Self-voting: is it fair?

steevc (73) in steemit • 7 years ago (edited)

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7 years ago by steevc (73)

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thomasuk (31) · 7 years ago

Hi Steve,

I did some self voting at the beginning but then heard a video or read something from Dan where he said that this is a bad thing. I then thought about it and sure, why would you self vote when the platform is about to curate the value of the contribution of others - it does not make any sense. All self voters should be regarding themselves as behaving antisocial towards the platform.

Is this too harsh ?

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

It's up to each of us to decide what is right, but all we do can be seen by others. I appreciate that some minnows are desperate for anything. I saw one spamming comments and voting up his own without voting on the post. That is just mean and he got flagged

thomasuk (31) · 7 years ago

Yes, the good thing is that everything is public, so over time the people who behave antisocial towards the platform will be seen as exactly that and then they realise that this was maybe not a good idea. At the end - at least in my view - nobody wants to be seen as an a*hole .. Interesting social experiment :-)

thomasuk (31) · 7 years ago

Though, I have to admit I did recently upvote own content I published on my companies accounts - this then would be also not fair as I am biased and have a self interest ..

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shanibeer (68) · 7 years ago

This is a really helpful tool. I checked my own self-voting of posts over the past month and found it ranged from 4.4% to just under 7%, depending on the time period. It also shows me where my votes have been going, which is good to understand.
I haven't been impressed with a couple of people: one added a "yeah, good isn't?" type comment to a post they hadn't voted for and then self-voted their own comment; another never votes for anyone's comments, but has some kind of follower who votes for every one of their comments. Both of these seem to me like turning up to a potluck supper with nothing to share and then eating everyone else's food.

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

I object to those who just take, but I may not have enough SP to make much difference and there's a risk of retaliation. I think we can be better than them. Support those who need it.

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trevor.george (67) · 7 years ago

I've got the auto-vote thingy on for posts (If I don't vote for myself then I'd not make any money hehe) but I think for comments it's a bit naff.

I don't actually look at making anything on my comments. I comment for the conversation or to support the content provider, not to make money.

I'll vote for some comments too, when i like them. often I forget though because i just don't look at comments the same as posts.

I haven't flagged anyone yet. I probably won't. But you never know. Once I get big enough that I can flag with impunity........ ;-)

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

It's interesting to see the different opinions here. I know what it's like to be a minnow, but Steemit has changed since then

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slobberchops (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

Nice article @steevc. I vowed when I got to middle age (40), that I would not self vote anymore. It's a topic I would like to know more about and all the comments in this thread have gained me a better perspective of other's points of view.

I for one bought some Steem just to get some more voting power as I felt a little guilty that I was taking too much. I appreciate many people are not in a position to do this and are still relying on their delegated SP.

I too wish the self voting option was not an option. I'm not sure why it was ever there from the start? However I don't consider myself a bigot and understand other people's viewpoints especially those with low SP.

I have noticed someone that I follow recently does not vote me up for my comments but votes themselves up for their response to my comment. Is this considered bad form?

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

I would say that's bad form. I would be tempted to unfollow them as they don't seem to appreciate you.

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slobberchops (74) · 7 years ago

I'm not sure if its that or just ignorance. I may say something within the thread that could be termed as a 'corrective measure' instead.

jaedea (43) · 7 years ago (edited)

Well, I have been checking out a lot of profiles here at Steemit lately and it is really disappointing to see that majority of the people are just self voting. For example I have seen a guy who rarely or never votes another user, he replies to the comments on his post and upvote self ( worth 5$ ) and not the person who took the effort to post a really appreciable comment.
Self voting should be removed in my opinion! I have even wrote a post about it here.

steevc (73) · 7 years ago (edited)

I doubt it will be removed. People could do it indirectly anyway. I think it's best to have freedom where we can. That person is one of the greedy.

I see I commented on your post already :)

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jaedea (43) · 7 years ago

I too doubt it! There are people who value the community, but the number of people who are selfish are way bigger in numbers here!

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steevc (73) · 7 years ago

I think there are a lot of good people here. I don't follow or support the bad ones

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fraenk (62) · 7 years ago

lol... well... there's no secret who's account that is.

Some people just see this as a money printing machine.

10% of the built in inflation just for hodling SP isn't enough man. Make some alts, circle-vote those memes (or crypto-charts and nonsense TA to stay with this case).

They all do it... and don't mention the broken SBD peg, that's good for growth, get in more spammers to upvote your witness account and line your whale-wallets.

The dump of STEEM and SBD value was long overdue... let's hope this will be good for something!

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

Some of us want it to be more than that. I'd like to see some of the whales take more action against the plunderers, but they have their own motives.

fraenk (62) · 7 years ago

sorry for the rant :P

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

No problem. I write posts like this to get real reactions

josefinemk (48) · 7 years ago

I self-vote but it is purely to help my account grow so that my upvotes on other people's posts will be worth more as it is only 1 cent right now. Unfortunately. I feel like some of the big accounts that upvote their own posts for 100$ is not fair. They could potentially write useless stuff and get paid for it. It has to be fair :-)

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

It's fair enough for you to vote on your own posts, but you need support from others to really grow. I appreciate that some whales invested a lot in this platform early on and expect some return, but many of them can do well with every post without a self-vote. Some of them do write junk and reward themselves. It's sad to see such posts trending.

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josefinemk (48) · 7 years ago

I totally agree!

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samstickkz (65) · 7 years ago

I don't see anything wrong with people upvoting their comments, people do this so their comments can move upwards. but it's wrong when people upvote their comments and give themselves more upvotes than what they gave to the author. That's absolute selfishness

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

Shouldn't it be up to the post author to decide which comments get prominence? I look at all my comments and vote on them appropriately.

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wa2qr (58) · 7 years ago

But what would it matter for a minnow to upvote his post. Like our votes matter, our upvote has absolutely no value. So I don't think it is needed. But sure for visibility,it can be done.

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

I don't think you can get much visibility from a minnow vote. I hope that the communities feature will help the minnows get noticed. We shall see...

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thomasuk (31) · 7 years ago

I just found on busy.org that there is a "like your own post" check button which is on default on - ojee ...

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

You can do that on Steemit too. I have it turned off. They could remove that so you have to vote afterwards.

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thomasuk (31) · 7 years ago

I did not know that, only found out on busy and turned it off also ..

inspiredgideon1 (58) · 7 years ago

I do self upvote but i dont post much because my upvote is not worth anything.
So the best i do is to engage in comments and contests and those have really being my source of income as a newbie on the platform and as a person that was ready to learn and help others. I came up with two detailed post that has really helped newbies get along with the platform.
I wanted posting the links here but your permission must need be granted first.

Talking about up voting some whales post, it's still not really profitable for minnows because of the little effect of their upvote worth.
So i just upvote minnows like me once a while to build relationships and not upvoting whales that may not remember you

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

Contests are a great way for minnows to make some progress and gain followers. The minnows you talk to now may become whales in time, so nurture the friendship. It makes Steemit fun too. It shouldn't just be about money.

Ooh, you voted on your own comment. Now I have to decide if I should give you something ;)

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inspiredgideon1 (58) · 7 years ago

Hahaha well, upvoting my comments is not really because my upvote is worth anything but i do that once in a while to get noticed by some potential whales who may delegate some steem power or visit my blog.
There is a series i did more up to a month ago and i explained all those tricks which are lawful and is helping me.
I think some newbies reading your post might need it

A DETAILED GUIDE TO HELP NEWBIE FROM MY ONE MONTH DEEP EXPERIENCE AND STUDY

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camzy (67) · 7 years ago

Yeah it's fair enough to vote your post, but I don't thinks it's wright for someone to vote his/her own comment.
Looks immature to me

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

A few extra cents is reasonable for your post, but for some it's tens of dollars.

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camzy (67) · 7 years ago

Yea
All fingers are not equal.. 😑

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steevc (73) · 7 years ago

We can see all the voting, so we get to judge people by their actions...

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mgood (53) · 7 years ago

You make very good points. Upvoting, I think it is a matter of balance. How much a person votes for himself and how much for others.

The person in your example above votes only for himself 10X/day and doesn't even upvote comments to his own posts other than the little clique he is in. That I agree with you is wrong.

Sometimes voting for one's own posts or comments is OK. I write very few blog posts but I do comment a lot. @steevc, you answer the people who comment on your blog post. But many blogger do not. So voting on one's own comment, well....even minnows have to sometimes eat, i.e.; feel rewarded.

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

It's a choice. There are no rules as I said

mgood (53) · 7 years ago

I wasn't trying to be confrontative. Just giving a situation and opinion from another perspective.

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goatman (49) · 7 years ago

I personally don't have any problem with people upvoting their own posts - if it is allowed then I don't care (but I don't like it is possible).

However if everyone upvoted only their own posts or comments, Steemit could not grow, right?

Minnows would never receive any rewards for their content and they would lose motivation because of that. It is already hard to get noticed.

steevc (73) · 7 years ago (edited)

Minnows will not make much from doing it, but whales can make tens of dollars which leaves less for the minnows. They could give more votes to the minnows.

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goatman (49) · 7 years ago

But if they can vote for themselves then why would they vote for anyone else?

Finding good posts takes time. Voting for their own posts can be done instantly.

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steevc (73) · 7 years ago

Others can see what they do and judge them. Good behaviour may pay off later

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goatman (49) · 7 years ago

Anyway, I think completely removing the option to upvote own posts would be the best solution. I don't like "punishing" for something that is allowed to do.

So far, it might not be a big problem, but in the future, it probably will be :)

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rabiuaudu (42) · 7 years ago

Thanks!
This is exactly what I'm complaining of as a newbie. I don't know how to grow in this heavy wave created by the whales and the dolphins!
Kindly look at this post and if you can show us the way.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@rabiuaudu/steemit-newbies-0019a713511f

steevc (73) · 7 years ago

I've responded. I can't always do that. The best way to grow is by engaging with people. It can be slow, but it can pay off.

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rabiuaudu (42) · 7 years ago

OK thanks for replying. It helped!

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banditqueen (52) · 7 years ago

i posted my stuff and i have the same right to upvote my own comment or post. if this is not steem then fb is not far behind. banditqueen was here. peace out

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steevc (73) · 7 years ago

You can upvote it, but anyone has the 'right' to flag it too :)

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banditqueen (52) · 7 years ago

its a free world so keep on rocking in the free world

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steevc (73) · 7 years ago (edited)

Your vote is still small, but your input is appreciated. Would you up vote your comment with $10 if you had that power? I see people do that and they don't do the same for others. I think there is value in helping the community. I'm not just here to make money

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banditqueen (52) · 7 years ago

im still learning steem. dont even know how much my blog or vote is. but i try to upvote usually people on my blog feed and new blogs

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steevc (73) · 7 years ago

Keep at it. It takes time to build up your account, but it can pay off.

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