So the elephant in the room is if you see the same things happening in the Steemit community that you experienced as a member of EC. Do you fear Steemit is going down the same road? If so, how do we implement the things you mentioned in order to stop the process and hopefully reverse it? Or is it too late?
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
The main issue right now is that we are all in a central party with lunatics who like to destroy others for the fun of it. I'd like to branch off and start my own party with free thinkers and those who really want to get shit done. I need this site to be more interactive. I need the evil whales to lose their power and go away. Even whales who are slightly evil are fine, it's the violent and abusive ones who are ruining the integrity and quality of this growth. It's still new so there is time. What I am most worried about is the centralization of power. Everyone who has half a brain recognizes that the centralization of power is a HUGE problem. Your boss cannot also be your jailer and judge. This is currently how Steemit works. It is closer to fascism than anything else. So, there needs to be a major die off so that the natural readers, curators, creators and others can start to run this thing. The whales also occupy a very narrow demographic which is problematic as well. This ship needs a shake up and power needs to be flushed out. I believe that the only ones who will really thrive here long term are really tough. There are a number of stubborn writers, creators and hardcore thinkers like @kyriacos, @papa-pepper @kaylinart @l0k1 and others who are just too determined to be frightened off. Your regular user, though will be so negatively affected by the zero or $.01 payouts, that they will get the fuck out of here fast. No one likes to imagine that their contribution is worthless. We've never been confronted with such a horrible reality.
Me, well, I've been through hell and I chew glass every day. As long as people don't get sick of me writing, I'll continue. I'm very much influenced by @kyriacos and is unrelenting, tireless approach to writing. I currently view steemit as a publishing platform. It will grow and flourish or die if not handled properly. No one has the answers. It could go either way actually. I have gut feelings but nothing more. My gut feelings are generally 90% accurate since I have been in and out of many intentional groups, startups, communities, etc. I can tell you the one thing that people don't like: abuse of power. There's your answer. There's plenty of that shit here. But there's more good people than bad, but more sheep than I'd like to admit......
I really enjoyed your post, @stellabelle. Two questions about this comment though:
1) How do you define violence?
2) Who are the "violent and abusive" whales you're describing?
You mention @kyriacos, but I've had conversations with them which were verbally abusive, full of cussing, personal attacks, and the like. From a non-violent communication standpoint, it was full of jackal language, not giraffe language.
I'm having trouble reconciling what you're describing. I see no physical violence of any kind on steemit, from whales or otherwise. It's kind of impossible unless we're talking about doxing which leads to violence IRL. I do see some abusive language and emotionally-charged personal attacks, but mostly from non-whales, many of whom thankfully are ignored and have either gone away or changed accounts to be ignored again. Maybe flagging is the violence you're describing? I'm not sure. I want to better understand what you mean. Thanks.
1). Abusing power. For example, let's say a whale is doing things that he wants to hide. Well, there's no real hiding on here because anyone can see what anyone else is doing. Let's say it's not exactly against the rules, but it's something that most people would find disgusting. Now let's say that a writer begins digging through this whale's activity and bringing forth that data. This writer is not accusing the whale of anything, but merely pointing out the data, the actions and the behavior. Well, if the whale was smart, he would do nothing. But when a whale is not so smart and full of vitriol, hate and anger, he's going to try using force of flagging to silence him, and anyone else who challenges anything associated with his power. He will try to destroy reputations, and will also take away rewards. All of this actually draws attention to the data that he wishes to bury. In fighting and trying to crush people, he shows his guilt, especially when the ones who report such data do it in a neutral way. Especially when free speech is something that some of these whales don't believe in. This type of behavior is fascist.
@kyriacos is controversial because he doesn't kiss whale's asses. He delivers things in a brutal way, but if you carefully look at the content of what he says, it's generally based in facts. I don't agree with his delivery to people, as he seems to be lacking in empathy, but he calls out scam artists, and shitposts, whale shills and other fake people. I have a serious aversion to fakery, shitposts and the like, so his voice is clearly needed in a platform that is quickly shaping up to be a ship-full of sheep. People are selling out fast. I see a big flushout coming, as some of these stupid whales i've mentioned have been kicked off the witness list, because of their greed and war-mongering tactics.
Trying to silence others who are critical thinkers is a form of violence. It has happened.
Oh I can discuss some of this privately.
I'm not as familiar with that definition as I try to use the dictionary definition:
While also thinking about non-violent communication's definition of violent language.
I most often think of violence as an action against a physical body, not virtual one online or one that deals with someone's emotions or points of view or ability to share their opinion. I define abusing power as abusing power, not as violence. Violence may be a mechanism someone uses in order to abuse and maintain their power, but I don't see them as the same thing.
You use language like "fighting and trying to crush people" but these are just metaphors. There's no physical crushing or fighting going on and looking at it this way, IMO, escalates the fears, negative emotions, and drama unnecessarily. You're a good writer, so I'm surprised you use language so freely like this, unless your intention is get these emotions stirred up in others beyond what may be justified by the actual actions taking place.
I'm all for bad actors being exposed, in a respectful, constructive manner. I've also seen a few ridiculous witch hunts which attack individuals personally and make all kinds of claims about someone else's intentions and motives which, to me, is essentially an impossible thing to prove. You say things like "full of vitriol, hate and anger," but can you recognize those are judgements you're making about someone else and you have no actual evidence (other than their words and actions) to know what emotions and thoughts they are actually thinking? From a non-violent communication perspective, that's jackal language. NVC defines that as "violent language" though, again, I don't use violence so loosely. They describe violence as a tragic expression of an unmet need.
Either way, thanks for responding and helping me better understand your view of violence. From that perspective, it's a really violent, scary world.
Your comments are fascinating. Where can I find more information about NVC?
Honestly I would love to become more involved in this community on a more integral level, but I've seen and experienced firsthand - to lesser degrees - the same dismantling of communities that you have. It fills me with trepidation and anxiety, and that's held me back from increasing my involvement.
Despite that, I sincerely do believe in this platform and its transformative potential. Viewing Steemit as a publishing platform is absolutely right, I'm a freelance copywriter as well and the potential to earn a living by writing things other than fantastic fairy tales about washing machines is achingly appealing to me. Additionally, the amount of reward and recognition I've earned from posting my fiction on here is several orders of magnitude higher than even my biggest royalty check from my attempts at publishing my work through traditional channels, and that makes me want to become so ensconced in this community that you couldn't dislodge me with a crowbar.
There is a serious problem with the centralization of power on Steemit, which is irony writ large considering the entire concept behind blockchain-based technologies is decentralization. I have fears, like you, that the violent and powerful among us will wreck this place, simply because they can, and that has stopped me from becoming involved. I'm not ashamed to admit that I think it might break my heart.
Start eating glass then your fear will dissolve. You have nothing to lose by getting more active. Just don't count on anything though. That's the attitude I had on day one. Things have changed a lot, and I feel that they will change even more in the future. This is a fast moving train.
Nothing is too late until its ashes and everyone is spitting on the concept.