RE: Introducing the Steem Defender Bot. Designed to Protect Steem From Economic Collapse and Support Minnow Growth (Article)
"Serious authors offering genuine content have nothing to fear."
That's absurd (or at best, false).
Anybody with more clout than their target can end an account.
See @kerriknox's account. Rep from 60+ to -1, earnings per post from $100+ to $0 because she can't post anything because that the downvoter with 300kish steem downvotes it.
It's great to knock down plagerizers etc. Good.
But am I going to rent delegated SP to increase my visibility etc to speed up my account growth/not waste content with no viewers etc just to have berniesanders or equivalent downvote me because he sees I rented delegated SP or did some selfvoting and downvotes all my ' purchased hypocritical votes'? (or some other guy with some other 'self votes' are bad justification)?
Nope. So I, having been here for a couple months wanting to really like steemit, being a content creator in my own business, am going to keep my content building there and am not going to risk wasting time/effort here.
'I' am irrelevant. I say the above because, again, serious content producers aren't going to stick to a platfrom that is so risky, and mass adoption certainly isn't going to happen while it's so risky.
Then I must be in some way privileged, because I don't find it absurd at all. During the time I've been here - since July of last year - I've been flagged only 4 or 5 times at most, and those were usually either bot downvotes for whatever mathematically random reason that didn't amount to any damage, or because someone just disagreed with some trivial thing that was said, kind of as if one of us were to flag the other of us just because we disagreed. It's lame, but it's allowed. I've just avoided the drama and done pretty well, I suppose. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not unhappy with what this place has done for me since I've been here. So perhaps it just depends on the perspective we each have and what value we assign to this place on a personal level. I've got art and photography and music for days, so I just keep posting.
So from your perspective, an author with a rep of 60+ and $100+/post having their account destroyed by a single individual is what exactly?
Do you think that steemit is going to thrive when anybody's hard work can be wiped out with no protections or recourse?
Also, you did notice that your 'has nothing to worry about' claim has been proven false, yes?
One has to wonder: what about the post is drawing flags? I have yet to really see someone get flagged for no real reason, as if done by some of the low-rep bots I've seen that do it randomly.
I just showed you an example of that, so you actually have.
I know it breaks the fantasy that on steemit bad things only happen to bad people, but.....
Nobody's account should be able to be destroyed by a single individual. Why would I spend lots of time/effort if anybody with more clout than me can wipe out the benefits of all that time/effort (and can do it again at any time if I come back and build back up again)?
Currently, I'm not going to, because there's no protections or recourse.
Oh I'm sure they had a reason. That's all it takes. Like I said, everyone is free to vote however they like. Once people start getting that the larger stake you have in your SP, the more you become a higher shareholder of the whole thing. I don't necessarily disagree with you that one shouldn't be able to wipe out someone's account if they wanted to, but again - the larger a share you have, the more impact your decisions will be able to make. Not everyone agrees with that... yet here we are.
Ultimately, everyone is free to vote however they like. And this has proven to be quite the divisive truth, seeing as how the power of the vote is dependent on the user's level of wealth - literally. Being on the bottom end of that deal is not necessarily the best in the world, and I get that. I'm down here too. My vote means virtually nothing - maybe 6 cents right now. But if you're telling me that anyone can randomly be downvoted by a large whale for absolutely no reason and be obliterated when it happens, I'd have to say I don't agree with that because I and many others who post non-divisive posts don't generally experience that. When you post an opinion, you're going to get people who disagree. That's just a fact of having opinions. It's guaranteed some people will disagree. And with a system where everyone has an up and a downvote option to use however they please, guess what? They're going to use it however they please. And those opinions expressed as votes will also have those who agree and disagree. For these reasons - and for reasons of blood pressure and stress - I avoid topics like religion, politics, controversies and conspiracies, who the whales are upvoting/downvoting, etc etc etc. Outside of Steemit, those things have no bearing on my personal life, so why would I add that stress? It's not worth it. I have problems of my own. Steemit is totally an auxiliary experience for me.
"But if you're telling me that anyone can randomly be downvoted by a large whale for absolutely no reason and be obliterated when it happens, I'd have to say I don't agree with that because I and many others who post non-divisive posts don't generally experience that."
You say that everyone can vote. But they say it doesn't happen because you haven't experienced it? LOL.
I find it funny (bad funny) that people turn a blind eye to 'one guy destroyed this author's successful account' because you all, as far as I can tell, don't like the idea that it can happen to anybody but bad accounts.
What if a good author wants to invest time money and effort into a controversial topic. You're arguing that it's ok for that author's account to get destroyed.
That it's possible is a big big problem for the current and future success and growth of steemit.
Hm, no. That's not really at all what I said. Please don't put words in my mouth.
Yes, everyone is free to vote how they want. Yes, people downvote posts for whatever reason they want. Yes, it's possible for one person with enough SP to wipe out an account if they so choose <----and that's my point. If they choose, then they have a reason. A bot randomly downvoting has no reason - it just downvotes. I've never been obliterated, and neither has anyone else who isn't posting divisive posts that carry with it a higher risk of receiving a downvote. Not sure where your assessment just came from, but I think I'm done here. I'm not in an argument just to be right. I've said what I needed to say, and you're welcome to process it however you like.
Have a good day.