Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed replied, especially so late :)

I feel that steemit doesn't promote serious quality content, and these changes could end up mainly feeding the pretty closed eco system we have here. If you look at the stats, most of the users left are already curators, not authors, but that isn't the experience most people have. Most people we cross paths with seem to be primarily creators, which makes me wonder if the curation figures are skewed by it counting inactive users who left their steem auto running. I know more curation needs to be encouraged but when new or smaller users will really struggle to hit the part of the curve explained as earning more, and will actually land in the earning less, that doesn't encourage curation of those smaller posts. It encourages curation betting for those with plenty to earn back from it, upvoting things that are from other big users who are likely to do well or joining curation trails. It is already something that happens now. Widening the gap between smaller users and the top isn't going to encourage new or smaller users. My point isn't complaining that quality content doesn't get rewarded, but pointing out that it doesn't, so the responses to people to work or try harder show a lack of understanding.

I never said steemit should pay people like a full time job for blogging or writing. For me any earnings are a bonus, but I want the platform to do well, and for that to happen new and smaller users need to feel like they stand a chance.

I did think flags hurt your steem power so thank you for that explanation. I am glad they don't but even still it is so easy to destroy someone's reputation which in so many cases ends their use of the platform.

I can't think of steem like that, with us as authors splitting the profit, because that isn't a true representation. If that was the case, for a start I am pretty certain we wouldn't have dump flooded the market with so much steem in one go and crashed the price again and again.

Flagging is a decent proportion of the abuse people have been fighting though. There is another side to steem and you may not have seen it. Nearly all the flags I have witnessed have been personal, which is why people take them personally. I have only ever been flagged for personal reasons, and so many legitimate flags trigger a backlash of personal ones. Saying it isn't personal and the rarest of cases isn't true in my experience of the platform. It is a reality that needs addressing and as long as we ignore it, it's going to get worse. Especially with the comparisons being encouraged, some people think they are better than others, but hypothetically, does that mean it's okay for them to flag something that earnt more than they did (which because they think their post was better, makes the other post overvalued, regardless of what others thought) and take away from the earnings of that post, and hurt the reputation of the other user? I am sure you wouldn't think like that but some people on here do, just like some people engage in retaliation flagging and flagging people who support someone they are essentially in a dispute with. Only the dispute gets 'won' by the user with the most steem power, regardless of what it is or what the truth might be.

This is supposed to be for the good of steem but I am saying I don't think the flagging culture we have is good, and I don't think it encourages users to buy in and increase the value of the currency. Quite the opposite.

There should be a proper and separate way to deal with abuse. Imagine if any other platform expected the users to band together and down vote genuinely abusive people to stop them pushing users off the platform instead of just intervening. It can take a long time for people to try and stop abuse the way it is now. Plenty of platforms have these separated so abuse can be dealt with properly. If the abuse element is dealt with separately then there is no reason at all to make it free. I upvote something, it cost me from my upvote pool. If you disagree, surely it should cost you the same to cancel that out.

Thank you for the links. I didn't know there had been guides added, but I think given the way most people seem to flag, they don't know that either. People get flagged for copying the behaviour of big users they see doing well, but those users are untouchable for the mid level users who are actively trying to address the spam/shit posting. I am not just trying to be critical. I want the platform to do well and this doesn't feel good for smaller users. I am not critising you, or anyone individually here because in theory yes, flagging is fine, but I left this comment because that isn't the full reality of how it is currently being used.

The curve hitting the smaller users hardest feels like an issue to me, and I am not taking this out of context. It does say the users who earn more than 20 steem will earn more and those who earn less will earn less.

HF21 does change it, flagging is a problem here as it is, giving them away and telling people to use them in the way explained isn't going to encourage responsible use.

Personally, my posts, no body. I don't expect anyone to, if they want to that's wonderful but I don't expect it, at this point I worry about earning more than I should. I don't think encouraging people to turn on each other is going to lead to more positive engagement which is what leads to more natural curation. I get that isn't the point of your question, equally I don't feel sincere engagement is too much to expect. It worked on steem for a long time, and people would read people's posts and upvote them because they thought the post was good. The issue is wider with the currency losing value and people leaving the platform, alongside new users finding it hard to get established. Big users might need to be incentivised to vote, but I don't think most users do.

Thank you for your response, having to answer on my phone so hopefully didn't miss too much. I am not sure I have been throughly convinced this will be a good thing but you told me a few things I didn't know and raised some good points. Thank you.