Isn't it ironic that I've just got my first flag lol. Rep 7 so I guess you're right it won't have much affect. But there have been lots of cases where a dolphin has flagged content that was doing well without leaving a comment only to apologise after the payout for making a mistake in flagging it.

I don't mind so much the harm that a flag does to the payout. My concern is with this dilluted form of censorship. Of course it's not really censorship, but if you're unlucky, your post sinks through the cracks from a flag and those that might have liked to read it just don't come across it.

Flagging etiquette is indeed important, but as steemit expands to the masses I'm not convinced the newbies are going to understand its importance.