I believe a lot of the arguments on this are inspired by mixed input.

EDIT: I did not see @dantheman had posted an article that shows they are looking into it and could make this entire post irrelevant. It sounds like they are considering possible solutions. I am totally game with being part of the guinea pig experience.

Right now there is a lot of discussion going on about whether the FLAG should be used only to report abusive posts, or whether it should be used to down vote.

There is a lot of "visit site X, or a forum they have up votes and down votes and people should be used to this".

This is a true statement. Yet we also want a large audience so do we want to repeat what might have been mistakes?

Put that aside for a moment though as you do have a valid point.

However, in this case it turns out that point is double edged. Let's look at the other edge of that blade.

ICONOGRAPHY:
The positioning of the FLAG in steemit and the fact that it is shaped like a flag would indicate it is intended to report abusive posts. This is based off of comparing it to the sites many indicate should be looked at to justify using it for down votes. Those sites tend to use very clear Iconography. The up arrow for upvote, the down arrow for down vote with both of them being in close proximity to each other. These sites also typically have a facility to REPORT POSTS for something. This icon is most often a FLAG.

MIXED MESSAGES:
Yet if you view the post in steemd to see who clicked the flag they are called down votes.

I have hearsay information from @onceuponatime who wrote a great post on etiquette of flagging (my opinion) and he was present in the prior months to this when there was a lot of debate on this topic. He said at that time there was a down vote, and they decided to do away with it. Anyone in their right mind knows you still need a facility to report problems, so it looks like they just moved that up to the flag.

So there is no clear message. It is causing hostility.

There are a lot of ideas on this. For some reason there are people that think they need to down vote things they do not like. I don't personally understand this perspective and I do not understand the motivation. It is alien to my mind. I either vote on something or I don't. I up vote things I like or that interest me. If 1 person liked it or 100 people liked it, how many people didn't like it is irrelevant to me.

If 10 people like duck hunting, are you going to silence their interest because you are not interested in it?

It will be 10 votes. Your negative vote is really irrelevant. Something you like might get 100 votes. The system handles that. It does not require negative votes to curate it. The fact there were people interested in it is what truly matters. How many people are interested will make it rise to the top or trend better, so there is no reason to stifle the likes of others. Vote on what you like, and let other people vote on what they like. If you don't like it, don't vote on it.

If it is spam, plagiarism, NSFW with no warning, then flag it. That is my opinion and I know there are plenty of people that disagree.

I wanted to write this additional post on the topic because I do think the iconography versus the text that accompanies this is sending a mixed message. If it truly is a down vote why is it using a flag? Why isn't it in the voting area?

Message of intent

This platform is in beta. It is a tremendous new opportunity. Most of us want to see it succeed(yes some people may not). This discussion is simply further attempts to try to clear up confusion and make this place very hospitable to all kinds of people. Since it is in beta that is the best time to discuss things and try to crowd source some solutions. It shouldn't be about I AM RIGHT, YOU ARE WRONG. We could be standing at a fence and looking at different input. I do think most people agree that anti-censorship is a big selling point for this platform. This problem has not really happened to me personally in any impactful way, so I am not doing this out of personal affront. I am doing this because I care about this place, and I see what is being done to some people as potentially damaging to our community and the full potential we have here.

I've posted numerous different posts about flagging over the past few weeks because I do see it as a big issue. My view and knowledge on the issue is currently growing from input, and new thoughts from people like you.

• Should I up vote this guy ranting? - on obscure rules and expectations
• Busker Example
• Siren song for the down voter - video
• Cronyism, Ponzi, and down voting - (siren song is video version of this)
• This person is not worthy... neither are you... intended as motivational
• Flagging and down voting, some questions
• Not a ponzi scheme - new paradigm

Those are ordered from most recent to the oldest. My ideas are evolving. You all are having impact on my thoughts.

Quantity does not make me right. It does show I think this is important.