Drawing conclusions and watching the money tick over are two different influences on behavior. Not seeing it directly distances it from the viewer with actions not getting an immediate feedback loop in the eyeline. I can buy a mobile game for 2 dollars, and not see the app company's billion dollar revenue tick over.
As said, I presented points after observation of process and behavior on Steem and from a community perspective. Interestingly, one of the people who were abusing an autovote lost that autovote recently, likely for that abuse. While that person can do as they please, so can the voter and if that voter feels that they are being taken advantage of in a way they do not appreciate, they will move on.
Should every millionaire hollywood hack script-writer and low-effort singer/producer/performer do more to "give back" to "the community"? Should we boycott radio and television shows that are syndicated or re-released on DVD and or streaming because they're "not original enough"?
It is a consumer decision. There is no (long-term) supply without demand and the consumer is the one who demands. Consumers can be fickle, and while some say "take all I can while I can" and burn their audience, another will find ways to evolve and offer value to that audience to maintain them long-term as tey can offer some kind of trade that gives the sense of a win-win.
Ok, you seem obnoxiously reasonable.
Let me just ask you one more thing,
Do you think people should be downvoted into oblivion by larger accounts, simply for posting "low-effort" content like "word of the day"?
Can you email this to my wife? :D
It depends. If they are doing it ten times a day, Selfvoting each and farming Steem, probably. If it is a once a day kind of thing, I don't see the issue with it. I think intention matters.
I would also say that the value of the post would matter to all kinds of sized accounts too. If someone was getting 30 dollars on these posts, I would suspect it would be getting some downvotes, but a dollar or two (from the community) and no one would mind. When it comes to low-effort content, if many people think it is value adding, that is what it is. However, that changes when someone (especially with a large vote) believes their own content is valuable consistently.
At the end of the day, I think that while imperfect, the Steem voting up/down system is somewhat more honest than the hidden algorithms that platforms use to manipulate rewards for some over others.
I will add:
When it comes to freedom of speech concerns, downvotes have nothing to do with it as there are plenty of interfaces that will show it regardless and it doesn't remove it from the blockchain. Freedom of speech doesn't mean that a person should also be able to earn on what they say.
Let's just say, hypothetically, that the Chinese Censorship Brigade decided they wanted to create an account (or buy an existing account) with (a relatively small) 2 million steem-power and start obliterating any accounts they didn't like (anything not written in Chinese).
Now imagine they managed to get their account up to (82) rep, and then power-stomped your blog (@tarazkp) into (-11) rep so ALL of your posts were automatically hidden behind some sort of vague warning message (strongly suggesting you're an unscrupulous person).
Would you be, you know, "totally ok with that", since "there are plenty of interfaces that will show it regardless" and nobody "deserves" to make a few steem-pennies off their blog if a whale decides to ambush you?
Who would you complain to? Or would you just go somewhere else?
Yeah, I'd be fine with that. It would definitely be interesting to see them get their account up there (they would be better off buying one already there - right?).
It would also be interesting see them stomp my blog down to -11, especially since I am relatively certain it wouldn't go uncontested. Then, I would also be interested to see what happens to the value of Steem the token and if SMTs would supplant it. This would then mean that in order to stomp my blog down, they would have to also make sure they had a lot of other tokens also.
Really though, I don't mind that much all in all - it would be very interesting to see how the community handled such a thing as it would be a very good test of the decentralization mechanisms.
I am not so sure about about that. If people are no longer receiving their curation rewards support can dry up very quickly.
Good point. Nobody would band-wagon-vote for free.
I agree.
It sounds like you have faith that the community would rally to protect you.
But what if it didn't.
What if you went straight down to (-11) and lost all your readers and stopped earning steem?
Would you try starting a new account?
Would you try starting a new account?
Why would I?
If my readers didn't see the value in protecting me, why would I be writing here for them? I can just keep my account, write what I want for me, same as now.
The rule I live by on steem is, don't be a dick. Generally, that means that one can participate in the community without too much trouble and on the odd occasion there is trouble, people can have your back. Same in the real world.
Perhaps I am too old and still remember what it is to have friends that don't mind getting into a rumble for another friend. I guess part of the digital generation is that they might not actually have real friends who will stand by them through thick and thin. Sad if that is the case.
Or just don't have the requisite cash-money-dollars to counter-vote your detractors...
I might, but I'd probably just band-wagon-vote the top-earners and never post anything.