How To Reduce "Upvote & Follow Me" Requests by 90% (And Prevent a War)

in #steemit7 years ago (edited)

A war on spam has been declared.

Many Steemians feel spammed by "please follow and upvote me" comments and declared they will start flagging those comments now.

I think we have enough "wars on..." in the world and I would like to suggest a more tolerant and less aggressive solution.

And a more energy-efficient one: flagging every such comment takes work, time, and a lot of voting power, if I'm not mistaken.

Plus it might discourage beginners (which those commenters mostly are) and give them a really bad first impression of Steemit.

reduce spam steemit.jpeg

Isn't there a better way?

We are dealing with a global platform here.

That means we are dealing with different cultures, worldviews, values, beliefs and motivational drivers and economic situations - the very things that tend to cause clashes, conflicts and, well, wars in the world.

"War" means: I have a vision of how this world (Steemit) should be (for the wellbeing of all, of course) and I'll eliminate (flag) anyone who doesn't share my point of view or behaves the way I want them to.

I am just as annoyed by "please follow and upvote me" comments as the next person, but I'm also aware that,

  • Beginners make mistakes and this might be how they think the platform works
  • In some cultures, where bartering is a normal part of life, an upvote for an upvote might not be perceived as bad at all. It's just how they do things there. Who are we to judge that and force our rules on them? Aren't we all here to enjoy censorship freedom and the fact that nobody controls us? Who gives us the right to try and control others? Do we need a reminder on what decentralisation truly means??
  • There might be many many desperate people on here who don't know how to pay the rent next month - can we really blame or judge them for trying, when they think that more followers and upvotes could save them? Would you feel good about flagging someone like that and making it even harder for them?

Loving education vs. flag wars

Anyway.

I came here to suggest a super simple solution, not to rant :)

What if we added a little red warning, that appears as soon as someone types the words upvote or follow? It would work similar to the little red warning that appears when we type a capital letter in the tags:

Screen Shot 2017-08-13 at 21.44.40.png

Only difference: it would still allow us to post (because we can't take those two words out of our language completely). It would just be a warning.

The warning might say, "Please be aware that asking for upvotes or follow's is considered spam by many Steemians. You are risking to get flagged, which will damage your reputation and success on Steemit."

So their comment would still go through if they pressed submit, but most people might reconsider and remove their follow & upvote request before posting, don't you think?

I got this idea from Fiverr, where a little red warning message pops up as soon as Fiverr thinks you're asking for a payment or email communication outside of Fiverr, depending on what you type:

Screen Shot 2017-08-13 at 21.36.00.png

Screen Shot 2017-08-13 at 21.36.19.png

Screen Shot 2017-08-13 at 21.36.55.png

The thing is, even though we have complained about those comments multiple times in our articles, there are thousands of new people joining every day, who simply have not come across those articles yet.

There will always be information, that someone doesn't have. Aren't we all still learning new things on Steemit every day?

This way, the information (education) would appear right in the moment when someone is about to make a potential mistake. And they would be empowered because they are given a conscious choice to proceed.

What do you think?

Wouldn't this help reduce those comments immensely?

Sort:  

This may help alleviate part of the problem for sure! Maybe after they are warned, it could link them to a couple of posts educating them on better strategies, such as making meaningful comments instead. Awesome idea!

Well we have to remember that we all would get that message when we type those words ;) so it shouldn't be too complicated. (Unless someone comes up with a better idea ;))

Great Post. I agree totally with you. I am still new here but I​ see these kinds of Comments every time and for me it's​ really annoying.

I liked your post, because you try to analyze the situation... it's not about complaining, but also trying to find solutions :-)
Some kind of "warning" (or red warning) is a good idea...
Most of the times I just ignore this comments... especially if you in their profile, that they just copy-and-paste here and there.
Big hug
Steemitri The Mannequin

I ignore them, too. And actually I want to protect them a bit - of course there are real spammers amongst them - but the largest percentage just doesn't know any better, I believe, and a gentle nudge in the right direction might do wonders.

I love your approach and loving ideas to help others. You are a good person.

Thank you, Candice <3

I think this is a brilliant suggestion! Very smart, I like it!

I think this is a great idea. I have seen many articles by people trying to 'defend' Steemit by flagging and downvoting, but they sometimes come across as bullies themselves. This is a sensible soltution with a potential win-win outcome.

Yes, and sometimes they have a signature of the bottom of their posts that says "Please follow and upvote me" 😂

I think its a great idea and possibly the best solution to the issue! A great post and I hope the developers catch on with your thoughts 👍

I hope so, too! I can't really ask for resteems, though, since it would contradict the content of my article a tiny bit, LOL, but I hope some of them will spot this discussion.

😃...lol.

Beautiful Post, well written, with a certain degree of consciousness. Yes there are enough wars out there and I totally want steemit to be the peaceful and abundant platform it now is. Hope your message gets through

Very good idea! Or it could be added with the tips you get right after you sign up (like for example the "it is not required, but many people do an introduceyourself post first").

YES! That's also a great idea! Thanks @elemenya!

A much needed post, i have seen many steemit witnesses and developers currently heavily involved in reducing spam, so this issue will also come to light eventually.

You are always welcome

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