RE: I Hope: A Call for Positivity on Steemit.
I found that list to be quite reassuring actually. It showed only results related to some fairly high SP holders, and the vast majority were not abusive.
I realize abusive is a subjective term. But I am perplexed that many users don't seem to grasp the core of the debate. Many comments come from users confused and questioning if upvoting their own posts is wrong.
I think a pretty stark distinction can be made between the statements, "I vote on my own posts," and "I only vote on my own posts."
Socially acceptable percentage is the gray area. I'd hope it can be agreed at least that 95-100% self voting is a bit off balance.
I will outright agree with anyone who reasons that stakeholders are free to do what they wish with their stake. That position is absolutely correct as it applies to both self voting and flagging. This issue will be decided by flags/down votes. There's no code solution. The consensus of the community can only be properly formed with flags. The white paper and a lot of earlier discussion by Dan Larimer make this pretty clear. I think the most important thing is to stop vilifying flags and recognize them as a normal, vital, non personal & respectful means of conducting business on Steemit.
I understand your points. I probably should have defined/explained my terminology. In this case I see up votes as a positive reinforcer and a flag as a negative reinforcer. One gives something, the other takes something away.
I am just wondering if there is a way to encourage the positive behavior by giving something rather than punishing the negative behavior by taking something away.
Of course I apologize if I came off sounding too harsh! I hate to rain on a post promoting positivity! I can't think of any sensible positive reinforcement measures. The true positive reinforcement should be the fact that responsible voting should lead to a properly functioning platform and thus increases in the value of Steem. Excessive self voters are either A. Interested only in short term gain or B. Assuming enough other people will behave responsibly thereby enabling them to continue as they please.
Truthfully I think the vast majority of users do interact responsibly and self voting will not be the death of Steemit by any means. But flags should be recognized as positive and effective tools. For instance, posts are tagged NSFW voluntarily because failing to do so will result in flagging by the community. This community norm is therefore upheld because nsfw posters release their content in the most profitable manner (properly tagged.) This same behavioral steering can happen with excessive self voting by reducing its profitability.
Oh you weren't too harsh at all. I was hoping this would spark a conversation and you did just that. I agree that flags are 100% essential. I just think they should be used for the extreme cases where something needs to be dealt with immediately (NSFW, hate speech, bullying, etc.). For the "non-emergencies" it would be cool if we could try a more positive approach first.