As the most influential members of the community, this post is directed mostly at the whales, however I invite anybody who likes the idea to assign themselves with the same task.
ABUSE is a strong word.
We all have our own opinions on what can be defined as abuse here on steemit. This is a bit of a problem because while the unofficial rule is “only flag abuse”, anybody who wishes to flag anything can claim “I consider this abuse”.
CEO @ned once said “down votes are like fines”. Have you ever received a fine for something that there was no written rule or law against, that could be referred to when disputed?
Prevention is better than Penalty
Don’t you think there would be less bank robberies, if there was a rule against them written down with the potential repercussions?
Who sets the rules on a decentralised platform?
There are all kinds of content that you might deem as appropriate, inappropriate, valuable or even abuse. You can read The Unwritten Rules of Steemit but there are no official rules. There is however, some value in setting your own rules for yourself and in addition if you have a lot of influence on the platform, the rules you set might even influence those who seek your vote.
The rules are already there. We already flag material that breaks our personal rules. But if I were a curator and I had wrote down my rules where anybody could refer to them, maybe I wouldn’t have to waste so many votes on flags…
Sample Template
Hello steemit users. This post is a declaration of the content I, as a curator deem worthy of flags. This list is subject to change whenever I deem necessary. My vote is my own to use as appropriate and as I set these rules myself they are mine to break when necessary. The purpose of this post is to help the community to avoid being penalised for something I deem worthy of a penalty.
Content I do not support includes
- spam
- plagiarism
- witch hunts
- trolling
Please educate yourself on the definitions of the above and have a great day.
If you think this is a good idea, then using the #myrules tag please write your own post explaining the "abuse" you would prefer not to see on the platform. Hopefully this type of dialogue could help clean up the site.
Communication is key.
I hear there used to be a down vote that was separate from a flag.
That sounds reasonable. Right now there are three choices...up-vote(potential monetary award) no vote (no way to express disagreement)...and flag (nuke)
it seems a bit disproportional
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No actually originally there was no flag, downvoting and flagging were intended originally to be the same action.
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are there plans to make some changes?
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It is being discussed, but nothing has been decided.
https://github.com/steemit/steemit.com/issues/215
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The down vote was changed to a flag but as far as I'm aware they both hold the same power. Only the symbol was changed and the location (from bottom to top right corner).
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I think if we have an upvote button, there should be a down vote button with a text box for an explanation. I think the flags should only be used in serious cases of plagiarism and spam. There should be a drop down menu with flag options which then goes into a queue for perhaps a rotating group of vetted community members to decide if the person gets nuked or not. There needs to be a distinct difference and the power needs to be out of the hands of the developers and whales...though, not to exclude them completely, but everyone's vote in such cases should be of equal value. Just my thoughts on it.
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I disagree. People downvote more easily than flag. If you are willing to click downvote, you should be willing to add a comment instead. This leads to discussion and clarification rather than someone jumping over to steemit.chat to ask "ZOMGWTF I JUST GOT DOWNVOTED?"
The other day I added a comment to an article that was simply an embedded YT video with no value added. I commented my objection. That led to a discussion which ultimately led him adding his thoughts and me writing an article. A simple downvote adds nothing, it subtracts.
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I think we're agreeing to agree. IF the down vote button comes back then anyone using it should give a reason - simply out of etiquette. And once there is clarification, as you've mentioned, then there should be the ability to un-down vote...just like we have the ability to undo an upvote. And a down vote button does not have to be associated with a penalty to one's reputation. Flags, on the other hand, should be reserved for serious offenses - again with a mandatory explanation. Flags do affect one's reputation and status and people have been nuked for those serious offenses. There should be clearly defined uses because there are distinct differences between a difference of opinion and clearly doing something wrong or harmful against the platform.
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Thanks for the clarification 😃
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I meant to get around to replying to one of your comments on another post. This is a reply to both. :)
I really wish that there were "rules" to enforce. It would make life easier. That is one reason I like being part of @steemcleaners. We have rules that the group has to abide by. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean others -- even those in the steemitabuse-classic have to abide by those rules.
I can understand why some believe that posting just links (including youtube vids) is poor quality content. I agree and would rather not see it. But is it abuse? I don't think so unless the user is also spamming a tag.
I do think those that upvote poor quality content are doing a disservice to other contributors here that work hard to post original content. The abuse there is on the part of the curator rewarding high payouts to poor quality content.
But that is my opinion.
I do think that the steemitabuse-classic gets out of hand at times and needs more guidance. I need to spend more time there but lately my time has been limited.
There are a few regulars in the channel that try to provide guidance but it anyone's job to staff the channel 24/7. We are all volunteers trying to help the community. And even those of us who have been around for a little while don't always agree. :)
When I am available, I'm only there to provide guidance and my opinion for what it is worth, not to change someone else's opinion. The only time I will act is if the curator becomes abusive. While I don't always agree with how someone states an opinion, the opinion in itself isn't abusive.
I really do like your idea, though. It should give curators something to think about and a way to define what they perceive as abuse and also define what they believe devalues steem and steemit. It may also give some insight to contributors on what each of us thinks about the types of content that shouldn't be posted here.
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Thank you @patrice, I hope I didn't come across hostile in my comment to you before, I let my own frustration drive my impulse. Your comment makes complete sense and nobody should be expected to man that channel 24/7 as we all need to maintain the lives we have offline.
My issue is with the word 'abuse' as it's a strong word we can use to justify anything in that channel. Steemcleaners I understand is a closed group which makes it easy to define the type of content it deems inappropriate. Whereas the classic channel is open to anybody who is upset about anything - such as other users getting rewarded for things they don't consider a talent and they not getting the rewards they think they are entitled to. I myself first found that channel looking for back up and this is everybody's perception before we've defined what we should or shouldn't "back up". Perhaps a post like this would be useful for all the regulars in the channel, and these links could then be pinned on the right hand side. That way when a newbie comes looking for help, they can check the posts of the regulars to see what kind of content the channel deals with.
My issue is that as soon as somebody goes in there and cries "abuse" other newbies entering the channel get their backs up about it when after some time here they might realise it really wasn't an abuse afterall but their reaction left a bad taste for the target.
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I think posting just links is abuse if it's not a link to your own content, you haven't given due credit to the creator or the author appears to be attempting to take credit for the work of another.
A link with a little introduction saying look what I did over the weekend is completely fine in my book.
Sooner or later authors will learn they stand much better odds writing something meaningful next to their links as the rewards will be greater.
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Great post, great idea. Yet I don't see any image credits. Are they yours?
For myself I would also add a section of "abuses" for which I would issue a plea for correction in comments before going so far as flagging. See above.
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The images are not mine, however they are marked as free to reuse in Google tools and I claim no ownership.
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Would be a benefit to clarify that in the post body.
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I use this format:
BeHappy.me seems to be a commercial site. I couldn't find a rights free version of the image you created. Someone may have attributed it incorrectly (without consent) as rights free.
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excellent post cards, I fully share with you I've receive negative flag and never knew which was my mistake, on one occasion received a flag and there was not even a comment in between, send an email to the mailbox aid and was never returned. I like what you have written congratulations
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My answer to your call https://steemit.com/myrules/@dgiors/let-s-be-clear-my-rules-for-flagging-posts
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Dems good beanz!
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"Don’t you think there would be less bank robberies, if there was a rule against them written down with the potential repercussions?"
Wow, are you serious beanz?
In my opinion this is delusional
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Great post! In fact, it was so good that we decided to feature it in our latest newspaper. Read about it here: https://steemit.com/steemplus/@steemplus/steemplus-tuesday-october-11-the-daily-newspaper-that-pays-you-to-find-high-quality-content
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Thank you so much! I was really hoping more users would take the challenge.
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This post has been linked to from another place on Steem.
Steemplus (Tuesday, October 11) - The Daily Newspaper that Pays You to Find High Quality Content by @steemplus
Let's be clear. My rules for flagging posts. by @dgiors
Learn more about linkback bot v0.4. Upvote if you want the bot to continue posting linkbacks for your posts. Flag if otherwise.
Built by @ontofractal
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