We're International Now Baby! ...And That Doesn't Come Without Growing Pains
People are joining Steemit in droves, and they're coming from all over the world!
These new users have different cultures and ways of thinking about how to operate on a social networking site.
If Steemit is going to maintain IT'S culture, we need to work together to adjust their behavior.
Spam Culture
When I say Nigeria, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
I'm going to guess you thought "scams".
Some cultures are known for scams and others are known for spam. I don't like to stereotype, and of course not everyone in any given culture behaves in the same way, but generally speaking, there are cultures that operate in a more spammy, superficial way, at least by Western standards.
Spam is annoying as hell, and for most of us, it doesn't seem to work, but for some, it may be all they can offer at this point, not because they can't do better, but because they may not know how to do any better (yet). And even if their spammy tactics only yield a few bucks, a few bucks can make a decent difference in some people's lives. So it's only natural to expect that these people will bring the spammy tactics they have been using on other sites over to Steemit.
It doesn't mean we should tolerate the behavior, we can't. Theses spammy culture types will ruin the Steemit experience and community if we just let them run wild to do whatever they want.
Warnings Don't Work
I don't think a verbal warning will be enough to make users from spam cultures change their behavior. In fact, I don't even think one flag will be enough, I think these guys are going to need a flag along with a polite comment, from more than one person, until they get the message.
Flag Gently...
I think it's time to start flagging right away.
If you see a follow for follow comment, or if you see someone who leaves a generic comment, and you've gone into their account's comment section and you see they are leaving silly, mindless, nearly identical comments, over and over again, please flag them. And then leave them a nice note explaining why.
My hope is that if this happens even just a few times to each of them, they will get the message and stop. We might lose some of them, but we didn't want them if they were only going to give us spam anyway.
If you're account has a slider, you can flag at a very low percentage. I think this is the best way to go. Just flag them a little bit and leave the note, and hope that does the trick.
The idea is obviously not to hurt their account before they even get started. We don't want to increase their frustration level any more than they are probably already experiencing, but we also don't want Steemit to be ruined, as only spam galore can do.
What Do You Think?
So, flagging right away is my suggestion and I think it we all do it together, it will work.
Do you agree we need to start flagging first and giving an explanation along with the flag?
Or do you think we should take some other approach?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Certainly something needs to be done. And the sooner we help guide these new users onto the right path, the better the chance they will actually start to earn some money, get excited about Steemit, and stay on.
If we just let them spam, they'll do the only thing they know how to do, get frustrated and leave. So I think it's much better for us to engage rather than do little or nothing and hope for the best.
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Hi @trevorlyman!! I know what u mean.!!! Think flags can bring to the point where everyone will flag everyone as a revenge???? I dunno just saying !! Maybe it should be something similar to chita but only for attention seekers?? Anyway steem still in beta version there is still o lot of space and time for improvement. Best regards!!!
Maybe there could be different classes of posts so the ones who wanted to make short comments only, can do so without penalty? I have done something like that before to try and be polite to all the people I was following. Before I knew that a lot of people on here want longer, more substantiated posts I was thinking this was like facebook etc so I tried to like and comment on every post that I had time to. The way I see it you want as many people to come and stay here as possible so flagging them is not the best answer. Cant we be kind and encourage proper behavior instead of making negative rules? I hate rules laws and regulations...
Take a look at this guys comments so you understand what I'm talking about: https://steemit.com/@abdouni92/comments
That's theft right there. That's someone who doesn't care about this platform (yet) and who is trying to steal.
I'm sure you like rules against stealing. :)
And if you don't see it as theft, that's ok, I do!
So, I'm not trying to create new rules or regulations, just trying to enforce the oldest rules known to mankind, that you shouldn't steal, etc.
When I click the link it takes me to someone saying thank you to everyone and I don't think that she is stealing intentionally, I think she is just trying to be polite. Like I said, for whatever reason when I came here I thought that my "job" was to build a community like the other social networking sites and by doing so, I supported steemit and got paid. She will never get paid much by posting things like that so what does it hurt? I am really not arguing here I just value your opinion.
You don't understand because you've never hired people over the internet before and you haven't seen how much a system can be manipulated and gamed in order to extract money from it. I've seen it all on Upwork, how they apply for jobs they haven't read, how they say they have the skills when they don't, how they do everything a person would never do just in order to keep a profile long enough to make a few bucks. And when that profile has been deleted, just create another one, or five, and do it all over again.
I've seen Upwork change their polices over and over again to deal with the fraud and the theft that is rampant on their sites and coming from these very same countries..
This person is doing nothing but fishing for money.
It takes absolutely no effort at all to make these comments and these comments could be given to anyone. But people are giving money to people for leaving these comments, so that is why they are making them. No other reason.
You ASSUME this person is being nice because you're a nice person and you don't know any better.
There is only so much money in the rewards pool each day. What this person is doing is taking money from someone else who actually put effort into making a comment or an article. Imagine someone being paid to make these comments to make $5 an hour while the boss pays $2. That is what is probably going on here.
Now imagine this times 1000 people - that would be $5K per hour hour of the awards pool and stolen from real uses. I'm not saying it is too that level yet but even if it is $1K per hour it's too much.
I could go much more into it but I'm limited on time. You are welcome to disagree but I say you just don't have the experience in seeing this type of spam before so you don't know better.
These people are thieves.
Ok Trevor. I guess I am still just having a hard time figuring out what this place is or is not supposed to be. (I watched the video again and it really makes it sound like more than just a place for blogger/vloggers.) Maybe someday I will get it but if I respond to someone with a short comment, I am trying to be encouraging and polite. I am not just "gaming the system" and I don't have all day to read and respond to all the people I follow/follow me. Be blessed buddy...
I looked at your comment section and it looks nothing at all like the one I gave as an example. There is zero comparison. I'm not sure why you're not seeing that and not seeing what I'm talking about, but my experience tells me what is going on here.
Anyway, you'll be happy to know it looks like it's dying down so I'm just going to let it go and not worry about it. It will work itself out. I just got nervous the same problems I saw UpWork.com have were going to happen here.
This is my first day here, and that's exactly what I thought after browsing for a while. Too many spammy comments. I'm not saying that I'm surprised. That's to be expected too when we tell people they can get paid to use social media. People will try their best to game the system.
Learned a lot about this system from your post here, didn't now each flag carries a weight based on our Steem Power (I guess). Thanks for sharing. Hopefully what you suggest here can help us grow a healthier community together.
Thanks for sharing. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm sure it will work out in the end, I just wonder how many people we'll lose in the process. :)
First, focus with greatest intensity on the real threat. Here is a hint: the smartest AI will soon be on par with some of the dumbest people. Think about how impossible it will be to stop that advance without a steep grading curve.
oh yeah, by the way, please help my disabled sick brother who's a victim of an unjust legal system... every penny counts please help...
just kidding
but yes, these sorts of begging spam posts have been popping up everywhere lately.
I do understand that it looks like a good shot at some free money, especially if you live in bangladesh and a single whale-vote can easily pay your expenses, but really they'd be better of sharing real stories from their part of the world...
I'm still not flagging much, I just ignore spam and trust, that in the long run they'll give up, only if I stumble over the same guy a few times over will I be annoyed enough to flag it... That's not limited to begging posts but includes all these obvious "hey i didn't read your post but i am saying something nice so you'll give me an upvote"-posts, though.
just because someone may dislike or disagree with a post that is not a good reason to flag after all above all else it is about freedom if everyone starts flagging then steem is doomed to failure as the nazi dark side of people come out and censors everything they dislike, if any one dislikes something then do not read or watch it, how would any of you feel if you where on the receiving end of flagging you would say it is not fair and etc, and what about freedom of speech and etc
Difference of opinion is ok, we should celebrate that. What he highlights above is more towards the spammy comments. I think as the site grows, those spammy comments will get buried deep without the need to flag it.
the word spam is very broad and can and will include any and everything as spam like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. what may be spam to one person may not be spam to someone else, and it is a very slipper slop to nazi censorship which would destroy stem forever
No, it really isn't very broad. It's quite clear. I just received another spam comment on another article in fact.
Look at this guys comment section: https://steemit.com/@enomujjass/comments
This is pure spam 100%. This is what will degrade the system. Check it out and tell me you don't agree. This guy is just fishing for money and not adding any value to the site. I flagged him and will again if I see it again.
even i sometimes type those same words and i mean them to thank you for sharing
but if a person feels the need to comment then let them after all. they may actually mean it. are you upset that someone was being polite and thanked you or commented on your post
You just don't get it. It's exactly as I said, some people have a spam culture in them. I'm not going to argue with you, but if you ever leave a spammy comment on one of my articles I will flag you, and I will probably flag you if I see it around the site as well, as will others. Just be real and actually contribute to the site. That's all I'm asking. I know you don't get it but I hope you will either change or get frustrated and leave because you're not making Steemit a better place.
"even i sometimes type those same words and i mean them to thank you for sharing" Translation: "Even I am a spammer".
also i like photography and art and anyone that posts pictures that i like i always let them know if i see something i do not like i do not post anything,
I just checked your comments section. You left over 40 comments in the past hour, nearly one a minute, all of them very quick, off the cuff remarks, pretty generic. So, I see now why you're defending spam, you're right on the borderline. At least your comments on this article are 100% real. :)
well i watch and read alot and if the person shares something i like i will always let them know and i see you point but again all those comments i made i meant from the heart and i will give and share my thoughts with anyone
40 comments in one hour are not comments that came from the heart or that have substance. DO BETTER!
Well said I totally agree got my vote
thank you
@needmorefat has it right. I never would suggested (nor did I) that people should be flagged for disagreements. I said they should be flagged for spam. Maybe you didn't really read this article and just skimmed it? I think I made that pretty clear.
the word spam is very broad and can and will include any and everything as spam like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. what may be spam to one person may not be spam to someone else, and it is a very slipper slop to nazi censorship which would destroy stem forever
I do understand your position but i gotta disagree. Commenting even a generic compliments to someone's work can be appreciable for other people.
How can a comment that someone gave to everyone else be something valuable? It's ok you disagree, but I still disagree with you, too.
Look here: https://steemit.com/@enomujjass/comments
Do you agree that this is spam?
I see your point now , however exterminating their account would be a bit harsh, but i think should get some kind of punishment