I'm not a ranting guy and I refrain myself from being too vocal in many occasions. If you follow me on Steemit then you know I'm rather moderate, even when I don't agree with something or somebody (and that happened more than once here, even to the point that I decided to go on a 2 months hiatus). But something weird happened a few moments ago.
The Whole Story
A week ago I read on Medium an article called Bitcoin = Death Processors. I'm posting a screenshot of the beginning of it, so you can actually read the words:
As you can see, the author thinks Bitcoin mining is nothing less than "murder". That's the word. "Murder". Read it right there. Then the entire articles goes on and on about this, in a pseudo-philosophical way.
Like I said, I'm not a ranting guy. But this time I felt compelled to comment, if only to bring a little bit of attention to the author about what cryptocurrencies really are. Here's a screenshot of my comment (currently deleted, you'll see in a moment why):
And a few moments ago I received a message from Medium support, with the following content:
Hello,
I am writing in regards to your post on Medium.com:
https://medium.com/@dragosroua/i-have-yet-to-see-such-a-waste-of-writing-skills-on-such-a-huge-pile-of-shit-59bda1ade1b7
We have determined that your post is in violation of our rules:
https://medium.com/policy/medium-rules-30e5502c4eb4
Please do not use responses to attack and insult other users.
Please make any necessary edits within the next 12 hours for the post to remain active.
If you do not, we will suspend it until you can bring it into compliance.
If you have any questions, please write back.
Thank you,
Medium Trust and Safety
I deleted my comment on Medium and I will refrain from posting on that platform until I understand what's really going on.
What I Think It Happened
The author of the post probably felt uncomfortable about my comment and reported it. He has every right to feel uncomfortable about everything. Anyway, fact is that Medium considered my comment "attack" and "insult", although I specifically wrote in my comment that I want to amend the intention, not the person. And that all people are ok.
Please look at the beginning of the article again and notice the word "murder". The author - I don't know him and I have no idea if he's a good or a bad person, a nice guy or a jerk, and I don't imply any of these - uses the word "murder". If I mine Bitcoin, then I commit murder.
And I'm the one with a violent behavior.
Now what?
I understand that there are rules and I did my best to respect them. But where's the line between rules and censorships? In what way I attacked or insulted the author? I even acknowledged his writing skills, just not on this specific article, which, in my opinion, is a pile of shit, with no research and just aggressive approaches towards cryptocurrencies as a whole.
In moments like this I am quite happy that Steemit exists. As faulty as it is (and it does have faults) at least it's not censoring anything.
Opinions?
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):
You fear what you don't understand, and unfortunately when it comes to the media nowadays, they don't understand much.
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Never mind.. We have total freedom of speech and support of like minded people here at Steemit... no need care for them any longer.
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I think that your comment was completely valid and it seems like the article was made with ill-understanding as well as it exaggerating and prolonging a subject which many people would see as dull.
It seems like the platform doesn't like you 'attacking' people despite the fact you should be entitled to your opinion and if something is blatantly wrong or misinformed then you should be allowed to criticise it or no actual progress will be reached.
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Thanks, too bad to see this happening, I was a big fan of Medium.
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Yeah, got to agree with @arckrai here - your comment was "harsh" but in every way justified as this author has really got no idea and this post is laughably biased. Terrible.
Obviously some axe tor grind and they don't seem like the kind of person inclined to change their perspective when presented by new evidence. And anyone like that? Their belief is not reason-based, and thus you can't try to reason them into a new belief based on new evidence.
You did good, but they don't want to hear it. The fact that you got reported is just laughable - if someone is so thin-skinned as to think what you posted was a troll as opposed to justified criticism, well, they should probably find a line of work that doesn't expose you to billions of people who might disagree with what you write, and have the means to express that disagreement via the same (no pun intended) medium.
Keep on truckin', @dragosroua. Fight that good fight.
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The fact that this douche felt personally insulted and offended by your very friendly and factual comment is just ridiculous, but that he reported you because of this and cried for help of the authorities is just pathetic. These kind of people can not be taken seriously and they are not worth the effort why I will not even comment on his idiotic headline. It's so utterly stupid that it almost makes me mad. I need a drink now.
I came across you through a post by alexvan and I followed his advice and voted for you for witness. I think I did the right thing ;)
Greetings from Berlin, Cheers!
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Hi nice I am from Berlin too but living the last 4 years in Mauritius :)
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Interessant, dann biste also ausgewandert? Wo aus Berlin kommst du denn her? Ich bin hier tatsächlich geboren und waschechter Berliner, was ja mittlerweile ziemlich selten ist ;)
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Cool ich bin auch in Berlin geboren. Bin in Marienfelde groß geworden und Du?
Ja ich hab auch schon in London und Dublin gelebt und in Dublin hab ich meine Frau kenne gelernt und geheiratet und sie ist aus Mauritius ich wollte ihr Land und ihre Familie kennen lernen also sind wir vor 4 Jahren dann hier nach Mauritius gezogen. Die 4 Jahre reichen aber jetzt auch und wir werden im August erstmal nach Berlin kommen um meine Famielie zu besuchen und Urlaub machen und dann geht es nach San Diego CA zu meinem Bruder der braucht dringend meine Hilf mit seinem Business ich mag es dort auch sehr war halt schon ein paar mal da. Na dann noch einen schönen Abend und bis bald :) wenn du magst folge mir ich folge dir jetzt auch
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Eine tolle Gechichte. Ich folge dir jetzt auch ;) Ich bin in Lichterfelde West aufgewachsen und wohne jetzt in Zehlendorf. Also nicht weit von Marienfelde :)
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Diese Geschichte waren die letzten 13 Jahre meines Lebens :-) Cool Lichterfelde West kenne ich gut habe dort ein paar Freunde und in Zehlendorf auch.
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Thanks for the support, appreciate it! :) And for the witness vote!
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My pleasure. Good luck!
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It's similar with the whales abusing flag button
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Now all we have to do is remove flagging.
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I wonder if they hold the same contempt for gaming consoles?
I'd be willing to bet that Xboxes, PS4's and the like account for more electrical power usage than crypto-miners do and maybe the miners get the same level of entertainment out of their little machines as do hardcore gamers?
Where they draw the line?
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I guess I can see how the first paragraph of your reply would come off as an attack, making it less likely the article's author would read the rest with an open mind. However it's also a lively and colorful response, making a potentially dull, technical discussion into something a lot more fun to read.
Furthermore, a moderator saying "we will suspend [your argument] until you bring it into compliance," just rings of censorship and state control to me. Those are never words I want to hear in any forum for communication.
I spent some time on Medium before discovering Steemit, but never found any sense of community there. It felt a lot like posting to Facebook, but with a lot more effort for the same payout (zero) and little resulting conversation. This story of censorship turns me off to the platform even more.
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Just let him live in his little world and give a damn "The clever one gives way" and don't let his negativity affect you have a nice day :)
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Good call, thanks :)
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You are welcome and
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Also @dragosroua what is happening regarding this missing translation issue I'm having?:
The internal market also doesn't seem to load.
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Wait for a while, probably the team is deploying an update.
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You said a potty word.
BTW, if it causes a strain on processors and such, then companies will build better processors to meet the demand of bitcoin mining. Medium doesn't understand capitalism.
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"potty word" = attack and insult, but "murder" = allowed? Nice one, Medium.
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can't fix stupid.
thank you for a heads up on medium
I will avoid it.
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Yup that's what my Mom always told me "Let stupid people die dumb"
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My opinion is that, as far as you are criticizing the idea of the topic, and not the authors or anybody else, you are doing nothing wrong. Only people have the right to not be offended, not ideas.
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Do you feel, from my comment, that I'm attacking a person? It's an honest question and I'm waiting for an honest answer.
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I don't feel you attacked a person, but his ideas only.
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Thanks, appreciate the answer.
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The moderators received the complaint of that guy, and reacted. At many forums so - who first complained - that's right :)
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Your comment on Medium was really well formulated, and it is too bad that it didn't go through, I enjoyed reading it. If there's anything I would have removed, it is the "pile of shit", as it sets a very "shitty tone" on the whole comment.
However, I don't see how you writing that you "specifically wrote in my comment that I want to amend the intention, not the person. And that all people are ok." should weight on their evaluation. If you spew racism (no comparison to this), but end it with "I'm not a racist" that doesn't make it less racist, does it?
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Me ending with a reinforcement of my tone was just that: reinforcement of what I already wrote. It's not like my comment was full of direct attacks and at the end of it I wrote: "I'm not attacking you". My comment was specifically referring to the lack of research and biases towards morbid comparisons.
My comment did contain the word "shit", but since when this word is more powerful than the word "murder"? I'm curious of your opinion on that...
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My comparison example wasn't good (and I suppose provocatively strong). My point is though, that those last lines shouldn't really have much weight in the evaluation of whether your comment was an attack or insult.
I don't really think it is relevant which of the words "shit" and "murder" are stronger. The post you commented on obviously used silly morbid comparisons, but that doesn't mean that you have to use more or less powerful (or morbid for that matter) words. I'm simply saying that it sets a "shitty tone", which in turn makes it more likely to be taken less seriously, or more as an attack/insult...
Bear, in mind my first words though, please :-) Because the rest was really nitpicking...
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Your post make sense very well written some great points to consider about
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