My first post in this series will be about the #steemgigs tag.

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Introduction

I personally love the idea behind @steemgigs. The point of the tag is to create a freelancing marketplace as an alternative to sites like Fiverr. People can buy/sell products and services from one another directly, without a middleman pocketing a percentage of the revenue. Posts don't always have to be a defined product or service, but certain things like contests and challenges certainly don't belong in a feed about freelancing. All of that being said, here is my objective analysis of the hashtag spam occuring on #steemgigs in just the last two days.

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The numbers

Of 41 posts on the #steemgigs tag in the last two days, I have found that 80% of them don't belong.
Some of these posts are on the tag simply because people don't understand what it is for. Whether they have used the tag because they see high(ish) payouts on the tag, or if they've just chosen tags at random, is not for me to decide, I'll leave that up to you.

Many of these posts, however, are for contests or their entries. The main source being the @steemit-virus contest, which lists using the #steemgigs tag as one of the requirements, which equates to 19% of the spam I'm referring to in this post.

Here are the top 5 people who are using this tag incorrectly, including how often they have posted. Keep in mind this is only the past two days, but it is a recurring theme. This list does not include entries to the @steemit-virus contest.

• @ewuoso - 5 posts
• @steemlover - 4 posts
• @pkvlogs - 4 posts
• @smyle - 2 posts
• @benedicamillius - 2 posts

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Reactions

I have gotten mixed reactions in my attempts to educate steemians on the intended purpose of the tag.
Some users, like @pkvlogs and @schoolforsdg4 have cared enough to listen, and have agreed to stop using the tag for irrelevant posts.
Others, however, have blown up for being told their post could possibly be considered spam. @steemlover thinks I'm "misusing my SP" for flagging posts that would be considered spam on any tag, and @openbull wants a "good reason" why he got downvoted.
The most extreme reaction award definitely belongs to @kid4life! I won't go into details about it, but if you'd like to read how he handled it, start with my flagged comment explaining what the #steemgigs tag is for.

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Conclusion

Some Steemians think I should be flagged by whales for calling spam what it is. I've also now been threatened that if I continue, there will be bots created just to downvote me, but when the ratio is 20%/80%, am I really in the wrong for trying to clean up an otherwise very valuable tag? Let me know what you think about my work in the comments below.

I'll gladly take any malicious flags because of my fight in the #waronspam. Thank you @stellabelle for starting the movement. Know that many of us are taking it very seriously, and could be risking our own reputations to keep the good fight going.

If you would like me to do an analysis like this on a tag you see being spammed and misused, let me know about it below!