So you've come to this awesome platform to write and earn money? Awesome. We're sooo glad you are here! Hive is innovative, community minded, and has so much potential. Your voice is even heard a little bit more than on your conventional blog, right, and you're sure earning more than a Facebook or Instagram post? You've even had a few comments on each post, and what's more, a post you earnt last week earnt you 45 HIVE because some whale with a lotta HP sauce came and upvoted you. Those upvotes are waaaay better than Facebook likes, right? They are actually worth something! You refresh every few hours (or minutes, if you were as obsesssive as me when I first started) and the excitement from seeing people engage with you and upvote your content makes you feel valued and all gooey inside. You're pretty much hooked.
And then the dreaded downvote.
How that buzz of joy fizzled when we see that broken heart on our posts. Gutted, right? Sometimes you feel it in the pit of your stomach. What have I done, you ask. You click on the user name and they haven't written a post - who is this guy? Why doesn't he like me? Was there something awful about my content? Did I break some rules? Does this affect my reputation? Or sometimes it's a huge downvote just after you got that huge upvote and you can't understand why - your post is beautifully formatted, you worked for hours on it, the content is great - what did I do wrong?
Okay, here's the rub: you have ONLY done something wrong IF you have done one of a number of things, in which case, go sit in the corner and think about your value as a human being on HIVE (and I'm not even joking here) - or, sort it out and do better, and we'll all forgive you:
- Plagiarised content - that is, copied it from the internet and passed it off as your own
- Reposted your OWN content to earn AGAIN on something you've already earnt
- Shitposted the most awful post ever just for rewards
Now I know that people argue that it's 'their' blog and they can do whatever they like and no one can tell them what to do. HIVE is also meant to be free from censorship, right? But here, we call that 'raping the reward pool' - a violent expression to express something many of us feel strongly about - that if you're earning for plagiarism, someone else who wrote something awesome is missing out. And that's unfair, no matter how you look at it. People work hard here to make this place awesome, so it's unfair that you're getting money for essentially nothing. Try not to be the kind of person that's going to be upset about being downvoted for doing the wrong thing. And if it doesn't bother you, go right ahead - someone's always going to be downvoting you to reduce your rewards and you just have to live with that. You might even end up on the HiveWatchers blacklist and then no one's going to support you, so you may as well give up. You can try to start again with an alt, but a lot of curation groups on HIVE talk to each other and we find you out, eventually. You have to ask yourself if it's worth the effort. Get a job, get a life.
Okay, rant over.
What if you're a really good person and you got downvoted?
Well, some people aren't nice people. Sometimes people just want to bring others down because they're hurting themselves. Maybe they are jealous. Maybe they're in pain and want others to suffer. Maybe they are devil's spawn. The trick is not shrug and move on. Look at your upvotes on balance. Did you earn considerably more than the DV? Then don't worry about it - shrug and move on. Remember how excited you were when you got upvoted?. Hold onto that. Don't waste energy on a mosquito downvote.
But won't other people see the downvote and stop voting your posts?
Not if they understand how this works. Most people understand that a downvote isn't personal. It's not really a reflection on you or your content. If it's @spaminator though, I'd look twice. Therefore it really depends on who is doing the downvoting. Some people will tell you why, some people won't. If you want to find out, don't have a massive hissy fit and write a post attacking them and downvoted then with your 0.001 HP- send them a small memo politely asking why or contact them on Discord. And if you can't, or they don't respond, let it go. Or better, be humble and realise maybe you plagiarised, or maybe your content isn't as great as you think it it is. Look at what other people are doing and try to be better.
One of the other reasons you might be downvoted is that your post has been upvoted by a whale so that it gets a huge reward, but it's not really what it's worth, especially in comparision to others on the platform. Sure, maybe you've worked hard here for ages and think you deserve it due to blood, sweat and tears, but sometimes it's not about that - it's about that single post you wrote with three paragraphs that really shouldn't have got 100 HIVE because, if you really look in the mirror, can you say your post was better than the other ten that day that wrote fantastic, original, note worthy posts? Surely they deserve some of the reward pool as well? Sometimes your high rewards are only because some whale came past and thought they'd get some super curation rewards off you, and - don't get offended here - they made that judgement without even reading your post. Ouch. That hurts, huh? And then another whale will come along and think - hang on a cotton picking minute, this isn't THAT great - it aint 100 HIVE great - why should THIS post be in trending? And in the interests of HIVE, they'll reduce your rewards. Without naming who does this, I know for a fact it's in the best interests of the platform as a whole, and if you look at your rewards on balance, you've probably NOT been downvoted more than you've been upvoted, so you'll still profit from your rewards.
I think the whole point is not to get frustrated, upset and irrational when we get a downvote. Hey, I've been guilty of crying into my coffee and bitching about it, and going on a detective mission to find out who that horrible person might be. But it's not worth my energy. I just focus on the good, and realise that sometimes, downvotes are good - they were designed to serve a purpose here, after all. And sure, they're open to abuse, but then so are upvotes - and we don't complain when they come along, do we?
Unless those down votes happen to really Hammer you out or it is a personal vendetta between some crazy vegan named Kenny...
And at that point be honest and tell the world about how dumb that decision was!!!!
Yep I canceled the meetups here in Portland Oregon after getting smashed with a flag during the bid bot wars. Which was just an excuse for a lot of people to abuse other people and it really destroyed quite a bit of the community here.
Got to be careful with those flags...
@ganjafarmer I didn't want to get into the flag wars, as that's an entirely different story. THAT can get out of hand, for sure - dangerous territory!!! Luckily we don't have bidbots anymore and those days are - hopefully - over and forgotten.
I definitely don't think anyone should downvote re opinions, unless they're being racist, homophobic etc..in that case, go for your life! :P
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.Downvoting is not fun, it usually costs you a lot more than the downvote is worth. People here flip out when you downvote the post, sometimes they demand you to remove it, sometimes they revenge downvote you, other times they go and form a linch mob on discord and get some whale to get ya. Have fun with those downvotes, I'm over downvoting, hopefully HIVE will forget over time about my downvoting rampages of the past and move on.
Instead of downvoting I'm going to simply not upvote what I don't like, and move on.
You acted pretty badly. The community does have people like this burned into their brains.
So yeah you make enemies? People remember that. And you make your own reputation.
Same here. But I'd rather be who I am than cow to others.
And then.... Just think this.
Here you have to ultimate freedom of choice. You may be abusive and stupid. For the entire world to see.
Or you can be change.
We all make mistakes. However you are judged on how you manage them.
That's the real shame of it, isn't it? If you downvote someone, they retaliate - even if you nicely say 'Hey, downvoted you because it's plagiarised, look forward to some great content from you soon' - you know, 'giving ya a second chance' kinda thing. Well, it's like you insulted their mother - and they don't stop! It's crazy. I guess it's just due to mental health issues. I tend to avoid it, but do use @lotusmud to bring any plagiarised or shitposts in the Nat Med community down to zero LOTUS rewards, at least - but we usually always say WHY and are legit. Lynch mobs and retaliation is such poor behaviour - as is writing RANTS about it on their blog. It really shows a lack of self reflection and humility and ability to let things be. So I try to scroll on by as much as possible, but sometimes I feel a DV is legit warranted, so I'll always say why. If they want to DV me back, that's cool - as long as it's not a whale, hahah!!!
I see people change here all the time, and I'm always one for forgiving and moving on. I think we're a solid community and a few bad experiences in the past need to be left just there - in the past. They no longer exist.
Never DV'th before , until last week , some dirty fox stole my earned eggs , so i took some action and spoke out , Dared the rat to come from the dark and stand for it's deed .
Never any reaction , the twat just came back at night with some jackals and stole more eggs . ,... What are we gonna do , let them keep stealing eggs ,... i won't , ill secure my eggs , power down and get my skin out ,... no worry , just my skin , not the spirit that they can never touch .
I got me a little darkside pet on all i do now , some sonsadgesus ( @sunsetjesus ) sitting under a broken rock making more and more a fool out of him, her , or it's self . Some will see one day to , words have value , coin's have not . I would have loved to earn some from my creations , don't get me wrong , but i see my visions where i get my creations from have a very small audience these days . Or it could be that many read it and are a bit shy to vote , for i might burn your income if you do .
I value any upvote from a real live person , as small as it might seem , even zero , always more then a curator's or curation trails upvote . Just like i like wooden crafted window frames over plastic fabric ones ,... just put your hand down on that wood and you can even feel what i mean .
I hate downvotes , not that they worry me , i am fearless , going all the way , and if that means flat broke rewards ,.. so be it . ill find ways , might even put a crypto wallet address under all my post's from now on . ;-)
Are downvotes still an issue? I haven't gotten them lately so much... except for that @sunsetjesus guy with his -0.003
Well, to tell the truth, even back when I thought I got downvoted "a lot" for no reason, it was just one or max two on a post, by accounts that have never published a post, and usually had really low reputation anyway. So they didn't hurt really, it just bothered me having my impeccable profile tainted.
I have heard about flag wars, but never experienced them (thankfully). And these days I don't care about the occasional downvote with barely any power. I suppose if I actually did plagiarize, or posted offensive content, then I'd probably get more than one downvote, by people who have actually power. And that would probably hurt, but it would be rightfully deserved.
So the way I see it, downvotes are okay. I haven't used any of mine, but I'm sure I would, for the right reasons.
Ha, you tagged him - I was trying not to!! I do wish he'd just say why - clearly he's scared to ie lacks courage. I don't worry about people's reputation - if they're downvoted, whatever, as long as it's not for plagiarism. And especially old users like you, sheesh, as if I'm going to pay attention to a tiny downvote.
Well, I almost avoided tagging him, but then I thought... why not? The worst thing that I could see happening is... nothing, zero reaction, except for another downvote, which would have come anyway. For this reason I believe whoever is behind this account is not even human. There have been other like this before, and they don't tend to last long.
I'll never forget my first downvote... devastating at the time but thankfully it was only because I was following or voting for someone that they didn't like. I got caught in the cross-fire, so to speak.
Overall, my experience here has been very positive and I've made some great friends.
My advice for new-comers (when you truly haven't done anything on the naughty list!) is don't take it personally. It's not necessarily a personal attack, sometimes it is just a difference of opinion, and everyone is entitled to an opinion after all.
I think that's a good lesson for life, right? Don't take stuff personally. It's very rarely about us, that's for sure! I'm with you on the positive side of this place - that's what we need to focus on. Just sometimes we're hard wired to spend far too much atteniton on the negative.
Excellent words, very good explanation. If I don't have the time to write an article I prefer not to do it, so we avoid that kind of problems and regrets.
Yeah, I don't like the drama that springboards from it - that's why I never write about this stuff. But I've had so many questions about a particular DV action of late (not mine) that I had to write something.
I think this is not only applicable to new uers but new users too because when you don't get downvotes for long doesn't mean that you will not get it.
I would get my Stasi skills out and come after them with vengeance 😈😂,
just kidding, luckily no one has downvoted my content as of now. I think depending on your state of being at the time of a downvote it hurts you more or less. I would crunch too at first, what you see is a heart symbol broken and that you take as love being taken away from you.
I guess when you know why you got downvoted it doesn't bother you as much as if it just happens. For those who are plagiarizing and stuff a downvote doesn't really hurt period I would think, as it is a risk they calculate when taking the easy train.
Sure with some topics you might not be able to re-invent the wheel, but some personal touch you can give to any topic.
After all DVs are there and will be used, for good or for bad reasons. I haven't used DV, I just don't upvote a post. Either way, being a little fish in the sea it would just be a personal statement to DV and that is not worth the drama.
Hive is having some mechanisms to deal with stuff like that and unless I don't have a function besides being a random user I wouldn't rise above my means, creating bad vibes.
Amen 😇
Very interesting discussion... The issue of freedom and expression are fundamental to be able to understand the reasons why we should still have a certain order of respect towards those who strive for their work in hive, but as you rightly say, there are people who base their evaluation from the subjectivity of selfishness ...
We all evaluate from subjectivity.... From our way of thinking, hence many things we do not value and we pass by... Others where it causes us to be even intolerant... But each one sees the speck in the other's eye when it comes to evaluate...
That is why we must be measured... Equanimous... Frank...
Undoubtedly, a negative vote affects a lot when you feel that you have not been valued well...
I find it hilarious that someone downvoted the post about downvote. Someone obviously didn't get the memo 😄
Excellent post, and I hope everyone on HIVE is reading it...
Thanks. Oh yeah he's just blindly dv ing a heap of stuff in Nat Med, Abundance Tribe etc. Personal vendetta or just hates that kind of content or wild jealousy? Or all 3. Who knows.
I don't understand the principle, never downvoted a content here, never will (I actually did when I arrived 3 years ago, but it was a honest mistake).
There is no point of spreading negativity, I am even for deleting the button personally, but I know people won't like it.
Well, to that I'd say, it's "their" downvote and they can downvote whatever they like and no one can tell them what to do.. haha. I love that response! I mean I haven't seen it on here that much but I just mean in life in general. I get it all the time when someone will post/say something harmful to a marginalized group. I'll call them out, they'll drop some "freedom of speech" bullshit and say they can say whatever they want bla bla bla.. and it's like yeah, you're right, and I also have that same right to stand here and tell you that's a fucked up thing to say.
Didn't mean to get too off topic. I've never downvoted anyone.. although with my .01 vote it wouldn't really make much of a difference anyway. Have I seen things on here I strongly disagree with? That I wanted to downvote? That I wanted to leave an angry response to? That fit directly into that category mentioned above of harming marginalized group through narcissistic apathy? Of course. But, you know, it's their shit, and they can do what they want.
Great article for new people. I mean, I guess I'm a "new" person but I have prior experience on these types of platforms so I understand them. Your article made me reflect back to my first days on Steemit. I was so confused. I'm pretty sure I got some downvotes back then- but I'm also pretty sure those were bots due to low rep, vote value, dead profiles, etc. Honestly I remember a momentary disheartened feeling; but it didn't last long. I've noticed there are a lot of micro downvotes these days but they seem to be random- similar to the random comment micro upvotes that @dandays also noticed
| Well, to that I'd say, it's "their" downvote and they can downvote whatever they like and no one can tell them what to do. |
Or as I like to say, "I'm entitled to my opinion of your opinion."
precisely :)
Yeah those little dv's - micro ones - are weird, and it's what the fuss had been about to cause me to write this!
I totally agree with 'yeah, post what you want, it's your freedom to do so' to some extent, but the vibe is that if people are busting a gut to post original content and GOOD content, and someone just recycles their shit from two years ago to get upvotes 'because they can', well, that's a bit unfair and no wonder people have the urge to DV the bejesus out of it!
I had a lot of newbies message me worried about their DV, so I hoped this would help.
Oh no!! I'm sorry, my comment came off wrong. I wasn't trying to give plagiarism or recycled content the free pass, at all.. sorry about that!
I haven't been in the Hive community long, and haven't had much time to devote to it. So, I haven't yet had any occasion to downvote. If I ever do downvote someone, it would only be if I felt the content was completely inappropriate - like advocating acts of violence. I would never use it to express a difference of opinion.
I also meant to mention that I have not yet posted anything. But this is very good advice which I'll keep in mind for when I do. Thanks!
No worries, glad to help!
Hermosas fotografias, soy amante de la naturaleza y los paisajes, encantador tu post <3
At the first moment when I saw this downvote I was in shock, thinking what I did wrong cos I am yet "new" in this Hive Universe learning each day but when I talked with you I feel more calm and relax. Thank you for the explanation 💛