Abuse Series: Sharing Contents on the Blockchain

Last time, I wrote about a Steemian who wished to share Zen-related contents on Steemit. However, that person did not understand that is frowned upon, especially when rewards could still be claimed from sharing those contents that did not belong to the said person. The user left @steemcleaners' Discord before reading through my input about what they should have done instead.

What should you do when you want to share contents that do not belong to you on Steemit?

1. Resteem it

This may seem like common sense, but I have come across Steemians who quoted another author's entire post and claimed that they were merely "featuring" the post. We have a share function on our user interface. Use it. There is no reason why you should be claiming rewards for sharing someone else's work...byte by byte.

In case you didn't know what they look like, I have taken some screenshots for you.

I used a red rectangle to show where the Resteem button is on your feed and on a post you are reading. When you hit the button, a screen should come up and ask you if you wish to do so. Be aware that the action is irreversible; meaning, it cannot be undone.

When you are done, it will look like that on your blog page. On your feed, you can see which one of your followers Resteemed a content as well.

2. Declining Payout

When you want to share something from outside of the Steem Blockchain, it is advised you do it by declining payout on your post. Otherwise, you may receive a visit from the infamous @cheetah and eventually wind up on @steemcleaners naughty list, and more!

While the Cleaners have a strict code of conduct when it comes to the type of contents they enforce, the community also doesn't look kindly upon people who copy and paste videos, or other non-text/photo-based contents. If you think you can dodge @steemcleaners, be prepared for retaliation from the community and other abuse fighting groups such as @steemflagrewards.

To "decline payout" on Steemit, go to your "settings" and scroll to "preferences".


This process takes several clicks on Steemit since STINC changed it. You would have to change your setting each time when you want to switch to a different payout mode. You used to be able to do so on a post by post basis.

If you use other UIs such as Busy, the same option can also be found. On Busy.org, the option is right below your post preview

When you post under "Decline Payout", your post will look like this:

There will be a line across where rewards would normally be displayed.

If you have been paying attention to the screenshots, you could do the same for your comments. Although that is not as commonly utilized across the platform.

Note: Decline payout only prevents you from being visited by anti-abuse organizations/persons for copy/paste and plagiarism. This option does not preclude you from being flagged for other heinous behaviors such as phishing, ID theft, spam, etc.

What do you gain from sharing contents without payout? The short answer is, there is no direct financial gains. The only direct gain you would receive from upvotes is your reputation. As for long term (perceived) benefits of doing so, that is topic for another post.

In Conclusion

Please share contents that do not belong to you via Resteem if possible. If you want to share items that do not belong to you from off chain, please utilize the Decline Payout option.

It will make your journey on Steemit that much more pleasant when people are not flagging you down for something that could have been easily prevented. Good luck and Steem on!

Abuse Series is a collection of essays that documents thoughts as I traverse through the anti-abuse community.

You are welcome to read my previous post: Abuse Series Memes #1
Next post: Lies. Damn Lies. And Statistics