It's worth noting that one of the main causes for drama is the term "flag" and the fact that downvoting is under a menu intended for spam and plagiarism.
Without a differentiation between a downvote (for whatever reason) and the flagging of trash - of course people take flags personally! It's not just about the money, but also about UI that was planned without considering people's feelings.
I am okay with someone downvoting my content, but flagging feels offensive like there's something WRONG with what I created or expressed.
To be frank, the heart of the issue is not the "term". Anyone can be triggered by anything at all. You've already said it.. feel. It's just information on the screen. So I've learned not to be offended by anything on the Internet. By using it, we've already opted-in to be in a social space with others. So, I think it's actually about the money.
Edit: you may be right that it's smarter to change to a downvote though.
It's not about what is said as much as what an action symbolizes to a community.
Here's an example:
If I post my opinion on Facebook and someone mass-flags it as spam because they disagree and so they get it removed? I would be mad and offended. Because my opinion is (I would like to believe) not spam and flagging it as such to silence my opinion is just abuse of the system.
If I post my opinion on reddit and it gets downvoted by people who disagree? I am cool with that because it's how the system is built.
See the difference?
On steemit, there's a bit of a blur between the two. This creates confusion and frustration. Add the money aspect and all those negative emotions are just amplified.
If steemit showed downvote as downvote like on reddit and didn't have the downvote option hidden under the flagging feature along... We'd all have a much better time, I believe.
No different to me lol.. it's just a button that does the same thing together. I've once proposed a frying pan as the symbol for comical effect. Will the sentiment about it change? Maybe. But unlikely. My bet is that the result will still be the same because the effect is the same.. but yeah they could try changing.
"No different to me lol"
Well, you're not the ONLY person using the platform. One of a select few, but still. :)
When they change the symbol or whatever, the same will happen again, which is reduced payout. So yeah, there's no difference to me specifically, since I can't speak for everyone else. To each their own.
Edit: I feel like Spock here.
In my experience, the user interface of a platform has more effect on its community than you might think.
Also, Vulcans are sexy. <3