I have seen the posts calling out good and bad whales and we had a short conversation about this today. This is how I tried to summarize the situation as I see it.
What I think is happening goes like this: (No whales were harmed in the making of this post, nor did I interview anyone regarding their feelings, instead I projected what I thought might be happening)
SteemGuild thinks they are helping SteemIt by spreading out the rewards with their curation.
@Smooth/ @Transisto/ @Berniesanders think they are protecting the rewards from SG, or unfair rewards.
@Krnel thinks he is protecting the end-users and the rewards pool from arbitrary flagging
@Mynameisbrian is funny and making social comments.
@steemsports and @ats-david are trying to bring in sports lovers and give them activities to do.
@abit is rewarding comments to motivate people to engage.
Many others are offering up solutions and ideas on how they think they can make things better.
What I see are passionate people who care about SteemIt. That is the conclusion I have come to. I haven't seen a single person who's goal it is to hurt the platform.
Good whales vs bad whales!
Ha! This is great! :)
Every good whale knows that you should never bring a crowbar to a knife-fight!
Ha ha. This is getting good!
I approve this message.
Followed @whatsup
Excellent, I enjoy your comics! See you on the platform! :)
and i'm just spamming these kinds of GIFS in comments:
Good one.
The GIF was made from this video. It says everything I ever wanted to say about what's going on:
Better than spam - Tinner
damn, that looks delicious
lol, going to break open a can here in a minute. ;)
Now THAT is practical!
Noms! I can't decide if I need a spoon or a fork for this one -- or maybe I'll put it in the blender and sip casually through a straw.
Ohhh, that made it soo much worse. lol.
100% agree with u! Is the reason I had only read and so far not commented any post about the whales. Til now everything is for the "good" of Steemit regardless of all the different forms that are present in the game so far.
It is true there are different perspectives! :) I am just not convinced anyone has bad intentions. :) Glad we are in agreement.
I will be here all week. (little drum thing here)
There are as many opinions of whales on this site as there are atoms in the universe. This is but one atom ;)
Very true.
I just spotted this whale opinion (sorry atom!) from @thewiredneuron: https://steemit.com/steemit/@thewiredneuron/a-simple-smooth-observation
I believe there are not such a thing as good whales or bad whales, only whales doing the best they know to keep the order in this great community! But, I really like your message!
I tend to agree. After all, don't they have the most to win or lose?
I think they know better than us. Anyway, some users believe they know more than whales, but without the whales, Steemit wouldn't exist.
:) They definitely had a great idea.
Yeah, that pretty much gets to the heart of it.
I mean, why would anyone be here to "NOT do well?" Different objectives, perhaps... but not "good" or "bad," just whales swimming around in the microcosm that is Steemit.
Yep.
You didn't mention the super mega whales blocktrades, freedom, ned, dan.
For whatever reason, I never hear much drama around blocktrades. Not saying it isn't out there somewhere.
As for freedom, ned and dan it is my understanding they fund SteemGuild, so without saying it, I was lumping them in there. :)
For blocktrades, see this: https://steemit.com/flagging/@krnel/vote-negation-flag-review-council-other-solutions#@transisto/re-blocktrades-re-krnel-re-blocktrades-re-krnel-vote-negation-flag-review-council-other-solutions-20170306t101650851z . :P
IMO Dan doesn't fund the Guild, but Ned, Val and Michael did.
Just a name jumped into my head: there is a new active whale @created. Hmm, I think he/she turned into a bot now (if isn't earlier, I'm not sure). There are also the old bot wang, and new bot summon.
Drama for all of the whales! Next time I make a whale of a post, I will do more name dropping. :) Oh boy, it can be hard to keep up with it. :)
If you're looking for the @blocktrades summary in line with the original post:
@blocktrades is upvoting (aka liking) whatever they like. Asterisks.
<astirisks>The asterisks are that they appear not to realize that upvotes require discernment, and that's the point. They're not being aloof but instead they treat the upvote as though it were a facebook like, for better or worse.
The thing is, @poloniex and @bittrex do not operate this way. I'm not sure if @blocktrades is too concerned with how it looks to investors.
How would it look @poloniex and his wife were upvoting with little regard for content standards? On a purely cursory level, it seems strange for an exchange to use their assets in this way.
Of course, I'm sure @blocktrades is not using exchange funds for any of this. But you have to really dig in order to verify this.
And of course, @poloniex behaving this way is totally different from @blocktrades because @poloniex didn't have anything to do with STEEM development in the early days.
</astirisks>[Nesting] It's not paranoid: you referred to an original post in your comment above, so I was asking if you were quoting something from that post that had been edited out. On my second reading, that's what I had though must have happened, because of the way you phrased your reply with the tags, etc.
You've now clarified that it's your idea, that's fine, but no need to accuse me of paranoia for asking an entirely reasonable question. It's not exactly a friendly response, IMO.
Anyways, to reply to your question, I doubt that most new users really understand exactly how the voting system works or who is voting for what. Even many long time users find it somewhat confusing I think. So I think the scenario you're suggesting is pretty unlikely.
Your is the first suggestion I've ever heard that blocktrades is somehow voting exchange funds (and even your suggestion is pretty back-handed, since you then say you're sure we're not doing it). I think most people can quite easily grasp that we are simply buying and selling steem, not holding it for others that buy and sell it. So a comparison to poloniex and bittrex is totally inappropriate.
Hmm, now I'm wondering on my second reading, are you just quoting something that was removed from krnel's post? Is it possible he came to the conclusion that what he said wasn't likely, and therefore removed it?
[Nesting]
This is excellent. I have no doubt.
When I say "you have to really dig in order to verify this," I am talking about investors who are initially researching the platform. Imagine, they just found out how to power up. Now they want to know who @blocktrades is before they make the plunge.
So, do I trust this situation? I do. But I've been on the platform for months. I'm talking about potential investors who have hours or days of research under their belt.
I am not quoting anyone. These are my own words. Sir, this seems like a very paranoid thing to assert. What's really going on here?
Blocktrades is not a wallet, 100% funds he has are his. If you use the service he holds you money for literally a second. Poloniex or Bittrex hold money as long as you let them, that would be different case
Well, this isn't exactly true. I'm totally here to destroy Steemit. Obviously.
Obviously!
Save the whales! Down with those pesky harpoon toting whalers!
All kidding aside, thanks for this reminder that we are all in this adventure together. The whales have the most to lose of any of us if Steemit doesn't succeed, so of course they are highly incentivized to act in what they perceive to be the best interest of the platform. And like any human being, it's only natural for them to have different ideas about how to do that, in line with their own interests & inclinations.
We all want Steemit to succeed. How to ensure that happens is up for debate. But let's keep it a civil, well reasoned debate, keeping in mind that ultimately the goal of everyone is the same, though the journey to get there may take many paths.
Very well said thank you for stopping by and making a comment.
Lovely message
Totally agree wup! All the mistrust has been a simple problem of perspective .. so many with relatively little have been motivated only by one thing .. "get more!" They see that the whales are selective with their upvotes ... some almost exclusive in said selections ;-) .. and this caused wide-spread sin .. the sin of envy.
From the whales perspective - many feel that they do have this added responsibility to police the environment, and reward some over others, but they simply have differing criteria - thus creates this perception of conflict.
Freedom means freedom for those you disagree with - we all have to remind ourselves of that, and also that .. code is law .. if the code does not attempt to stop a certain behavior, then that behavior is by definition acceptable. :-)
There are some interesting dynamics going on for sure. However, I really the driving forces are all trying to get in there and "make SteemIt great and yuuuge.
I am new here and was introduced by a friend who was so enthusiastic that he made me join up. That was about 2 months back. I just talked to him a few days back and he did not sound as enthusiastic and said that there was too much policing going on and "it was not fun anymore". As a new user I hope all turns out well because I have just found out about cryptos and I expect to earn AND have fun here :)
My best advice is if conflict bothers you is to just skip over those posts and comments. Welcome to SteemIt!
I have about 6 months experience now with "cryptos". I am still kind of baffled. ;)
Woohoo!! Steeming on,....
Cool post! I really enjoyed that one!
:) Thank you.
I'm not too worried because when people are freaking out I just squish their head.
squish squish
Omg - ha ha. That is hysterical.
Not at all. He is protecting himself. Don't be fooled.
@schattenjaeger Look around you, the post was light hearted the comments are funny.
It is okay to pick your battles, but also to chill out once in a while. ;:)
Ok, not fooled. But I don't think that's a bad thing. If his goal is to protect himself, the best way to do that is to protect the platform. And to do that, @krnel believes that this involves educating the end-user so that they become high-minded like him.