If you are a new user on the Steem network

. . . don't be too alarmed if find out that you have been "flagged" or if someone accuses you of having "flagged" them. This controversey is not new, nor is it necessary. The flag is a relic on this platform and the remnants of an old plaig - remember the whale flag wars - which must ultimately evolve or die. This all sounds like ludicrous to new users of course...

"What flags?"

In fact, downvotes only actually look like "flags" to the Steemit users.
Posts or accounts that get downvoted (because they still can be, as they are all stored on the same blockchain; the same decentralied network) are not hidden or collapsed on any other website or app using Steem. Any user choosing another front-end to view and participate in the Steem blockchain will likely remain blissfully unaware of them, unless they are purposely trying to digg deeper and discover what is happening under the hood.

Consider (all) alternatives

The Busy.org team did once express that they were looking to truly separate the flag and the downvote from one another in an upcoming user interface. A separate flag button and system may very well work as a substitute for the type of moderation that would take place on a more centralized network. Another way could be to separate the flag from the downvote on a blockchain (network) level and keep the flag as a harsher deterent, while the downvote could be used the only way it should and is being used on most other social media sites.

Personally, I use Busy to view Steem and frankly don't have the time or energy to put up with the soft censorship that is possible when accessing Steem through Steemit.com. There's usually no reason for me to comment on it either, so when I see posts about flagging nowadays... I just pretend they're not there. The discussions/debates/wars have been a fog out of which very little good has come. When I did participate - and this is how I advice you deal with others on this platform in general - I tried to always understand each side in a dispute so that I could reward and encourage all the good I saw no matter who did it.

"What actually went down in the past?"

Many users have written posts about flags, flag wars, flag abuse, how to use downvotes, how not to use them etc, so I will not bore you with a long history of cringe worthy flag memes and not so careful character assassinations. But if you're just a sucker for pain (quick Imagine Dragons reference), then you may of course use the search function and discover them for yourself. At least make some popcorn first, ok?

Ah.... the good ol' times of the wild WILD Steem.

According to one user I've spoken with during the many months of discussing this topic, @sigmajin "wrote the 'book' on the proper way to use it". The same user expressed what most of us that have dealt with flags already know and practice, "most veer away from using it against new users as that is antithetical to the greater purpose of drawing more people to the platform".

I agree (and so I answered at the time) that, yes discovering a "flag" on your post could be a deterrent to some users. But not using the downvotes at all or looking to inform and police everyone through word of mouth on what is the proper use, I think will effectively just lead to "cult" behaviour. Something that likewise could repel even the average user of say Facebook, Reddit or the Google/Youtube comment section.

I'm more interested in building something that will last and that I myself will have a use for, so that's where I've chosen to draw the line. That's what I'm supporting. Mostly I see very little to downvote, but sometimes I do and for whatever quirky reason. However I'm not a user of Steemit.com, now am I. As a user of Busy I've not accepted any rules for flagging or even seen any flags. No Busy.org user is likely to come after me for giving him a single "thumbs down", but a Steemit.com user - especially if downvoted by another Steemit user - may certainly consider this "flag" a violation of a "Steemit code of flagging" and take much graver offence.

As you see, this can get confusing and turn hostile - it has happened many times in the past - very fast...

Coming up with some solutions

I don't think there's any happy inbetween with flags and downvotes. We can't really combine regular downvotes and flags effectively, without causing schisms, separation between the different sites/apps and ultimately infighting taking place on the blockchain itself. The flag as it stands today has to go.

Noone ever said . . .

Not only do I think this because I'm a decided proponent of solutions based in flexible and organic organisation - often simply labeled "decentalized" solutions - that produce strenght through synergy between individual entities, rather than domination qua a "fascist" approach. I really don't think you have to go that deep to understand that the current approach is - even amid a surge of new users finding Steemit.com - a failed policy, because most people either don't know about it or don't fully understand it. The results have been clear in the past and I'm sure it won't be the last time.

Right now I'm most hopefull that Busy.org and eSteem will find better solutions and that ultimately Steemit.com will follow. The blockchain will have to be changed eventually, but front-end/user interface projects that so far have done a tremendou job, could lead the way. Wether they will likely comes down to a few factors:

1. Ambition
2. Funds
3. You

Don't ever forget that. You are what makes this "net-work". Steemit is so much more than a social media platform, but part of what makes it more is still the social media aspect to it. The media part, that's obvious; we need material goods, computers in order to develope, distribute and view everything on etc. But the social part can sometimes be more ambigious. That's where you as a user come in.

If you don't make your voice heard, scratch that, if you don't reach out to developers and put in work wherever you can, however little you can, this project will sink.

Choose your route carefully

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To wrap up this post,

Here's a tip:

To make this platform the best that it can be, don't simply write posts about those things which you like or dislike. The trending page could use a break from Steemit related posts (after you upvote and resteem this one of course). Especially, if they are from cynics and nihilists seeking merely to air past and create new grievances, without ever proposing and much less creating those paradigm shifting inventions that everyone can get onboard with.

My, let's call it "long distance internet friend" (I'd be proud to call him that) @good-karma deserves a round of applause for the outstanding work he has done with eSteem (for Android and IOS) and several other apps! The team at Busy.org, @ekitcho and @fabien whom I've spoken most with, equally deserve praises for creating a website app that could rival Steemit!

Now don't get me wrong, I in many ways love Steemit (the site, as the leadership can be harder to get a grasp of). But competition in this context will not hurt the community, only strenghten it. More choices, while still remaining a part of the same network, that is the key for Steem to succeed and to stay relevant.

If you find a developer you like, please upvote and promote them. Then, if it is possible, reach out to them and see what help you can offer. In the case of the previously mentioned gentlemen, they all accept translations and bug reports.

There have even been some generous honorable mentions and bounties given as a token of gratitude from these guys...

"So eh... we're friends... right?"

Image and video sources
Sheldons 'Fun with flags'
Flag war
Switzerland plus
Titanic

Thank you for reading!

I hope you learned something and had a bloody good time doing it!

=)