This post is inspired by @denmarkguy’s post on Sunday about the current controversy over flagging on Steemit. He brought up about a site that paid back in the late nineties that I also remembered, Epinions.

I remember Epinions and the controversies that went on there. It was interesting watching it as people tried to shout loud enough to be heard above the rest. Very much part of human nature.

There are those who just roll with the system and just want to get along. There are others who absolutely think they should challenge everything and anything thus creating chaos in their wake. From the chaos we have those who are going to ride to the rescue, as least in their own minds.

Let Me Share A Brief Story

I’m in my fifteenth term as President of a local service organization. We have a building which means we have to be able to pay the overhead on the bricks and mortar as well as looking after the mission of the organization. We struggle financially almost constantly making it difficult to keep focused on the mission side of what we do.

One of our hardworking volunteers, who had recently come on board, had been receiving calls and relaying questions to me for a while. I would respond to the questions and make the decisions I felt were needed and then she would go back to the caller and let them know the outcome. A lot of the calls were about the banquet hall that we have available for rent.

More than once I heard her uncertainty when I’d give her a response. She didn’t question me, I was the President and in her mind, right or wrong, she’d just do what was asked. After she’d been there a while she finally decided to challenge me.

“How come you give the hall away to some and with others you wont budge a penny on the rental?” she asked, “Seems like a pretty poor way to run a business.”

I smiled. Now I understood the uncertainty I heard in her voice at times. She looked on the hall as just a business centre. I saw the hall as an asset that was both business and a tool toward fulfilling our mission statement. I wasn’t making purely business decisions, I was striving toward balance between the two.

I explained that to her in response to her question.

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Balance is not always easy to get. No matter how much I thought I had the rationale figured out, there would be something come along to challenge the thought process and demand a different answer.

I see this constant struggle for balance and fairness when it comes to the flagging issues here on Steemit.

The Balance Struggle

Some where in the middle of all that, some balance has to be found in order to create some semblance of order. In a clearly centralized system, with a clear hierarchy, that order is a challenge to get.

The person(s) charged with creating it has to find balance between what will keep people present and participating and what addresses the known issues. Hopefully the actions taken doesn't create unintended consequences.

It’s tough in a centralized system. It is even tougher in a decentralized system with many different belief structures pulling in different directions. Can the community come together enough to pull mostly together without a central system of command and control

I see the flagging over reward levels as being an unintended consequence of earlier actions.

When I first joined, the acceptable reasons for flagging/downvoting (whatever) was for abuse of the system like plagiarism. The votes of the whales was often needed to knock those miscreants out of gaining reward for their misbehaviour.

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The other users would cheer, well sort of, that the miscreants weren’t able to cheat the system.

Then issues came along with people getting upset over the frequency some topics / users ended up on the Trending page. The voices started that were advocating that the way to stop this was to make it acceptable to flag for perceived excess of rewards. After a time, that option was added to the note that pops up when clicking the flag button.

That was fine for most while it wasn't being used very often or didn't have much of an impact on very many. Then one or more whales started making it routine to use it over rewards.

When Many Feel the Sting, The Community Reacts

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More people started to feel the sting of seeing potential earnings evaporate on the strength of a single vote. It wasn't just someone regularly making good returns or regularly on the Trending page, it was people who most of the time made very little on a post and suddenly had a post getting a good potential payout.

I know the excitement of seeing a post start to take off and watching it’s progress. I can understand the sense of being crushed when a substantial part of those potential earnings disappear because a whale has determined you may make more than he is happy with.

The Unintended Consequence Comes Full Circle

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That’s the unintended consequence created by those who were upset over the frequency that some ended up on the Trending page. The consequence made it acceptable for a whale, or a few, to decide they know best about what people are interested in and, since they can, they start executing that opinion.

And it is opinion, because value is subjective. They might not find a subject of interest, or think others are interested but, anyone who does a bit of research about niches on the web finds that some of the oddest topics can create a thriving community of interest.

So, Is There A Solution?

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There are always solutions, but before they can be reached there are three questions that need to be answered.

. Does the community have a clear way to communicate the problem for discussion?
. Will the community engage in thoughtful and respectful discussion toward reaching a solution?
. Is the community willing to work toward and honour an agreed upon solution?

If the above can be answered yes, then the forum needs to be created to come with a solution or process to reach justice.

Justice Is Clearly a Factor

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As mentioned earlier, the flag has value for the community in that it and the whales carry out the task of shutting down known plagiarists and abusers of the platform.

While I’ve seen calls for the power of the whales to be able to reduce a person’s income and reputation to be removed. They do carry out a valued task.

They need to be able to protect the platform from clear abuses the community agrees should not be allowed. So, taking their power away is not a just solution.

Creating a community where the mightiest and the weakest find mutual respect and balance is how justice will be reached.

Community is messy. When people of goodwill and common cause come together, solutions can be found and unintended consequences dealt with by recognising no one system is going to work all the time. We’ll need to be prepared to re-evaluate and adjust as we go.

@sirlunchthehost posted a proposal for what might be the beginning of a way to consider problems that provides all members a way to be heard and considered in a community driven way. It may still have some rough edges but it seems to be a better idea than drawing up sides and going to war that destroys.

Let’s build together.

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