Suggestions on how we can improve Steem.

Thank you for your apology SteemCleaners.

Here is a summary of suggestions based on my experience:

1. Warn someone before blacklisting them. Especially, if you are reprimanding someone for voting for someone else who did something wrong. They may not be aware that they have done anything wrong by voting for someone else.
   A tagged comment on their blog would likely suffice.

2. Give them notice when you blacklist them so that they know they've been blacklisted. (In case they are away, for example.)
   A tagged comment on their blog would likely suffice.

3. Have a "Waiting Room" in SteemCleaners that directs new-comers and provides them with information. Information such as: What it means to be blacklisted, the reasons why this has happened, and what the next steps are(specific guidelines). This information should be organized according to the type of blacklisting the member received, as the information will likely differ.
   I've noted this because you cannot reprimand people for not doing the right thing to appeal a blacklist if there are no instructions or the instructions are inaccurate or unclear. This is simply not just.

4. Amended 2020 03 03 It turns out that the reporting system does ask for the username of the person reporting. You can see it here: https://steemcleaners.com/reports I am glad to see that it asks for a username. I am hopeful that usernames aren't being created purely to report individuals. That is possible considering how many bot accounts are created each and every day. There are some very malicious individuals on Steem. From my understanding, it is the mack-bot which doesn't always work. Sometimes like in my case, it flags someone for voting for someone flagged for abuse thinking that individual has perhaps been hacked, or is working in collusion with an abuser. I still am extremely uncomfortable with the whole "guilty until you advocate for your innocence" system, especially given how it does publicly brand innocent people as abusers. This makes me uncomfortable. How many cases are like mine? How many people don't go and advocate for themselves? How many good people are we driving away from Steem?
   Just as offenders are held accountable for their actions, so should the accusers be. The person programming the Mack-bot is responsible for the innocent people it attacks. It's something she should consider. I believe the solution here is to not use a Mack-bot to try and find abusers after the fact. Rather, we should petition to stop all auto-voting. Perhaps, this would lead to fewer mistakes.

5. It is not logical to hold people responsible for the behavior of others. People are not omniscient, they cannot know everything the other person does, their intent, or what they may do in the future. They can only use their best judgment when voting a post or comment. Expecting people to spend intensive amounts of time researching posts, and their authors is not realistic. It also doesn't allow people to vote within the curation window to receive the best rewards.
   All this promotes is people voting for old users(regardless of the quality of their content), as the new users have no had the time or resources to establish a reputation yet(again regardless of the quality of their content). If no one votes for a new user's quality content, that content will have greatly reduced visibility. That new user will also have difficulty finding new followers.
   This approach keeps small accounts small and large accounts large. It promotes old users. If we want to grow Steem it is imperative that this be revisited and changes be implemented.

6. If the concern here is vote farming, then as much as I loved using SteemAuto, I would suggest that all auto voting be stopped. Where is that line really? What if you are trading votes with 20-30(or more) other people using an auto voter. Is this not in essence, also "vote-farming"? Especially, if this is being done with large accounts. In my opinion, vote farming is vote farming, big or small. Running a "circle-jerk" with your "friends" using auto voters is also vote farming. It is not voting on any specific post. It is not voting based on an analysis of that post, nor the quality of that post. We have to ask ourselves, do we want to promote quality content or not? If we do, then we need to put an end to all types of vote farming.

7. I think we need to seriously reconsider expanding the curation(reward) window for quality content. Some posts are long(text). There is simply no way to read all of these posts in under 2 minutes. Does this mean that longer quality posts don't deserve rewards? Certainly not. I think we want to be promoting such content. The small curation(reward) window promotes primarily smaller text posts or photography.

8. If apps and services are exploiting users then we must have a list of safe services and apps. How will new users navigate Steem without such a list? This is important to protect the reputation of Steem both within Steem, and outside of Steem. The reputation of Steem directly affects the value of Steem.

9. Apologize if you do something wrong. People shouldn't have to ask or beg or wait for apologies. An apology, especially right at the beginning can go a long long way. I understand that sometimes mistakes are made. We are all human after all. But can we own up to our mistakes? Especially, if we expect other people to own up to theirs? Shouldn't we be leading by example?

Thank you for taking my suggestions into consideration.

An update for my account:

I have turned off all auto-voting(for the aforementioned reasons).

I have also unfollowed everyone.

Why? Because, I don't know for sure if everyone I was following was "good". I can't follow some and unfollow others without it seeming personal to those I unfollow. I have no personal issue with anyone I was following.

Why does it matter? I wouldn't want to be perceived as somehow "cooperating or working with" anyone who might be unbeknownst to me be doing something shady, or who might do something shady in the future, or who might be accused of doing something shady in the future. (As stated above, I have no control over other people's actions or intentions, but if I can be punished for voting for someone who is bad (or may in the future be deemed "bad") then I have to take this extra measure to protect myself and my reputation.

I will also no longer vote for comments on my blog. I was voting comments as a thank you for the support, but I can't continue for the aforementioned reasons(for fear of being blacklisted).

If you are curious, as to what prompted all of this, here is a link to the original issue:
https://steemit.com/steemcleaners/@akiroq/my-spaminator-blacklist

-Akiroq

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

@justinsunsteemit

Update 2020-03-03:
I dedicated time to create this post. I gave it a lot of thought and consideration. I also believe that people should not be punished for expressing valid points with constructive criticism. These bots downvoted this post. They all voted for the same exact same witnesses :
arcange
puncakbukit
themarkymark
This really stood out to me. I reported them to SteemCleaners, because in my opinion, this is abuse. Their response is below. I've taken care to screen capture and document everything so that people can see for themselves and come to their own conclusions. I can only share my perspective.

Source: Ginabot

Source: Ginabot

Source: Ginabot

Source: Ginabot

Source: Discord

The thing is, I am not here to attack anyone. I am here to advocate for myself and others like me. I am here to fight for justice.

I'd like to see Steem improve. I really would.

I'm including another update from a conversation that started yesterday. I hope it provides a different perspective.

Source: Discord

Two things to note here: Mack-bot does not publish reports on the blockchain. For the sake of accountability of Mack-bot and its developers, I believe this is something that needs to change. Especially since mistakes have been made (like in my case). We have a right to know what they are doing. How many people are there like me? These are all questions to ponder.

Here is a screenshot of my response:

Source: Discord

In case that is too small for your to read, let me paste my response here:
Thank you for your response

I wasn't following any trails exactly for that reason. How would I know who I was voting for? Instead, I created an autovote list for the time(s) I was away. But, I didn't do it lightheartedly. I researched the people and their posts. I also asked a veteran member of Steem to go through that list with me to double-check it and make sure I didn't miss anything. I spent days on that list, and the other member spent an entire half day of their time double checking it. I sincerely did make my best effort to choose people who are/were good!

While I was away, I did check my Ginabot on discord. I didn't see anything. Obviously, according to SteemCleaners/Mack-bot, I missed something somewhere.

It still seems a bit crazy to me that I was blacklisted for something someone else did. Either another account I voted for, or the person who programmed Mack-bot.

I did my due diligence. Beyond that I can't and won't be held responsible for what other people do. How is that just? Seriously, how is that fair?

I have to wonder how many other people this has happened to who didn't advocate for themselves to prove their innocence.

I understand to some degree why you're doing this. But, I personally believe it is much more effective to be proactive. To take measures to prevent the problem from happening in the first place. The logical place for me to start would be to petition to stop all auto-voting. This would eliminate people accidentally voting for known offenders, especially now that they have flags beside their names. If a rule were to be implemented that no auto-voting is allowed, it would be easier to find offenders and bots.

At this point, I am not using an auto-voter anymore. I am not following anyone anymore. I am not voting anyone anymore. This is where this all puts me.

It's important for me to share another side to this, another perspective. I hope Steem will improve.
Thank you.