Is Self-Voting Acceptable?
I recently came across a topic that I feel pretty strongly about because I've seen the abuse of the system here and have to chime in. I believe in investing in yourself as to better invest in the platform as a whole. By voting on your own posts or comments, you give back to yourself and are better able to give to the community. I'm not saying go out and give yourself ten 100% upvotes on useless comments. I am saying, it's ok to vote on yourself in moderation because they're YOUR votes. No one should be able to dictate where you can and can't put them. I recently read an article by
@mikepm74 that has gotten me itchy on the subject, which also led me to a few other posts I will include here later.
Other People's Opinions
I believe, in certain posts, that my content is worthy of the Original Poster's attention, so I will give an upvote worth enough to put my comment toward the top of the default trending results.
I do this myself. I believe it is a fully viable and appropriate use of self-voting and should not be frowned upon. At the same time, you'll often find me on the top curators lists because I also REWARD good comments on a regular basis. I give more attention to my team members in
#thealliance, but I do not ignore worthy and well-thought out comments that clearly signify an individual has read the post I put up. I even upvote comments on other people's posts I think are sufficient of recognition. In fact,
@eturnerx gained my following today because of his comment. Proof of what I'm saying can be found here:
Another article I read on the topic really got me thinking. It kind of shed light on the vanity of it all.
@klye made a reference to Facebook and how if you 'like' your own post on there, you were a mockery of the platform. But you know what? I almost ALWAYS liked my own posts, do you know why? Because they were mine. If I didn't like them, I wouldn't have most likely put it up to begin with. Granted, there were some I put up that I did not simply 'like'. There were angry rantings, and as such, I used fitting reactions like an angry face. I've put up some comedic memes and videos, they got a laughing emoji attached. My point is, it is all OPINION. Nobody can dictate that except the one who holds it. They should not be punished or ridiculed because of it. As such, I almost always keep that default box checked when I make a post here on Steemit. Freedom of Speech & Expression anyone?
@klye's post can be found here:
I'll just clearly state my position: Your stake is your stake. You earned it. Use it any way you want.
Is self-voting bad? No. Is it good? No. It's completely neutral.
Voting is not about peer review. It is about using your stake as you please.
It is arrogance to imply that someone cannot use their own stake as they please.
Giphy rocks!
Now, I may not have been here as long as some people, so I don't know
@inertia well. But, I do know he/she is just spot on with this post. I actually read this after I made a comment on
@mikpm74's post. I was pretty heated and just had to let it out. Feel free to venture over there and take a look. But that is my point exactly. It's your vote. You will get mine if I like your shit. Simple as that. I'm no greedy miser and love sharing the wealth and helping out when I can. Which brings me to one more thing
@inertia said:
...a person with 1,000 SP is going to vote ten times a day and walk off with 2 STEEM every day by self-voting...The really weird thing is, this person isn't going to ever realize that they could make more by voting for other people's good content. You know what? I'm fine with that. Their loss.
What Do I Think?
...some of these bigger guys yak about self voting and circle jerk rings and we know for a fact, they're being entirely hypocritical. Steemit is not just a social media platform for some people. It's a business and those that treat it as such are the same people saying you shouldn't do this or that and they're doing it themselves housing multiple accounts and upvoting their inner circles. Then, they get mad when other people do it? Can't agree. You should be able to put your vote wherever you want, how you want. It is YOURS. No one else's. To dictate how a person should or shouldn't vote infringes upon the decentralization of the platform and makes it less appealing. Should you reward good content? Of course! But at the same time, I see posts that are total shit getting upvoted by a dozen different bots that have no discretion of content and also see sold votes for total garbage. Votes bought from accounts that hold stature. You want to talk what's really wrong with the platform? Start there. The people that treat it like a business and use their oppressive big ogre thumbs to press their own agendas.
As to not target anyone specific, no names will be mentioned. Anyone with an inquisitive mind can follow a few trails of bread crumbs and see for themselves. So, what's the real problem here? It's the vile business mind that is giving other Steemit users guff. Greed, and nothing more. It's great making money, and we all love doing that. BUT, with so many new users coming in, some of those 'big guys' are losing votes and money because they don't think they need to post as often or put out as good of quality content anymore and still expect to 'make money'. So, they feel they have to take action. I've seen 'abuse bots' built to try and stifle people that are genuine in their content and have outstanding posts. I've seen excellent comments flagged for nothing more than disagreement of OPINION.
But seriously, let's be real here folks. Facts are facts and opinions are opinions. Learning to decipher the two is entirely on you. Who cares what someone does or doesn't vote on? I've actually stopped voting on and following some people because of their self-righteous duplicity. I've removed votes for witnesses as there is 'more than meets they eye' to some of them. Let's keep Steemit great by recognizing what is fact and what is opinion and giving people the freedom they deserve. Like it or not...the cream will always rise and the dirt will always fall, regardless how thick the mixture.
This has definitely been a hot topic lately. I feel like as long as you're supporting others more than your supporting yourself it should be fine. I mean we all use upvote bots right?
I use upvote posts for my rare article posts because I haven't yet built a following and I want a shot at a few minutes on the hot page to help me do that.
I have it from a few upvote bot owners that people tend to stop using the upvote bots once they start regularly earning in the teens with their post rewards.
Yes and those are good intentions. It gives them a boost they normally couldn't achieve themselves. That's the same reason I've used them. If you grab about three, I find it bumps you up the the top ten typically, and you stay there for a few hours...depending on the tags you've chosen.
I don't know if all of us do, I do from time to time. And you do see my point. If it was all about the content, NO bots like that would be allowed to exist..
True, except the economic system ES and the "collective social norms" CSN are never going to be a perfect match. For one, the CSN is a fuzzy moving target lacking consensus and communicated by posts, comments and voting. Our ES is a simplified algorthmic distillation imposed via hardforks and agreed to by our witness votes.
The point I was trying to make is that it would be solely left up to the people on the platform where the votes go and for what. Like I said up there...just some total crap I've seen in the hot tabs via way of the powerful bot votes. And you're right it won't. One bot I've come to love is @originalworks. If something like that could be intertwined with cheetah and the algorithms more acute...that would be a plus for the platform. The only thing would be posts that are similar and meant to be i.e. contest posts etc.
This is a topic that has been hot on and off since I got here and I think I actually wrote one about it myself.
You nailed it and I personally don't vote on myself but I guess it's not something that people should be judged for if they do.
It's our own choice and our own posts and if people don't like watching people upvote their own then look away.
Do what feels right for you I say
I recall your post. It influenced my thinking at the time and I stopped self upvoting too.
My major reasoning is that longterm I think my VP is better spent upvoting a few minnows and encouraging others to make good content. And, I'm hoping to set a good example to new steemians - that success here is about connections with others. Upvoting others (and commenting) is perhaps a better use of VP than collecting tiny rewards.
You do, I just scrolled back more than 2 months and then it stopped so I never found the post.
But I think at the time it was so many just upvoting themselves in a way that was crazy and on others posts. But the choices is still our own and no judging should be done eather way.
I understand how you feel and I think that's a good way to go, using vp that way.
Neutral is my point on self voting.
No worries sweets, you've gotten your point across pretty well in the comments here :)
Sorry :0)
Don't be :)
Hear here girlfren. Put your link here so I can read that article pretty please :)
I will scroll till my eyes gets al 🙄😩 lol
It's your vote power, period. Your choice how to use it. If it were "wrong" the team that built this platform would have not built it into the platform or at minimum would have made clear rules regarding it.
People taking into their own hands that right to police others are normally wrong about the other persons intentions but also nearly all hypocritical about it as well. As far as self voting goes, if you have invested here, espcially in delegated sp, you should have every right to be sure you do not lose that investment. It could be likened to self advertising.
As for circular voting... Seriously?! Look around...
Nearly every big player here is doing it to some degree. Where would you draw the line also? We have vote bots we pay... Would it be wrong to pay someone privately for a vote one one side but allow these very useful bots on the other?
Also, people naturally form circles of people they like. Are we now to say you cannot vote for people you like and if you do they surely cannot vote you back?
Anyone that is against this issue needs to first open their minds and see that they are likely voting on a group of like minded people or friends themselves and are receiving votes back from them.
They also need to realize that whatever you fight, you empower. By making this such an issue you are actually giving it more power, making it stronger and producing more people that are doing it.
Go after plagiarizers, go after spammers. These people are bad news anywhere. Some people however are here supporting the community in great ways while also being unbelievably retched and disgusting self voters and circle voters... Can you believe it? What horribly supportive people in this environment!
Cmon! Give me fucking break!
Whatever you do, don't vote people you like... Especially if you see them start to vote you back!
WTF!!!
Wake up people!
Hot dayum! You get the gold star for comments amigo!
Was quite the reply.
Hey mate ! I also read this post and it made me think too.
Upvoting your post is normal. Everythjng is in the middle, if you use 80% of your daily voting power on you this is bad.
Anyway I believe that upvoting and commenting other posts is the way to grow as you interact more and make "friends".
What goes around comes around ;)
Exactly. The only full upvote I give myself usually is on the post itself. And that's maybe 3 or 4 times a week. I spread a lot out :)
Sneaky Ninja Attack!!
You have been defended with a 45.98 % upvote!
To help keep my Jōki (蒸気) power strong I rely on the townspeople of Sōsharumedia (ソーシャルメディア).
I was summoned by: @enginewitty.
I have done their bidding and now I will vanish...
woosh
KIIYAAAHHHHH!
Thank you for posting @enginewitty.
Here is what smooth had to say about it a couple of months ago.
Apologies for not saving it as a link....it is copied from a comment that said smooth said it.....so I do not have proof...however it is well said and I will leave with you.
To quote @smooth:
"Someone who buys SP and then selfvotes is not 'draining' anything and at best can get back a portion of what was put in. It causes no harm at all."
Investors are the ones who underwrite all of the rewards on this platform. If you are not an investor, or are only a smaller investor, you need to focus your efforts on creating inspiring content that makes investors want to give their money to you. Whatever else they do or don't do with their money (including self-voting) is not your concern and does not harm you in any way. Nevertheless, you do have a downvote that you can use to disagree with what you think are underserved rewards. I suggest using it."
"The idea of creating 'lists of shame' and demonizing people is divisive, creates a hostile and toxic environment attractive to no one, and serves no useful purpose. There is no way to tell from these lists whether the content is deserving of the rewards or not. The only way to tell is by actually looking at the content, and if you think it is undeserving, downvote it."
"Your own statistics show that self-voting is awarding about 8.5% of the reward pool. I don't find that suggestive of any problem whatsoever. It is probably a very reasonable number given that the current parameters give people 10 full power votes to make per day. Thus one is being applied to the voters' own content and nine to others' (on average, of course). Seems fine."
End of quote.
All the best to you. Cheers.
Excellent @bleujay! I'll have to seek out this smooth fella. Only 8.5%? From all the hullabaloo, I would have thought about 3X that figure. Thank you for sharing :)
I remember this comment from @smooth actually. I agreed with him whole heartedly and let him know it. It's a shame more don't feel this way and would instead ruin someone else's time here by making bots to seek and destroy people that use this as a tool to fill gaps and not to harm or ravage the reward pool. Especially when it is just that, making ends meet and not profiting at all.
Thank you @michaeldavid for your reply.
Until I read this comment....I really was not familiar with smooth's thinking on things and this was really a eye opener....sound thinking ...common sense instead of flying off half cocked........ as it were to save the world........self appointed regulators of the purse is not the answer or should not be at Steemit.
Cheers.
Yea it is really true. If steemit itself made a rule it would be different. We would all have to respect that rule. The self appointed entitlement is an issue for sure. It was cool to see you quote @smooth. I liked that comment he left.
Thank you for confirming that it was @smooth....and for the common sense you brought to the discussion.
All the best. Cheers.
It amazes me that so many find one's use of voting for themselves objectionable. I, myself always vote for my post when first posted. Why not? I approve of my hard work and am able to appreciate myself. Enough said! The rest of my votes.... I choose to use for interesting posts from people I follow and mostly for comments on my posts. The interaction between us ins so important and I love to give a little bit back to those that enjoy the community as much as I do. Voting for yourself is like giving yourself a big hug for a job well done. Go for it!
Well said friend. I like you.
Well thank you, I appreciate that you liked my comment on self-voting.
Saw it buddy :) was a good first go round. Good to meet @sircork.
This is a great post! I have been on the fence over this topic and you put thing into perspective for me. Thanks! I think going forward I would upvote my content sparingly, in certain situations.
It's your vote my man!
@enginewitty - Whenever a social interaction has potential to turn into a business, conflicts of such nature will always arise. For example, in my city, some artists started painting public walls to make the city pretty. A gentleman who was an artist but with a keen business mind made his art in such a way that it promoted his business services. All other artists cribbed about it but the gentleman said it was his money (for paints) and time so he could choose to give a message of his liking as long as it was pretty and not offending in any manner. I guess we can not fault people for trying to look at business opportunities. Balance is the key. Too much of anything is bad. So, I agree, self voting by people with big investments is a way of getting return on their investment but they should not overdo it to the extent that the very intention of social interaction is spoiled.
Regards,
@vm2904
That guy was smart I suppose. A little different, thought outside the box.