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RE: The Problem with Byzantine Generals
@dantheman I'll take this opportunity to air a concern I'm having, apart from the need to separate the flag from downvoting content which I have detailed in comments many times before:
It seems a lot of people have been complaining in steemit.chat lately, saying that they can't sign up because their phone number is rejected. Here's one example from just recently in #general.
willibilli 2:21 PM
Hello, I am having a problem with signing up to Steemit. Everytime I enter my phone number I get this message: "Unable to verify your phone number. Please try a different phone number." Does anyone know how to remedy this? Thank you"
Thanks. I can tell you that we are working to separate moderation (flagging) from curating (voting). This issue will be improved in time.
With respect to phone numbers, we had to block certain classes of phone number due to abuse. If you can share the first 4 digits of the number I will have our team investigate if it is on the block list.
You may want a "Contact The Help Desk" button, next to the "Continue" button on the phone signup page, to retain legit new user signups. I've noticed a few real complaints about this.
I am now curious about the phone number issue. A few weeks ago I tried to open an account for my daughter for wallet use only, with a recently added a phone to our AT&T account. It wouldn't allow it in the sign up process. It starts with 503-875. Anyway, I was able to use a different number, I figured it was just some glitch.
Asking users to disclose personal mobile phone numbers while also at the same time denying access to those who don't have mobile phone subscriptions is in itself both abusive to end-user security and elitist. Not to mention the inequality that manifests when some states force mobile phone registration on their users and others do not.
This extreme hack (comparable to using a machine gun to kill a chicken) is motivated by a desire to easily control abusers, which implies that the whole system is inherently flawed-- flawed by the fact that useful content is cannot be separated from drivel by the rating system as it was designed.
It's also somewhat shocking that steemit does not recognize the important role anonymity plays with speech freedom that's critical to having a nanny-free community. This new direction makes steemit.com unsuitable for whistle-blowers and civil rights activists. Perhaps it was never intended as such, but it's a pity to see a good tool get downgraded to Facebook-quality blogging.
Selecting users who are not street-wise (and thus willing to connect personal info to their account) has the side-effect reducing the quality of posts to that of the intelligence of that crowd.
You can buy and account with anonymous tokens or you can mine an account.
If you want a free handout of $5 worth of Steem Power then expect some protections. Also, for security purposes (hacked account recovery) a means of communicating is necessary. For 99% of people this system works.
It's good to have the advanced user options you mention, but they sound cumbersome and impractical. Hundreds of thousands of participants are being forced into a position of having th buy their freedom in order to make the spam-fight a little more convenient for a few admins, no?
Some questions:
The current model effectively encourages users to trade their privacy for time or money. That's also a problem because it victimizes the naïve -- those unaware of the compromise they're making, and those who won't discover they need privacy until it's too late and the information disclosure is used against them.
Seems like it might be worth just charging the $5 for the account creation. If blocking the spammers makes it that much harder for new users to get in it's hardly worth it.
$5 is extortionate. That's a weeks wage in some parts of the world.
A moderate user (say 1 or 2 blogs/week) needs ~5-10 accounts just to get a basic level of anonymous identity division (thus upwards of $25). Not to mention the time and effort of getting the right form of anonymous money. This overkill is being imposed on hundreds of thousands of users for the convenience of a few admins.
It's not worth it. The high price in time and money has made the system inadequate for anonymous blogging. Users will pay the price in freedom instead.
Please read my latest post https://steemit.com/busy/@busy.org/busy-official-public-beta-release-release-note-known-issues-what-s-next#@freeyourmind/re-ekitcho-re-freeyourmind-re-busyorg-busy-official-public-beta-release-release-note-known-issues-what-s-next-20170202t234123600z
I think it's important that users are able to opt out of the multiple beneficiary payout enhancement scheme if they wish. Otherwise this feature will turn the entire ecosystem into a giant corporatocracy.
I would like to hear your thought about this.
Good, you understood what I meant about the downvote..I wasn't all that clear. But the fact that you're working on this is great to hear!
I'll try to get back to you with the numbers. Both users are offline right now.