How Do We Win the War for Steem against Blockchain Abuse? Use Your Witness Vote!

in abuse •  7 years ago  (edited)

I was eating my Captain Crunch reviewing my witness votes when suddenly...

Patrice, one of the most prominent abuse fighters had dropped to position 49?!

Is this a sign that the state of blockchain policing is entering a decline? Should we at all be concerned?

I've observed many a blockchain abuser gaining power. It is not too farfetched that they are now affecting the witness rankings. We should absolutely be concerned when the influence of those who keep abuse at bay begins to wane. Will the manipulators gain the upper hand or will we wake up and really contemplate where we place our votes with all due diligence?

Are we at a crossroads?


As one who spend a lot of time in the trenches so to speak, I see what we are up against as it pertains to blockchain abuse. @steemflagrewards was created to help address this need and @Patrice has been a crucial point of support and guidance for us. I've observed another trusted witness (@themarkymark) with a demonstrated abuse fighting mindset slip from the top 50 and hell if I am going to see another without saying something about it.

The time to do something is NOW! Not tomorrow. Not next week.

If you care about the future of Steem, let your vote do the talking. The abusers are vying for power as we speak. They gain a lot of influence via devious means and abuse fighters can only do so much. That's why community support is absolutely vital.
We need to be very shrewd with our votes moving forward. I suspect that there are a handful of duplicitous individuals out there feigning altruistic motives while operating on a less than wholesome agenda and NOT in your best interest... that is unless you are in their preferred circle.

Not saying this is happening but I'd think one would be naïve to think business arrangement like these were not being made.

"Sure! I'll give you my witness vote!"

It's high time that we all audit our witness votes and put those with members with the highest integrity and demonstrated sacrifice for the greater good first. If you have a vote for a witness that isn't doing shit against the abuse, I strongly urge you to give your vote to another. I will specifically outline the following witnesses in particular that have supported @steemflagrewards and/or observed as making sacrifices for the greater good. There are many other witnesses that do great things for the community so please do your research and make your vote count!
@ausbitbank, @patrice, @pfunk, @reggaemuffin, @themarkymark, and @timcliff
If you are unsure how to vote for witnesses, here is some help:

  1. Click 3 line thingy next to your avatar.
  2. Click "Vote for Witnesses"
  3. Scroll down. Click Upvote button.
  4. If the witness is not in the top 50, type their name in the text box, then click vote!

It's that easy! Thank you for doing your part!

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From what I see in the blockchain, it looks like @patrice has gained 7 new witness votes (including me) since you posted this. Too many don't even understand what witnesses are so we need more advocacy like this.

Thanks alot! Yes, hopefully, more will follow. Please, consider resteeming for visibility.

I would be willing to build a page of solid witnesses with a steemconnect quick vote if you can get me a solid list. Our very own Bobinson is on the list and featured on SteemThat.com right now. I would like to feature a list of quality ones with an easy way for newer folks to vote.

I will vote for @patrice, thanks for reminding me.

Thank you so much for your support.

hi @patrice, i'm @speckofdust and my account was hacked but i've rescued my account.

one bot it's still downvoting my posts, what can i do?

I'm working on removing my downvotes. I removed you from the bot as well.

thank you so much

Hi, there is a new account doing the votes with a more SP than yours (Delegated) The account have the name of one of the wittness. This is the fake account @gtg.witnesses so you know what wittness I am talking... I know Gandalf in person so, I know is not him.

Thanks a lot for the good job you are doing.

Btw, I know it because of my post, I flagged at 100% but still you can see the comment.
https://steemit.com/life/@juanmiguelsalas/20180302t171141786z-post#@ana-maria/re-20180302t171141786z-post-500

You're very welcome. This is only the beginning. I'm already considering the way to flag piggyback off of comment spammers programattically in order to further support.

For instance, identify an account that has nothing but spam comments (account like @aluma) and script responses to each comment that will do the following:

  1. Mention the user (the one the comment scammer has targeted)
  2. Inform them about comment spam
  3. Share @ilyastarars comment guide for education
  4. Encourage them to vote for witnesses that actively fight abuse and provide list as an aid
  5. Provide reporting and discord chat links

This in and of itself could be a force multiplier. I wished I only had more time in the day. So much to do, so little time

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

@patrice I want to apologize for being so ignorant and stupid. My family and I are the owners of ALLGOODFARM listed on @spaminator. We had decided to stop comment spamming prior to @prowler flagging us it was actually the day after. We never realized how much fun creating unique and quality content can be. WE ARE TRULY SORRY FOR OUR IGNORANCE AND SELFISHNESS. We are asking and begging you since we stopped comment spamming may we please create quality content to share with the steemit community and not be flagged for quality blogs. I already started but have not had a 7 day window pass. I am truly sorry for what we did. We will no longer participate in such despicable actions and if we run across anyone who is we will be sure to be a positive part of the community and we will report such actions. My entire family has more than one account, me, my wife, my 3 son's, 2 daughters. I promise that we will make sure that they to follow all the community rules. I also will not make public the bot code that I created, nor will I use bots. All of my material and my family's material will be of good quality. Can you please forgive me and my family. We are truly sorry. If you can accept our apology and ask @prowler to give us another chance I would greatly appreciate it and so does my family (There actually here with me as I type in the office.)

I hope you can have mercy on us and find it in your heart to give us another chance to be part of this amazing community and rewrite of how social media is utilized.

I am a man of my word and I promise I will not make public the bot code I created nor will I ever do comment spamming again. I can not even express how stupid and foolish I feel.

I hope you can forgive us, my family and I are not like the other people who use bots where when they get caught they just go make more. We are TRULY sorry and no longer wish to be part of the destruction of steemit. We want to be part of it's positive growth. Can you please ask @prowler to stop flagging us and give us 1 more chance, we all would really appreciate it. I will keep an eye out for anyone who is using bots, and gladly report them to @spaminator. This website is the first time me and my entire family EVER blogged, so our blogs will get better with time. We are trying, it is definitely something that takes practice. I pray you can find it in your heart to give us another chance. I'm being sincere. Hope you have had a great day.

P.S. I'm powering down this account because it was hacked and all my STEEM was stolen Other wise I'd like to be here for the long run and learn how to be a great blogger with my family as well.)
Thanks for your time if you read this. This was the only way I could think of getting in touch with you. I am genuinely embarrassed, shamed, and extremely sorry. I promise I none of that behavior will ever happen again from myself or any member of my family.

I've voted for couple of these but feel like an asshole for not remembering to vote for the rest. Thanks for the reminder and I hope everyone follows!

I added almost everyone to my cobweb witness list. It's shiny as smells great, but timcliff won't stay. Disappears after I reset page and sometimes after I press upvote. Maybe I maxed out? @anthonysdavisii

I have no interest in anyone acting in the role of "blockchain police." My votes for witness go to those who are directly creating value in the form of useful tools and apps, as well as quality content that people really engage with.

My votes for witness go to model Steemians, not authoritarians.