 'it is all there, do it yourself'. This is especially true on the Steem blockchain considering there are something like 1.7 million transactions a day (according to blocktivity.info). This means that even if one does want to have a look, to get granular information, it takes more skills and time.
Imagine going into the doctor with an illness, an illness that they feel they recognise and can treat but, instead of providing their diagnosis and writing a prescription, they say, "Go to medical school, it is all available there." Thanks doctor.
A community is made up of a wide assortment of skillsets and levels of ability and for all things to be taken care of effectively, it requires cooperation and sharing of resources. In a perfect world, people would be able to play around in the areas that interest them and where they can find the highest level of themselves and offer it to the community if they choose. This means that each can explore their field and the knowledge they learn can become part of the resource pool. Essentially, we have translators of specialisation.
The Steem blockchain is a unique system because it is backed by the content of a community and there is a large range of diversity taking part. There are all kinds of skills. Some are coders and developers, some statisticians, some accountants, lawyers, artists, authors, witnesses, community developers, charity workers and the like.
When it comes to querying the blockchain, professional translators are needed but, there is just not enough to go around and without adequate tools for the non-professionals which would essentially equate to a dictionary, the amateurs just can't get hold of the information easily, nor in a timely manner.
There has been quite a few complaints against @transparencybot yet, as far as I have seen nearly all flags have been delivered by users of bidbots and bidbot operators. The complaints about the text in the comment the bot delivers have led to adjustments by the bot operator and he genuinely seems to be trying to be transparent and offer a community service. Yet, some people call it spam.
Spam
Irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc.
sourceThe first word is irrelevant. The bots message is tailored to the specific post it comments upon and offers a look at some of the data on that post. It is highly relevant and is not a cut and paste message.
The next key word is unsolicited. This is not the case either as it is asked for and has been asked for by hundreds of users at least. The space under the posts is public and is not owned by the author of the post. The post owner can of course act there as a member of the public though.
Next, typically to a large number of users. It isn't sending it out to a large number of users at all, it is targeted very specifically to posts voted by bidbots over 50 dollars. It doesn't target one specific user nor does it randomly target any user.
Finally, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc. It does not advertise and stopped asking for delegations on the comments it delivers. It doesn't even ask for support anymore.
All it is, is a limited query of the blockchain that gives a window into one specific section of it and even comes with the disclaimer:
This information is being presented in the interest of transparency on our platform @****** and is by no means a judgement of your work.
Again, people can agree or disagree with the delivery and what is valuable or not but, even many of the bidbot users who have received the message have upvoted it in the interest of transparency. Some have commented that without a promoted label, this is a current option available.
My point is that calling it Spam is incorrect via definition of spam itself. Labelling it as such and using it as a defence to flag it is a poor position. One may just flag it* for the fun of it* but, don't let terms get hijacked and twisted.
The current campaign against the bot (a bot which only started this week) is being run by a new account @iflagshit and seems to be fashioning itself as a Poor man's @berniesanders. If it is Bernie, I would be surprised that he would buy delegation from @blocktrades. It has also flagged a few people who have shown support for the transparency bot comments which seems quite hypocritical but, such is life on the blockchain. If they actually cared about spam, the platform is full of legitimate spam, why target this one bot?
I have seen calls for the transparency bot to increase its reach and lower the threshold from 50. I wonder how many comments it will deliver if it commented on all posts with a bidbot used? Well, with ~9000 bidbot votes cast every day, it would get very busy. 2000? 3000?
@penguinpablo stats
I don't know what the answer is to the transparency question but saying it is transparent as long as you are specialized enough to look at it is not transparency. This system is complex and there is a massive amount of data travelling along the chain every day making it impossible for any one person to get a clear view of it. That is why there are so many different initiatives and accounts to bring transparency to the surface, to look at the data available and see what is there. Some data looks at generalised content, some gets quite specific but, even finding the accounts doing this is a challenge here.
The bidbot voted content reason for buying is often given as eyes on the work and, this bot does just that, brings eyes to the work. Very few are going to downvote the content they feel worthy of the payout it is receiving so as long as the payout is in the ballpark of the community expectation for such things, the bot is just an indicator. It could also be seen as advertising for the bidbots themselves since people might work out that they could make money using the bots. There are many possibilities with a little transparency.
Where does this all lead? I don't know but not actually discussing issues is likely going to create more conflict without much solution. If there were more solutions found by the community, things such as @transparencybot wouldn't be needed at all. At that point, it could disappear as it does actually become irrelevant.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
Thank you again for this well reasoned article. I truly believe the VAST majority of the people here want this level of transparency. As you say, the retaliation has been largely by those who profit directly or indirectly from the bidbots. They just don't want to give up their cash cow, even it if bleeding out.
BTW: I Don't believe iflagshit is Bernie, or anyone of concern, he would know that he does not get paid for downvotes.
Fur'd.
Just keep listening to the community and adjusting.
Absolutely.
Constructive feedback is essential.
Bernie handled him. Rep 15 now :)
Thank you, it has been a team effort. He has started buying votes again, not a real smart cookie.
I see you are also supporting @transparencybot. I believe in this project as well. I have setup this account to support this project and @bycoleman.
Let's Look to the Future!
Wow, thanks for all the upvotes!!!
So very happy to have you on board.
Blessings!
They are calling it spam because it adds nothing to their posts. Ironically they do not feel the same way about the bidbots posting their comments that adds nothing to the post. Strange how they are not down voting those spam comments that add nothing to their posts. Perhaps they forget their definitions of spam when the bidbots leave their comments?
lol.
Perhaps the bidbots could change their message: We upvoted you which is in no way a reflection of the quality of your post.
HA!
Funny, that is how I read the last line from the transparency bot ;)
I could basically filter out all the posts voted with over 50$ worth of bots and seriously improve the quality of my reading time.
The matter concerning transparency seems to be a simple word, but its not a child's play especially when it involves a large system in which only a few specialised individuals can actually engage in the transparency. Your analogy of the doctor and patient seems to be the best description of what transparency means to the block chain, however, you see information is knowledge, when it comes to blockchain, there's a culture that people like to imbibe, and a lot of times, users are misinformed, misdirected, and some people think they know everything, when all they know is wrong, which yields wrong motives and actions...
As long there is lack of understanding, there will be no end as there will always be a bernie and a haejin
hence, the need for transparency. Unless what is known or thought to be known is seen, it cannot be investigated. Incorrect assumptions and knowledge can then be adjusted. That is a major part to building the understanding.
It's obvious why. Such a purchase would be off-chain. Whoever bought the delegation wishes to hide their identity. It could be someone trying to discredit @berniesanders.
I just started flagging @iflagshit. Down with the imposter!
@iflagshit doesn't have much SP. It's a great thing that it gets flagged to invisibility.
I’ve noticed it posting on other people’s blogs the other day. I more than welcome the transparency it can bring. I’m sure some will not be happy for it sharing just how much they are blowing on bidbots.
Interesting enough some even seem to embracing it. I recall one author not only upvoting it but thanking it as they could now keep track of profit/loss when using bidbots easier.
As far as spam. I can only hope the more powerful people fighting spam on this platform see it as more useful than an annoying. I know in the past a few places where find with leaving certain things untouched while going out and burning down other things. I recall people liking meep and it being left alone abut not another as it was deemed offensive lol.
I could see over long run if people start creating dozens or hundreds of these stat bot kind of things that give out this or that information trying cash in on upvotes that it could start to become an issue with being spam. There are couples out there that try and be useful. For now these kinds of things just seem helpful. Only time will tell.
I wonder if it could keep up with say 5 SBD paid or higher. More interestingly what kind of impact does this have on peoples decision making to buy or not buy upvote. No real way to know for sure on last bit.
That is also my position.
For a platform that boast that they have no advertisement and transparency , what is the issue ?
To use an Item to boost your circulation or reward is a form of advertisement of ones post . When I resteem this post I am saying I strongly agree and endorse it and would like you to consume it .
There are people running around and making comments on post that ,
Even when images were sourced and yet look the other way on what @transparencybot is doing and why .
transparency is a great thing and is supported by all until the light is shining on you . then it's back to , let me get back into the dark where no one can see what I'm doing .
Yeah, we all likely have various skeletons in the cupboard but this isn't even targeting the user personally, it is more meta data.
only two reasons I can think of to flag it
@abh12345 put out a post a couple hrs ago (8) trying to go through it and I like the idea so far, along similar line
day late and a dollar short
Thank you for putting this out there. I thought I was just stupid or completely missing something because I don't know how to get this 'transparent information.' I don't even know how to figure out how much each upvote is worth. I have figured out which upvotes are coming from bots, generally by clicking on the voter's name and, let's be honest, some of the names of them make it obvious. However, not everyone will necessarily know, so I like the idea of the transparency bot. I'm not entirely sure why people take it so personally though.
Another useful bot that gets a lot of flags is the @grammarnazi. Personally, if I've made a grammatical error I'd appreciate a heads up so I don't end up with it permanently there for all to see. Some people get so offended by it though.
I don't know how to explore it all either and have to rely on the good graces of some members of the community to help out from time to time. There is just so much information to get the head around as well as so much FUD that getting some of it into the open is useful.
Some people might disagree and some of the information might not even be accurate but, how do we get anywhere as a community if every member is expected to hold all skills necessary just to use Steemit effectively? Getting information out allows us to explore it and perhaps have a chance to find better ways.
If these things had been sorted out much earlier, this bot wouldn't exist. If Haejin was addressed early enough, he wouldn't still be raping the reward pool with the highest reputation on the platform. I don't see this bot having any significant effect on rewards of people buying votes or the pool but, it does help highlight some more of the community problems that need to be looked into.
Don't know where it will end up but where we are now isn't conducive to long-term success.
why would people against transparency, use a public blockchain? Why would they be ashamed or irritated by @transparencybot comments? Perhaps , they think, deep inside, or not so deeply, that they are doing something that they shouldn't be doing.
Indeed, transparencybot comments could even be seen as advertising for others that don't know about bidbots, when they read the transparencybot comment and they discover it and think, wait... can I do this too?
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Well Firstly, Is this you and can you prove it?
https://medium.com/@jaipandya/one-day-of-being-the-god-12d8ce297a39
Because going on your writing in this comment, it isn't which would make it plagiarism.
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Good post....Thanks to yoursharea
Seems like new things are changing weekly on this platform creating more havoc and in house fighting. new bots taking away from others. All greed and power. I quite like it as it will eventually sort itself out.
Very good post. I think transparency breeds fairness. Still I would prefer not to be downvoted because I support transparency. Can we think of something that would improve the value @transparencybot's comments bring to the article ?
I really like your posts @tarazkp
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