RE: What's To Become Of Steemit?
I've seen this happen, to @krnel in fact, and it is a reason he stated to me that he wasn't posting for a while. @berniesanders was flagging him hard, and, until @dan flagged @berniesanders reputation into dust, @krnel just didn't open an attack vector that might jeopardize his own reputation.
I have noted recently the @krnel isn't posting anything I've seen on my feed either, and haven't made the time to investigate why.
Flagging is an issue that causes many to self-censor, although my own fear of being flagged is very feeble, as I simply am not concerned about any income I might lose as a result of being flagged. Given my concern that Steemit is unlikely to survive unscathed if it suddenly begins to succeed and quickly grow (due to the inevitable Sybil attack that is certain to capture the platform if it does), I am neither very concerned about my reputation.
So, I just post what is on my mind, and if I'm wrong, I change my mind. I haven't yet been flagged to death, and if I am, I will die. So be it.
For me, the point is to seek to live well while I am alive, and to die on my feet, rather than on my knees.
I've been flagged, but not to death. Thankfully. It is not really the income that is the problem when it happens, it's the fact that once you are at zero, your posts are hidden. Unless others come together to get you back to a minimum level of 1, no one sees what you write. So why continue writing? I just used up a lot of my voting power to help get yet another person back up to 1 so that people could see her posts again, but I am no social butterfly, and I doubt I'd rally the same support. Overall, it is a sad situation.