Five Simple Observations: - My ".174 Steem" (i.e. My "Two Cents") On Votes and Flags🏴
NOTE: .174 STEEM is worth two cents at market value as I write this post.
"People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" - Rodney Glen King
I've recused myself from this discussion up until now, not having anything particularly constructive to say. However, after reading a wide variety of opinions, I have five simple observations to share. I hope they may help "cut through the fog."
No Way To Go But Up - Photo courtesy of Jungwoo Hong and http://unsplash.com
Caveat:
Although I am a strong believer in giving credit where credit is due, I have not read all the arguments or all the posts on this topic, and I have probably forgotten certain references. I make no claim of originality for the ideas expressed here. I only hope to simplify, distill, and mention what now appears to me to be a reasonable and simple solution.
1) Steemit is a cohesive community.
Most Steemians care about Steemit and its future. Even more care about the feelings and fortunes of other Steemians. Sure, there may be a relatively small percentage of trolls and sociopaths, but they are a minority.
Because Steemians care, tempers flare, small matters loom large, and feelings are hurt. This too shall pass.
2) Changes often have unintended consequences.
Because Steemit is a complex system with many moving parts, any changes made should be modest in scope and made with long term consequences in mind. In other words, try not to rock the boat; we don't want to swamp it.
That's why I believe that "flag evaluation boards," major changes to algorithms, etc. are likely to be overkill, with complications and consequences presently unforeseeable.
3) Some "Steemit Terms" match system actions poorly.
In the immediate case, two "equal and opposite actions" are described by words having radically different natural meanings. The words used are vote and flag.
The word vote has generally very positive connotations, while the word flag (in this context) has generally very negative connotations. Yet, a "vote" and a "flag" are exactly equal and opposite in what they do on the platform (given, of course, that they are activated with the same amount of Steem Power).
4) Payouts are not final until "the fat lady sings."
Steemian @robrigo has pointed out that payout amounts are not final until the end of the voting period. Yet, the current estimate is displayed in real time with each post. This has the unfortunate consequence of building up author hopes prematurely. The function of the system may be fair, stake-based, and balanced, but the feelings and perceptions of the authors and the community are not.
5) A very few minor changes could result in major relief.
And so, here is the punchline you've been waiting for, three proposed, minor changes:
- Rename "Flag" to "Un-vote" or "Down-vote." Or, instead of vote, have "Thumbs Up" and "Thumbs Down."
- Have a "true flag" with system semantics that match the English meaning, i.e. true disapproval, "abuse," or "wrongness."
- Hide the $SBD payout value until it is finalized. Display some relative indicator instead.
Conclusion:
If I understand the system at all (yes, that's surely questionable!), these changes would not change the system behavior or payout algorithms.
Psychologically, user expectations might be more sheltered and feelings less likely to be hurt.
Functionally, the meaning or semantics of a "Flag" would have to be defined. Would a flag "grey out" a post? Would it alert a "troll patrol" to investigate the content? I don't know, other than meaning that the flagger had observed something truly abusive, a violation of community standards (e.g., blatant plagiarism).
I defer to developers and coders to evaluate whether these three changes are truly minor, as I have no direct knowledge of the internals of Steemit system coding.
~FIN~
You are why I'm here on Steemit!
I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about them all.
⬇️To Check Out @creatr's World⬇️CLICK Each Image Below⬇️
|
|
|
Great observations and nicely summarized 😄 I agree almost completely with you, especially regarding the complexity, it's hard to predict how something will work "in the wild". I guess that's why we're still in beta.
The only small disagreement I have is here
I think they should be modified but still visible. Seeing estimated payout on the steemit.com landing page is a big draw for first time visitors. I think a color adjustment or perhaps "est" before the dollar sign would be good.
There were a few calling for this, or similar, and I made a GitHub ticket, so did @robrigo here, though we did so mistakenly as that's not how they accept ideas! Oops 😅 It's worth a read anyway. Posts like this, if there's enough support, are the means to change it seems, though it's quite disperse 😕 I guess we'll see what the devs think after the conversation continues.
Thanks for weighing in, @personz, I appreciate it.
With just a quick glance at the two GitHub tickets you linked (thanks!) I think we're actually in agreement. I would surely accept some kind of visual indicator - a sort of "relative standing" type of thing? Color, or slider, or whatever... even a "rising" or "falling" thing? While still hiding "final $SBD value."
Thanks again for your comprehensive comment! :)
Oh okay, yes! 😮 Great, that's much nicer 😉 As the devs say, we need some support for this on posts at large, so happy to be in concert with you here. I'll probably make another post in a while about it, to keep it relevant.
There are quite a few possibilities. It would be great to see mock ups of some ideas if someone was interested? ✍️
How about a thermometer? Or a "thumbs up vs thumbs down" ratio? Or % thumbs up?
And then, after finalization, the ultimate $SBD value...
MILLION thanks
You're welcome, Aidan! :) Glad you like it. ;)
This post has been ranked within the top 50 most undervalued posts in the first half of Feb 28. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $3.70 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Feb 28 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
:)
Wao
Very good post. Always like when somebody can throw you out of one channel of thought into another one. Like the idea of changing U/I instead of changing underlying model.
Hello @gutzofter,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I appreciate the encouragement. ;)