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RE: OMG MY FREE SPEECH! WHERE IS IT? - Did you just get flagged by a whale?

in #fun6 years ago

I was very tempted to flag your post as a joke, but then I realised that a) it wouldn't be seen as a joke, b) I am not a whale and c) I only flag spam and abuse, so I wouldn't flag for no valid reason.

I've been on the receiving end of a whale flag before and trust me, when you're new to the site and you make your first $1 and it gets taken away from you, it definitely hurts and it is quite demotivating. You're right about free speech and people can flag and vote whoever they choose, but it doesn't make it right.

There are definitely issues with this platform and flag abuse is one of those things that are holding Steem back from mass adoption. Could you imagine joining Instagram or Twitter for the first time and then unknowingly attracting the ire of a whale with a vendetta who can silence you by effectively making your content hidden? It would stifle user growth.

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I get you, I really do... I've been flagged too... I wrote a response to someone earlier, that short convo kind of got this post started.

here are some psychological effects attached to getting flag. But they are self imposed.

People attach their sense of worth to a payout on a comment or post. Hence, if that gets attacked (im being dramatic intentionally) that means in their mind their own value, their own sense of worth has been eroded. I'll share it again, because it really sheds light on my position on the matter.

But, is this true? Of course not, If I'm so weak emotionally as to attach my sense of self worth to some magic internet money (again being ridiculous intentionally) then the issue I have is a lot deeper and I probably need some counseling. Now, this is not me saying they are stupid or that they are not valuable human beings. This is me saying they are accepting the consequence of their actions as something that degrades their self worth. That part is their choice.

@whatsup is probably right about the idea of normalizing flags. If people understood internally, that is, that you don't die, that nothing changes, that your wife doesn't leave you, that your kids don't think less of you, because one comment or two have a (SHOW HIDDEN) button on them.

Then this whole debacle, this whole catastrophe will be as relevant as spilling your drink. It sucks, but you are going to be OK.

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