I am not as deep into this topic and the person in question as I should be, but there are a couple things I want to say.
Flags are scary to new users.
I have been for about five weeks now and everytime I see certain individuals around here posting, I end up not wanting to be a part about that matter because of how flag-heavy they and their followers are. I am not going to say any names, but you probably know the ones.I am not a fan of witch hunting.
I can see why this Jerry Banfield isn't everyones most favorite person at the moment, but witch hunting never really solved anything either. I also don't want new posters that come here to see that this is a place where witch hunting isn't only possible but also accepted and permitted.Steemit in general needs to do a better job at teaching it's users on how to properly use it and understand the surroundings. In fact, I think that steemit still needs a lot of changes and additions if it wants to play in the very big leagues, but let us put this to the side for now.
I can understand your feelings on this topic. I am sure you will understand mine.
I couldn't have said things better myself. Flagging to remove wrong doing is one thing but flagging is abused and used for censorship, it's as plain as the nose on someone's face and it's wrong. It holds back the growth of Steemit and discourages participation on steemit.
Flagging is also a abuse tool when it comes to the witch hunting aspect. I don't care that Jerry wants to sell memberships to people for fifty bucks, it no more of a scam then a lot of other scams on here. Like neglecting to tell people when they sign up that essentially unless you buy in, invest in bots or delegate your chances of getting attention to any quality post is slim to none. What he said or done is no worse than half the stuff you see Bernie say or that guys he's always fighting with ripping off the place for hundreds of thousands of dollars, I mean really people these guys are on trending all the time and they haven't stopped many people from investing or joining. Actually Bernie and his antics make for a rather good joy ride down the comment section, it's rather comical, livens the place up a bit. It's all these "colorful characters" that can make things interesting. So Jerry the snake oil salesman takes advantage....what's new about that?, sounds about right for this place. I just think once you start down this slope there's no turning back. I also personally think he needs help not people turning their backs on him.
I just would like to see steemit being a better place than reddit, financial aspects ignored.
I want people to be better, maybe that is utopic in itself.