Greetings, Humans and Felines!
Yesterday marked the first day in my 127 days on Steemit that I completely stepped away and had absolutely nothing to do with my blog, or reading, or curating, or anything else.
The things that "trigger" us are strange, sometimes.
Yes, it had been a stressful time, with my Humans' having a houseguest, and there was definitely a welcome "stillness" following her departure.
Feeling a little left of center....
What's Going On, Curator Cat?
Something else came across my path, stopped me, and took away my motivation... on Sunday morning. And no, it had nothing to do with the World Cup, although one of my Humans seems to have been abnormally distracted by watching adult humans chase a little round thing around.
I get that, though... chasing little things around is FUN!
But I digress.
When I checked in on SteemWorld.org to see recent activity on my blog, there was something odd: One of my posts had been FLAGGED. Downvoted.
At first, I felt confused. Then I decided to investigate. A little tracking around, and it became obvious that I had been hit by a bot that was using all its energy purely to flag 100s of accounts. Mind you, it was a very, very tiny flag. Not "effective," but more like a "marker."
My first thought was "I've been marked by someone. But WHY?" My second thought was "Holy crap... I wonder if I am participating in any contests, challenges (or even the curation and engagement leagues) where having a flag will get me disqualified?"
Sometimes I just get tired of it all...
Investigation followed...
So I did more investigation... leading to more confusion.
The bot seemed to "identify itself" as a "spam downvote bot" attached to a long-time legitimate Steemian.
More confusion. I'm not a spammer! WTF?
More research eventually led me to a post called "Exposing the Steemit Defense League" by @pirateofthedtube, which was very eye-opening. I also read a post entitled "The Flag Ring" by @guiltyparties, and subsequently found initiatives by @anthonyadavisii who created/runs a couple of "countermeasure" bots called @neutralizer and @randohealer designed to — as I understand it — counteract this botnet.
Short version: There's evidently there's this thing being called the "Steemit Defence League," which seems to basically be a "downvote bot farm" that serves little other purpose than to harass a wide swath of users across Steemit, using 80+ (and growing) bot accounts that do nothing more than endlessly give "micro" flags.
Meh... I just give up.
As best I can tell, the flagging is somewhat random, but you end up on their radar if you follow, support or comment on certain users' posts that the bot operator has an axe to grind with. I'm guessing I ended up on their illustrious "list" because I am a supporter of @mannacurrency and Universal Basic Income, in general, including our own @steembasicincome.
Mean People Suck!
After studying all this, I felt discouraged enough to just blow Sunday off, completely.
As a matter of logical perspective, a flag by an account with about 15SP and a 25 reputation, whose voting power is about 8% is nothing more than "dust" with no impact... in the functional sense.
But I also have an appreciation for the psychology of terrorism and bullying; I recognized that I started thinking about how this might be a "black mark" and get me excluded from things I enjoy doing in the community. OR — at the very least — lead to the extra burden of constantly having to explain "why the flags?"
I'm feeling a bit outraged by this...
But it didn't really stop there...
Instead I got to thinking about the whole notion of "mean-spirited" Humans and what they do to each other.
Here's somebody who has created a network of bots... purely to inflict damage. Not because there is a cause. Or some legitimate issue. But purely to harass and be a nuisance. Or be a troll, as the Internet is fond of saying.
It's the bully in the school yard; it's the kid that pulls the wings off butterflies; it's the ignorant people who do horrible things to black cats like me... just because they are black and they are scared by old superstitions.
I thoroughly understand the old truism "Mean people suck!"
I'm going to be watching this...
In this case, they "sucked" badly enough to make me want to just blow off Steemit for day. A tiny thing, perhaps, but enough to suck the enjoyment right out of my day.
Some might say "That's just LIFE! Grow a thicker skin!" Not going to argue the value of that... but that doesn't mean I am not sad that there are those who feel compelled to get their kicks from causing anxiety, annoyance and disturbance for others. That's all.
Now I have had a day to "get over myself," and I'm back to wandering around Steemit and visiting my favorite people and felines.
Because it's late, and I'm feeling a bit lazy, I'm going to just recycle some old photos for this one...
Hoping you are all having a beautiful — and flag-free — day!
They hit me with it too, but as you say here, no harm done really. Sad little accounts, they are. It seems like everyone is talking about the runaway flags practically overnight...
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It's just a nuisance; a distraction... it doesn't effectively do much, aside from annoy people.
On some level, that is my worry: one more thing to discourage people from being part of Steemit. But I still hope for this community to continue to grow and become something amazing!
=^..^=
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I've been getting one a day the past few days. I was aware of it from spending time on the #steemitabuse channel because I spend a fair amount of time reporting sinister activity so it didn't phase me but yeah, people are weird. I see that their delegations have just been pulled so they will be quieter.
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That makes you more clued in than most @nikv. I'm glad the delegations were pulled... according to @pirateofthedtube's very descriptive investigation post, it would seem these were all created as a "project" for all different people who took on creating a Steemit account through STINC as a "microjob."
Evidently the microjob has been taken down and the poster banned... and with the STINC 15SP delegations pulled, the accounts are most likely completely ineffectual now. I don't think you even GET any bandwidth with 0.5SP. Or maybe I'm wrong.
I guess "trolls will be trolls."
=^..^=
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You won't believe some of the shit that goes on behind the scenes. Steemcleaners and various other people have their hands very full trying to keep a lid on all the rogues, spammers and phishers
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Yes, I understand there's a huge amount of work being done behind the scenes to keep the site as clean as it is... and it's evidently relentless because there are a bajillion spammers and scammers out there.
=^..^=
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yeah, got some of the flags, too. First i thought, that this accounts didn't knew better. But with your knowledge given, i think their is a negative scheme on steemit running somewhere.
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Your balance is below $0.028. @dustsweeper is now disabled for your account until you transfer new funds. Check out the Dustsweeper FAQ here: https://steemit.com/dustsweeper/@dustsweeper/dustsweeper-faq
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Thanks for the reminder @dustsweeper; more on its way!
=^..^=
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Got another one this morning... at least now it seems Steemit, Inc. is onboard with immediately removing the 15SP automatic delegations for new accounts, which leaves all these nuisances with 0.10 SP... which isn't enough to do anything, effectively.
=^..^=
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Ok... you probably didn’t experience real bullying before ... 😅
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Well @fukako, I have definitely experienced it, but that doesn't mean that I really understand it any better each time it happens.
I just don't like a "mean spirit" in people.
=^..^=
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Betty understands ....
Just noticed I got downvoted by 2 bots on the same post today. Post is heads-up. WILL RESTEEM your post.
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Thanks Betty and @manorvillemike! It seems almost everyone is getting hit with one or more incidences of this downvote bot farm.
The post by @pirateofthedtube is about the best explanation I have seen, so far. It's just annoying, and a nuisance. But there's also a lingering feeling of unease... like when the air force "laser paints" a target, which is completely harmless... but now you know you've been "marked" for some future bombing run.
=^..^=
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Thanks for info. Report if it happens to you again and I will do the same.
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So, steemworld is not something of which I was previously aware. I managed to pull up my account. How do I check for flags?
Posted using Partiko Android
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On the left side, go down to where it says "account operations." Go down past the dates to the word "filter." Where you see the default "All," there's a dropdown menu... find "Downvotes (flags)" and select that. Then go back up and click through the available dates to see if you have any... so far I have three, over a three day period.
=^..^=
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Same thing happened to me just now Curator Cat. my recent post was flagged by this asshole!
https://steemd.com/@stb138
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It seems to just be a "nuisance campaign." I just worry that it's a precursor to something more sinister. And even if not, it puts people in a bad mood... and offers just one more "small reason" for someone to think Steemit is not worthwhile.
Not me, though, I plan to keep going here!
=^..^=
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It's on the same level as vandalism or petty theft. Says more about the troublemakers than about their targets.
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Well, that's absolutely true, too — good analogy.
=^..^=
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I got my first flag when I'd been here less than two weeks! I was upset, didn't know what to do. Maybe just quit? @guiltyparties was one of the people who stepped in to help. And advised me to ignore it. I've had a few more with this new plague but at least this time around I knew how to check (I used https://steemd.com/) and see their activity and that it wasn't just me. But your writing about it made me remember how I felt with my first one and you're right, it's bullying and harassment with no real way of defending yourself. And hundreds of people here are likely feeling the same way. I appreciate the quick action that is cutting off their voting power.
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