❓Answering Common Questions: What are flags and downvotes? When should they be used? 🚩
Flags or Downvotes tend to cause big controversy at times...but they're also quite useful.
I'm sure most of you have noticed the option to flag posts by now, but not anything labeled as a down-vote like many of us are used to on Reddit. Over the last year, these pieces have adapted around a bit to what we have now. So I wanted spend a little time touching on what flags are, what they do, how they're meant to be used (in general) and possible repercussions they can cause. Especially because there is some subjectivity involved.
Q: What are flags on Steemit?
You've probably noticed the little flag icon in the top right corner of posts like this:
If you click this, you'll see a little box open up giving some guidelines of what they're meant to be used for from a community standpoint. However, since Steemit is decentralized, we don't have formal 'moderators' like on most other sites. The community have to be doing much of the 'policing' (even though this probably isn't the best word for it.)
[ADVICE: If you flag somebody, it's best to leave a comment stating WHY you are flagging.]
Q: How are they are NOT meant to be used?
- Simply because you disagree with somebody else's opinion does not warrant a flag. Here on Steemit we try to foster communication between differing points of view in a civil manner. So while you are free to disagree, it's not a flaggable offense.
This is not quite the same as Reddit or some forum boards in this sense. Simply not upvoting is enough in these matters.
Q: How are they meant to be used (in general anyway)?
As you can see in the picture above, flags are meant to be used in the following ways:
- Fraud
This doesn't happen often anymore, thank god. Trying to acquire money or votes in a deceitful way is frowned upon by the community. This could include things like starting a contest promising prizes yet not paying anything out, representing somebody else's identity (catfishing) in your posts (introduction posts typically) while NOT being satirical, or other promises that had no intent on being kept.
[Remember on the blockchain we can see transfers within Steemit, allowing people to follow the 'paper trail'. For catfishing, often users will be asked to verify their identity if it seems questionable.]
Plagiarism
Trying to pass off work that isn't yours, as your own is a BIG BIG no-no here. So much of Steemit is based around providing some form of original content and adding value. While there is room things like sharing links, cool videos, pieces of art, etc it is important to make it clear if something is created by you. A good rule of thumb is that if you use something that wasn't made by you...give a reference link to where it came from. How would you feel if someone copy/pasted a post you worked long and hard on and started making money on it like it was their creation?Hate Speech: speech that attacks, threatens, or insults a person or group on the basis of national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Source
- Trolling: Make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
Source
- Intentional miscategorized content or spam
Short Answer: For the most part flags are meant as a way to deal with abuse like plagiarism, fruad, trolling, misusing tags or trolling. I do recommend for newbies to hold off on flagging due to disagreement on rewards until you understand the platform and community better.**
Miscategorized content generally means using tags that don't apply to the post itself, often just trying to get access to the high traffic. If everyone posted with the steemit tag, even when it had nothing to do about it, simply clogs up that feed making it rather unusable. I also often see this with certain challenge tags, such as the MemeChallenge or SteemitPhotoChallenge. PLEASE PLEASE don't use these tags unless it's an actual entry in these contests. They're meant as an easy way for judges to view the entries. If you use these tags for something else, you're simply making things difficult on those involved, possibly getting yourself flagged.
Spam is pretty straight forward here. Making a bunch of copy/paste posts, comments, or whatever just flood our community with things adding no value. I've seen so many people make a bot to write 'Great Post' on every post, just hoping to get followers, votes or the like. Over time, you will find yourself getting flagged by users for this.
These three can are rather straight forward and can pretty well be lumped together as abuse. The last one is WAY more subjective and where many users can find themselves in spots they don't like.
- Disagreement on Rewards
This was the last bullet point added onto the flag list, probably around 5-6 months ago and what made flagging a bit more subjective than situations of abuse. Disagreeing on rewards pretty much means that you feel a post is being over rewarded, even though you don't view it as abuse. Generally this was due to big users voting up themselves or their other accounts, many whales (large Steem Power holders) piling their votes on to a single post, or the like.
But as you can easily see, this is a lot more of a subjective decision than the others. How do you decided how much a post should make? Is it technically against the 'rules'? Is a person or people trying to game the system and drain the reward pool (since there are a limited amount of daily rewards)? While you are free to flag for this reason, I generally don't recommend it. If you do, this above the others should have a comment left stating explicit why the flag was given.
Q: What do they do?
First I want to note that when you flag...it costs voting power just like an upvote would with about 0.5% being deducted from your voting power percentage. Each flag you cast does essentially mean that you have one less vote available (relative to the 20%/day regeneration rate of your vote power percentage.)
When you flag somebody's post or comment, it actually reduces the earned payout on it and the authors reputation. Small dots are shown to denote to others when larger accounts have flagged, with more dots showing more flag strength on a post.
The more Steem Power and higher reputation a person has, the more powerful their flag is. However, if you have unlocked the vote slider bar, you have the option to set a percentage towards the flag you give.
It's important to know that even though you name with the flag may not show on the drop down list of votes at the bottom of a post, people Can find out who has flagged their post using sites like steemd.com, steemdb.com, etc. Everything we do on the blockchain can be seen by others...remember that.
Q: What sort of repercussions can happen if I flag somebody?
Often new people find themselves being on the receiving end of flags as retaliation from you flagging them. This is why it's a good idea to leave a comment on why you flag someone else. It takes the question out of their mind, ideally so they understand why it's happening.
Many users take these are a lesson learned and simply don't do that again. Others just start screaming how unfair it is while they continue their rather obvious (to everyone else) abuse.
Be aware of the possibility of being counter-flagged
Q: Are there any groups who monitor for abuse?
If you either find yourself being abused or notice someone else being abusive but don't want to risk the counter-flagging, there is a channel in Steemit.Chat called The Steemit Abuse Channel. Many people in here are veteran users and/or a part of the @steemcleaners group who monitor our site for plagiarized posts along with the help of @cheetah bot. (We don't want a much of scammers just copy/pasting everything in here to drain the rewards pool, do we?)
If there is an issue, calmly go into this channel and write a message stating the issue and or concern. Please try to do this as calmly as possible proving a little information on the situation as well as a link to the post, comment or user in question.
You can support much of the work this group does by upvoting report posts by the @steemcleaners account.
Remember that ALL of my guide posts are eligible to be added as entries to the Steem Center Wiki or Operation Translation.
Click here to find out how these can earn you Steem!!
Feel free to ask me anything. I'm here to Help!
Previous Helpful Posts for Newbies
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❓Answering Common Questions: What is SteemTrail? 🐳
❓Answering Common Questions: What happens when you Vote on a Post that's Past Payout? ☑️
❓SPECIAL Answering Common Questions: How can I get 1 on 1 Mentoring Help?👩🏫
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❓Answering Common Questions: What's the Difference between Steemit and the Steem Blockchain? ♨️
❓Answering Common Questions: Since I'm making money, What Images can I Safely Use? ©️
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❓Answering Common Questions: What are all these keys in my wallet? Why so many? 🔑
❓Answering Common Questions: What should I write about? ✏️
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❓Answering Common Questions: Why am I not getting votes? What can I do about it? 📷
❓Answering Common Questions: Where does the money come from? 💵
❓Answering Common Questions: Should I use 100% Steem Power or 50%/50% Payouts for my Post❓
❓Answering Common Questions: Reputation and Flags! What's this Number by my Name? #️⃣️
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Thumbs Down Meme
Flagging should be used when hell freezes over and only by people who want to have a giant cactus inserted in their sphincter...
A good simple rule. When in doubt, don't flag. If you are not sure whether you should flag or not, then don't. As was stated in the post often simply NOT voting and thus not rewarding is enough. Unless you happen to be super powerful (odds are you are not) then starting to flag people based upon your opinion will possibly get you on an auto-flag by one or more people.
It generally doesn't go well. If you don't like something and you want to make it known. Provide a comment. Be civil about it. If you are a jerk in your comment you might get flagged as well.
One of the cool things about steemit is that we all can talk about a lot of things that would just result in a lot of abuse and trolling on other sites. Not flagging and being civil in our responses is part of the reason it is like this.
If someone is a jerk to you and abusive DON'T stoop to their level and be a jerk back. Be civil, or don't respond at all. Jerks that are name calling abusive to people and are met with someone that is civil in the face of that tend to look like jerks to the entire community, while the guy/gal NOT stooping to their level can look like a hero and earn respect.
This place is awesome. Let's try to keep it that way. Good post. Resteemed.
Beautifully said!! Thank you!
Also thanks for inspiring me to write what may prove to be the best paid post I've ever written. :)
Hehe, happy to be helpful! I'm sure it's going to be fantastic! I'll have to make sure I read it once you get it posted. :)
No it is posted. That's why I know it's my best paying post ever. :) I made it to #3 on the trending page ONCE when we were in the middle of waiting for the reward pool to fill when they changed to 7 days. So I made like $20. :)
Prior to this post the best I've ever done was $300. So I read your post... something clicked and I can say it is the best my posts have ever made.
I couldn't have done it without you. :)
I started reading but I'm falling asleep. But I'll keep it open here and pick it up tomorrow after work. So far it looks great!!
Congrats again!!
Ooohh..nice!! I'll def take a look. Congrats!! :D
Great information. I have flagged very rarely and only when an account has been repeatedly spamming my blog with the same copy/paste follow-begging, and I always try to warn them as much as I can first.
A lot of new people don't understand that this community is a anarchistic one. If you break enough of the social norms around here, you won't be banned or kicked off -- you'll simply be shunned by everyone.
So be careful. When the community itself decides who gets to use it, you should be pretty sure that what you are doing isn't damaging that community, otherwise you risk no longer being able to participate.
I'm going to resteem this so my followers know about flagging, too.
Thanks!
@shayne
Interesting and informative. I knew of flagging, but wasn't sure of how to use, not that I ever wanted (so far). I'm curious and here comes my question (is it menace-able like for example on Ebay) - of them flagging you back? I know blockchain is transparent and probably someone would see you flagged him with some research, so how would users feel about that - restrict themselves with involvement from the fear of the outcome?
I never flagged but good to know it costs voting power..
Just awhole ago today was browsing through this site where you can see flagged articles and potential scammers, so can't believe people do it ALOT - https://steemdb.com/@steemcleaners/votes
Good work @sykochica, you promised you'll write it and you delivered! :D
Generally anytime you flag you risk a retaliatory flag. Thus, unless there is a really good reason for the flag it is best not to use it. See my longer reply to the post for more specifics.
So, about that counter-flagging ... essentially you're saying don't piss anybody off? What does the Abuse channel do exactly? You only mentioned veteran users checking for plagiarism.
To a large degree, yea..don't piss people off. Or if you do, be willing to accept possible counter-flagging.
The abuse channel while spending most their time with searching out and flagging plagiarism, the also help with certain disputes...Either by bringing both parties into the room to reach some mutual agreement (at least to end the flagging/fighting) or to simply flag down a person where their posts and comments are automatically 'greyed out' making it very hard to make money on here. (when rep is zero of lower)
Sorry, I meant to include this in the post but must've overlooked it. TY
Great! Thanks for clarifying things.
But let me say, that it would be ideal to have a downvote option too on the posts.
If I highly disagree with a content, I should be able to express my opinion without flagging in a more "friendly" way. Also it could reduce the post earnings for example and give curation rewards maybe.
I can understand where you're coming from. There have been TONS of conversations on this issue over the last year, with a lot of people wanting something like a downvote being available, yet separate from a flag.
With just about anyway it gets setup, there will be pros and cons involved. It'll be interesting to see if this current method is changed in the future, even though I'd personally be a bit surprised.
Like dwinblood said above, part of the beauty of this place is the ability to have good, civil discussions ESPECIALLY when the parties highly disagree. The ideal is to be able to understand where the other person is coming from (even if not agreeing)...or at least be able to simply agree to disagree.
I'm sure these discussions will be brought back up though. It's amazing how simply adding or taking away a certain button can change how a community works. :)
Today I flagged for the first time. The Introduce Yourself feed is crammed with people who are well past introduction territory and the actual new people are getting completely lost in there.
So I posted saying that if you wanted to fish for followers in the IY section, at least do these people the courtesy of actually reading their posts and giving them a thoughtful comment (thanks @shayne) and within minutes I had a bunch of "Welcome to Steemit" comments with flashing neon "Follow ME!" signs from people who clearly hadn't read the post at all. Irony.
So I spent awhile flagging and letting people know why and I took down the flag for anyone who removed the tag. I don't think I have much power in my flag, lol, but the comments helped and several removed the tags so I found today that it can be effective when done politely.
Perfect! I can absolutely understand needing to get a point across that way. Just like you said..there are effective AND polite ways to go about things..which really is the key.
I very rarely flag myself...and it's always rather funny when people respond to the nicely worded comment of what the issue is and why...they just say 'F*** you!'. The upside of those people is I no longer feel bad about flagging them. lol
Good work on that...thank you!
Hate speech is not really contingent on any kind of criteria. That is basically identical to flagging someone based on a different opinion.
Having a difference of opinion and directly attacking somebody really are rather distinct...at least in my eyes. But yes, there is a hint of subjectivity in here. So in the end it's up to the community to decide.
Much like the US supreme court attempting to define what is porn versus art which was simply left at: "I'll know it when I see it."
Like many other commentors on this post have stated directly or alluded to: you can say what you want...but you can't be an ass.
If I believe that your opinion promotes a phobia or some kind of political viewpoint on a topic where violence is not completely absent in the history of humanity then espousing any of those viewpoints can be argued to be inciting violence.
Hate speech means whatever you need it to at that moment. If I say that I love capitalism that can be used as an argument that I promote the patriarchy. Which is quite clearly inciting violence against women.
That's a bit of a stretch for me and really don't have more time to spend on this with you. Feel free to make a post on it though.
I took that definition of hate speech directly out of the dictionary...for this very reason.
Well yeah, its a stretch for anyone with two brain cells but that doesn't mean that is not how the term is actually used. Being against hate speech nothing short of being pro censorship.
That's you're opinion and you're welcome to it. I'll simply leave this that we (or at least I) agree to disagree.
Good job miss @sykochica, this information is gold for beginners, I started last week and this post will help me become a better user of this platform, thanks and blessings for you from Colombia.
Thank you! I tried to cover a good variety of the beginner questions. Of course feel free to ask ones that come to mind that haven't been covered. :)
Welcome to Steemit all the way from Colombia!! :D
@sykochica is Colombia not Columbia!!!, but its Ok np miss :)
Doh..sorry about that. I'm multitasking way too much. Hooray for the edit button!
great post as always Syko!! thanks for sharing. I'm sending people to your profile and posts in some of mine that are aimed at helping new people. I hope you don't mind!!
No, that's great! I appreciate it. Thank you very much!! It's nice of you to help out some others.:)