RE: The Problem With Flags - Educational Post
This is why it's so important that the platform is not censored, so that people feel like they stand a chance and express themselves. Because people speak/understand differently even when they speak the same language. I am glad Steemit allows for the subject to be discussed enough to spot where the communication problems are coming from, what exactly is not being understood.
My main worry with the flag was that I only saw it as an abuse report that could possibly endanger your earnings, since I was never around when there was a downvote then the only context I had is that of reporting abuse (maybe out of contact with others here, maybe because that is what it's used for everywhere else, maybe a combination). I never saw it as a way to redistribute and I am sure this is happening to a lot of people so all this conversation is healthy. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, this is a serious issue with the flag icon itself. I understand if it is supposed to discourage overuse of it, as we should all be concentrating on upvotes mostly, but there is nobody to "report abuse" to... And so that wrongly likens it to the YouTube flag where it's a huge kick up the ass because your video just gets taken down.
Reputation goes beyond the actual "rep".
If I see a flag on a post, I know there is an increased likelyhood that this is due to percieved: "Fraud or Plagiarism, Hate Speech or Internet Trolling, Intentional miscategorized content or Spam".
Even if there's nobody to report to who could hide the content all by himself, it serves as a potential warning. - A normal downvote, which I would like to see implemented as well, should be treated and displayed differently.
It is an issue, yes. Just today I noticed the first person who had gone on a flagging chasedown because he didn't like something I had to day a while back, I had honestly even forgotten about the user. But he didn't forget me and flagged most of my blog including your post which I had resteemed.
This just goes to show you that something does need to be done not just when it comes to the perception of flags but maybe also separating content from blogs and resteems.
The down vote was prior to July I can tell you this much. I joined then and it did not exist then other than as the FLAG. My impression was that if it was intended as an actual down vote it would have been in the voting area and would not be a flag but a down arrow or something. Flag is typically an indicator of a PROBLEM, or ABUSE, etc.
@tombstone told me they had a great many debates on how the downvote should be used and I can tell you that there are whales that are not using it as the consensus of those discussions decided upon. Though it is free so "consensus" doesn't really matter. The consensus could decide the world is flat... that doesn't make the world suddenly change it's shape.
I'd be happy with a no down vote, and only a flag for plagiarism, spam, and abuse. It becomes far too subjective and hostile when utilized for other purposes. It actually would be irrelevant who disliked something if not for the financial, and in some cases potential reputation ding.