An Idea for creating - Steem.it Premium!- This Steemien's response to spam, plagiarism, vote-begging and follow-digging.

donaldtrumpfan (60) · 7 years ago (edited)

I like this idea. Ironically, your post has 36 votes and 13 views.

$4.34

8 votes

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

I'm just waiting on the spam.

I think this would work.
It is an elegant solution to a messy problem.

Thank you for the reply.

H. G.

$3.38

4 votes

donaldtrumpfan (60) · 7 years ago

Better filtering in anyway would be an improvement to steemit. I am starting to write my own steem browser dapp that will allow people to have more filtering options. So filtering by a user's SP could possibly be an option.

I think another solution to the spam problem is to increase max upvote from 2% to 100%. This removes the requirement of making 50 posts per week to maximize your steem power usage.

$3.90

joannajablonka (44) · 7 years ago (edited)

I'd happily pay $25 if it helps my content get noticed by actual engaged Steemians like you guys.

Also Google Search behavior shows that people value longer content more.

There is a strong incentive to produce well researched articles because they will climb the rankings.

There is little incentive for newbies to create longer comprehensive content here on Steemit. It encourages a hit and run approach where you content either sinks or floats. Either way you move on and pump out more.

I would like to see a rewards system that encourages more evergreen quality content.

That would let people focus on quality and networking over quantity.

I'm not sure if 100% vote power option is a good idea. It could discourage curation....leading to Steemit influence monopolies.

$0.65

6 votes

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

Frankly, the current system seems to be designed to add numbers to the members' pool.
A kind of get rich quick social media outlet.
If the marketing department of Steem.it were to drop leaflets on the slums of Mumbi that would accomplish the same thing we are experiencing.

Quality content is quickly vanquished.
I think a premium content space, as opposed to a promoted space, would work.

Getting the message to someone who will support this is the next step.

Thank you for your comment.

Upvoted and followed

H. G.

$0.06

4 votes

joannajablonka (44) · 7 years ago

Thanks. Ditto!

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joearnold (54) · 7 years ago

I would pay that or more to have peers read and enjoy my work....could not agree more....When you have quality it does attract appreciation but there is so much to wade through to reach one nugget....A unoriginal photo or youtube video should not be allowed unless it is supporting or for further research on a topic already thoughtfully rendered.
Great Idea! upvoted and resteemed!

$1.53

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

Yes, and the idea of paying a nominal fee is not to be exclusive; but, to erase the impact of the spammers and bots who are not going to add anything to the community.

$0.00

joearnold (54) · 7 years ago

exactly...however my heart does tug at times regarding some of these folks and how far a dollar goes...can not blame them...The whole Christian heart and loving others...when I was hungry you fed me...when I was naked you clothed me. What you do to any of these you do to me. Paraphrased obviously. It is hard...maybe that is who i should be upvoting ...
Blessings to you and yours,
Melissa

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henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

Steem.it has a way of bringing the deserving to the attention of many when it is necessary.

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joearnold (54) · 7 years ago (edited)

good point ..your post did help me re-focus a bit on what is important..a balance ..sending love your way! following ... hope I can contribute something back to you from my bolg
Melissa

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drdave (56) · 7 years ago

First off let me start by saying I agree with you that some things most surely should be changed. With that said, I am most definitely a newbie - about a week now, and will proudly say I am one of the "follow diggers" mentioned in your title. I figured out almost immediately that the odds of having a post noticed through all the noise was almost nill. My logic is to gather a following, then promote my writing directly. The fact is, and I have said this in another comment, it is almost impossible to filter through all the spam to get to quality content - not sure if my writing will qualify as "quality" but i'm trying, and I guess time will tell... I don't believe the "pay to play" approach is the best way forward and could possibly lead to the death of the platform. A simpler, straight forward approach would be to dramatically reduce the use of bots, and to make the curation rewards a higher percentage of the overall pot than what is currently allocated - (currently there is very little incentive for anyone to spend time sorting through it all and actually curating) the quality would dramatically increase almost immediately... Just my opinion - and as I always say "Your gonna have to make up your own dam mind"... Steem On... :)

$0.86

4 votes

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

Thank you @drdave. This is a very thoughtful reply. I should qualify that most of the spam is simply "Follow me and I'll follow you," With out the poster reading the content, This certainly is not the case with you.
As a newbie, Welcome. And here is the difference you I would upvote and follow because you bring value to the conversation. I hope you enjoy your Steem.it adventure.

Upvoted and followed.

H. G.

$0.00

drdave (56) · 7 years ago

Thanks... I look forward to reading your future posts... Upvoted, Followed, Resteemed... Steem on...

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mattclarke (68) · 7 years ago

Spot on, drdave. I said the same thing here.
(Past payout)

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drdave (56) · 7 years ago

I read "The seed of self-upvoting....". You said it much better than I ever could - curation is the best way to ensure quality ... I would go as far as to create something similar to the "witnesses" for the sole purpose of "curating" posts. Make it broad enough to prevent cliques from forming, and specific enough to eliminate all the "noise"... Details Coming Soon...

$0.25

imwatsi (67) · 7 years ago

Agreed. I'm having trouble getting my work noticed and with all the effort I put, it kinda sucks to have no one really read it. Something definitely needs to be done about visibility and genuine interaction

$0.67

5 votes

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

There seem to be hundreds of posts that have little value flooding the "new" feed.
And many, myself included, do not have the time or the will to see plagiarised articles, stolen images and the same introduction asking for more followers and upvotes.
I want to see quality content and to be shown quality content. Then I will happily upvote and resteem. As a result, Steem.it gains /holds value.

Thank for your comment.
Upvoted and followed.

H. G.

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imwatsi (67) · 7 years ago

You're absolutely right... Thanks for your time.. following you too :)

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sensistar (42) · 7 years ago

i agree sir

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eoincurran (55) · 7 years ago

I can agree that the bots are very annoying. Some of my posts get 30-40 upvotes but only 5-10 actual views. The upvotes are from newly created accounts with no posts/followers/following. Something does need to be done about it

$0.57

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

We have had a flood of new members who are gaming the system. We as engaged members need to take the bull by the horns and take action; rising above the crowd.

Followed and upvoted.
Thank you, for your reply.

$0.00

eoincurran (55) · 7 years ago

Much appreciated. I assume it's due to ignorance of how Steemit works (different from all other social media sites new users are coming from) , rather than malevolence . The good thing is that we can change this with language.

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fishmon (57) · 7 years ago

Care to elaborate ? I did't fully understood . I see that the domain is parked , did you code the website already or will be a future project ?

$0.57

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

I see many posts on highlighting the problem. I focused on creating a solution; thus, the idea really just came together by answering comments.
The next step is to place this in front of a someone who can integrate it into the Steem.it codes.
Thank you for your reply.

$0.00

jasonshick (65) · 7 years ago

Yeah it is definitely annoying seeing the increasing amount of spam on steem. I think over time people will realize that spam doesn't pay dividends though. If we are all active and curate good posts while flagging the garbage, that will take care of a lot of the issues on here. Good idea though, would be interested to see how you would implement it

$0.56

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

I think that proactively we Steemians need to cut our selves off from the 'noise' so to speak.
The noise will eventually die out.

Upvoted and followed.

$0.10

jasonshick (65) · 7 years ago

I go through the new page several times a day looking for quality content... exactly how I found your post. I also find A LOT of garbage posts, so sometimes I leave a comment and tell people how to create better and more engaging posts in hopes they really want to help/be successful on steem.

I am glad you are doing what you can to try and clean up the garbage around here, I think there are different ways to achieve the same goal. But either way if we don't fix this problem now, the garbage will be overwhelming as more users come to the platform .

$0.00

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

It would have to be a 'grass-roots' campaign to ask the developers to code premium content
and we would still have our favorites and followers, but, spammer and the like would not be able to comment on our posts.
In fact, I would happily put up a deposit to prevent spammers from commenting on my posts. And unless I specifically follow someone, then they would either to have the same deposit or level of steem power in their wallet in order to leave a comment. Something as small as 25 sbd would cut spammers by a large percent. Have a look at how much Steem a spammer holds.

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jasonshick (65) · 7 years ago

agreed. also followed, looking forward to your future posts

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lifemovedbysteem (61) · 7 years ago

I like your direction, came to the same conclusion. We can only improve the content. Thanks @henry-gant.

$0.56

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

Thank you @lifemovedbysteem.
It's still early in the life of Steem. I'm sure that improvements are ever developing.

upvoted and followed.

$0.00

lifemovedbysteem (61) · 7 years ago

So far I am loving the platform.

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sensistar (42) · 7 years ago

so am i and i have fate that through cummunicating this platform will be ever evolving. excited to be part of the process anyway :)

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daydreams4rock (63) · 7 years ago

it is a good idea - i want to be part of something without bots and beggars

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

We need to repeat these ideas until they catch on.

Upvoted and followed.

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cooled (35) · 7 years ago

I'm new, but i see what you mean, i was wondering how come a comment on my post gets more upvotes than the number of views my post has.

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

Automated voting bots. I don't know how they work.

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fishyculture (60) · 7 years ago

I like this. I am brand new, but already feel lost in a sea of bots. I am producing original content every day, no one is even seeing it. I am not going to go beg, I know I do quality work. Can't help but notice the only newbies who get a lot of money on their introduction posts are young women posting sexy pics. Not porn, but I am not willing to whore out my writing either. If I can't get seen here I won't stay, I am not going to "show" more...

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

I'm happy that you dropped by and commented @fishyculture.
Wading through the bots is something new. I'm sure that they are only part of the growing process of Steem.it.
I hope to see your posts soon.

upvoted and followed.

$0.00

summerskin (53) · 7 years ago

GENIUS! We have a GENIUS!

$0.53

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

I think I'll take this opportunity to upvote and follow you.
If this is something you spam . . . then, this is the kind of spam I like.

H. G.

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summerskin (53) · 7 years ago

Not a robot, not posting spam, just enthusiastically encouraging the author!

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

I know, and I thank you. @summerskin.

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dianadee (67) · 7 years ago

Spammers will not survive in the end!

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henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

Thank you for the reply @dianadee, I hope you are right.

H. G.

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antonette (62) · 7 years ago

spammers shouldnt be allowed here at steemit they need to push more effort and hardwork there aint easy here the more pain the more gain .

$0.41

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

I agree @antonette, It's unfortunate that the spammers are here in abundance; infact, they are rewarded for the spam.
And as you know copy/paste theft is on the rise.
It'as up to us as engaged members to point this out and flag it as nessesary.

My idea would stop a great deal of the spam in its early stages.
That's a start.

Thank you, for your reply.
I'm happy to hear from you.

H. G.

$0.00

corganmusic (53) · 7 years ago

I would much rather have it cost to post. That would push people to 1. not post (not really what we want) 2. post something that someone wants to see. If it was free for the first post, then $.25 SD and increasing as posts do poorly, it would cut back on a lot of crap.

The thing that would suck about that is, I believe I put a lot of value into a specific post, but it was too niche for the community at the moment That Post.

We've got the incentives to make it worth while to post, but we need to disincentivize spamming. It's interesting.

$0.40

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago

The spamming is way out of hand. Now we have a half a page in one spam. SMH.
We have to get some kind of proposal in front of the Devs that can make the change.
Thank you for your reply @corganmusic, I look forward to the change.

H. G.

$0.00

greenshiner (54) · 7 years ago

I like where you're going with this, but I'm not so sure about asking people to invest money just to comment on other people's posts. Many new users are skeptical of anything that asks for money up front and I think this would discourage many from participating. It would have discouraged me.

I think their is a natural free-market solution to the spammers and that is to encourage people to only upvote things that truly find valuable. None of this upvote for upvote crap. Encourage people to flag spam.

Recently a troll had commented on one of my posts. Before I even saw it enough other people had flagged it and thus it was faded out. Needless to say I was impressed.

$0.37

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

It is an option to pay $10 sbd (or hold 25 sbd) . . . to allow whoever enters into Premium content to comment on posts of other Premium Content.
It's not for everyone. Like I said, it would be an option.

I appreciate your comment.

If the flagging system is working as intended then there is no need for additional measures such as the one I have outlined.

IMO the flagging system is not working and is being abused and should be severely curtailed.
The first thing I see is that members are unwilling to spend SP to flag spam, stolen content, or objectable content. (porn with out NSFW tags as an example.)
But, that is another matter.

Upvoted and followed.

H. G.

$0.00

mattclarke (68) · 7 years ago (edited)

I'd like to see it done through reputation, rather than a paid option.
It comes off a lot fairer to exclude people for not being around long enough, rather than for not having enough money. My post here.
(Past payout)

$0.36

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

It seems that you have solved the problem two months ago.
This is a simple and fair solution.
I hope more people are exposed to your post and I will re-steem it.

Have you had any response from Steem.it?

This reminds me of the Oscar Wilde story of when he heard a quote he liked:
He commented, "I wish I had said that."
To which James McNeill Whistler responded, " You will, Oscar, you will."

Thank you for that excellent solution.

H.G.

$1.33

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

It seems I'm unable to re-steem your post.

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mattclarke (68) · 7 years ago (edited)

Thanks for trying, but perhaps we can't resteem after the payout window has closed?
There are lots of good options to fix the issues the platform faces.
I'm coming to the conclusion that the devs are trying different settings and possibilities while we're still in beta. Sort of a testing ground.
We might want the place to grow quickly, but they might have very good reasons to try and keep the pace manageable.
We'll get there, Henry. It's early days yet.
(I have a son called Henry, great name)

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intuitive (39) · 7 years ago

I keep honesty above all when in social media, and I agree with you that some people don't get the bigger picture of being in one of the social media platforms, which is to create, read quality content and to be social.

$0.16

henry-gant (57) · 7 years ago (edited)

Example: 1)
I pay 10 sbd.
I now can activate a setting that prevents comments from others who do not pay the premium.

Example 2) I hold 25 sbd.
I can now comment on others who also hold 25 sbd and above.

A new category titled Premium content would be added. Where above posts would be seen.

Note: Everyone can still read all posts.
Let the spammers spam each other and see how profitable that is.
If a few spammers or bots get through I can still mute them.

Thank you for your reply.

upvoted and followed.

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terrapinaj (39) · 7 years ago

Not sure this is the answer steem needs but it's an idea. I think Steemit needs an update to the UI now that it has so many users. Us minnows should be happy that just being involved in comments and upvotes and resteeming can earn us some cash. And if we produce good quality content there are plenty of ways to get it noticed within Steemit's ecosystem BESIDES begging for likes and follows. That being said making good comments is something every minnow can do to raise their Steem, where your idea would shut them off from commenting on some of the better posts untill they have invested enough in Steem, which doesn't seem like it would drive growth of the Steemit platform. It's a conundrum.

$0.16