Where shall I start? I did allow myself to get sucked into this mess, but I was not the one doing the downvoting.
No doubt you have heard tales of haejin who managed to get a big stake and control of the ranchorelaxo account. I don't know the full history of that account got so big, but some account claimed to be owner and that he had lost his keys (!!). So haejin has a big delegation despite powering down himself. He was making hundreds of dollars each day by churning our short posts and self-voting. Now he amuses himself by making something by curation by voting up various people. I've no idea what his criteria are, but I doubt he reads them.
I believe (making assumptions) that smooth aims to redistribute rewards so as to reduce the impact haejin has. If haejin had used rancho too the rewards might have been too much for even smooth to remove. We can each only do about two full downvotes per day and recharge by tomorrow. We can do ten full upvotes in the same time, so it would take a massive account to undo all haejin can do.
This does mean some people will get a big downvote, but they will still make something on the post.
So UVM (as I will abbreviate her) got a haejin vote (over $7) as well as a much bigger one from trafalgar (a whale who never comments these days, so we don't know his motives). smooth noticed this in his browsing and voted to cancel the haejin vote. He could have taken off more, but didn't. So the post still had $40 on it, which is a nice amount.
Then UVM kicks off that smooth is ruining things. No mention of the $25 trafalgar vote or all the appreciator votes she's had ($25 or more).
So did she lose or gain overall? Looks like a gain to me, even if it was not as much as she hoped for. Complaining about it will attract some unwanted attention, but that is typical.
Here is another account who gets haejin and rancho votes with some downvotes from smooth and ocdb. She still makes $30-$90 per post each day. Given how much people make generally that is pretty good. I think she is in Ukraine where that will go a long way. There are others who also benefit if you check Trending and many have not been downvoted. Perhaps the whales ran out of DV power for the day.
UVM has referred to some other people 'suffering', but has not specified them that I have seen. She and those I have found are not doing too bad really compared with the unwashed masses.
I get that a lot of the 'old guard' get huge rewards regardless, but their votes tend to come from other big accounts who appreciate what they have done for Hive. I cannot pre-judge everyone's motives.
I do not think it is as bad as UVM makes out. She is also earning on Steem and Blurt.
I just think 'the lady doth protest too much' after getting one downvote whilst still earning well.
I don't think smooth was singling her out. He could leave a comment to explain what he is doing, but he did respond to her in here. She accused him of being self-serving when you can see he is supporting the efforts to stabilise HBD. I know he has done a lot for the platform that may be invisible to most.
I am not sure most people really do understand how Hive works. It is a 'magic money tree' for many. If they are lucky to get a big vote then it's a miracle! They may not think that others make less when they make more.
No, Hive is not 'fair', but it is doing a lot of good on the whole.
I think I've said enough.
Damn.
I stopped posting on STEEM about 3 years ago. Just came back to poke around. Haejin was a huge problem then and I was one of them that got caught up in it and down voted a bunch trying to point out his abuse.
Looks like Haejin is still making waves.
Sorry mate, I don't get it. I don't get how anyone can justify a loss through no fault (in this case) of her own by saying, "But you've earned a small fortune over time." that's insane!
If I follow that view correctly, then I can take half your account because you've earned a lot over the years, and what I take will be outweighed by what you've earned. I'm sure every thief has made that argument to justify their actions over the centuries.🤦♂
And as for this "Stabilising" bullshit, you do realise you're advocating Control, don't you? You can't say Hive is like the wild west, a free-for-all, and then say that Hive needs stabilising or [Witnesses] controlling rewards and or popularity. Isn't this what a lot of users have been saying? That Hive only benefits a small circle-jerk group at the top of the food chain and that others are deliberately kept down? Since when was it anyone's place to Stabalise Hive?
Tell you what, if we're going to pander to peoples choices, then can I have everyone who has a large Youtube account kicked out of Hive pretty please with a cherry on the top. 😁
It wasn't a 'loss' as she still made $40! (until others thought she didn't deserve that for complaining). If haejin had not voted she would have made about the same and it's far more than most. As I'm tired of saying, rewards are not finalised until payout.
If someone thinks I make too much then they are entitled to adjust it, but it would be nice to make something. I do get downvotes and I don't care. The greater community gets to decide my rewards for good or ill.
What is 'the thief' gaining by this? Being seen as a bully can't be great and all actions are public. You (and everyone else) will actually make a little (tiny amount) more from his actions.
They are not stabilising HIVE. HBD is supposed to be pegged to a dollar for reasons too complex to me, but the speculators think otherwise. Some people think it is worth trying to remedy that.
People can do whatever they think is right for themselves or for Hive. They have that freedom. The witnesses have invested time and/or money to get their influence and stake gives weight. If they do enough they gain respect and may make more.
You are mis-reading their intentions IMHO.
If you go back far enough Haejin was making about $100 per post, which was a fair chunk of the pool, and giving nothing to anyone else. Selfish behaviour can be considered abuse and eventually the community acted to reduce what he made. Eventually he gave up. On Steem nobody seems to care.
I see loads making over $100 for posts that I don't think are worth it, but then that's just my opinion. Others probably think it's worth more, but then we're back in the realms of "fair", aren't we?
Unless someone was doing something wrong, like the spamming incident the other day, I will never agree with an arbitrary action to reduce rewards simply because someone thinks someone else is being rewarded far too much. To me, that looks like someone throwing their [financial] weight around, and I hate bullies.
I've said my piece. I think I'll leave it there.
Fortunately (Or unfortunately) I have no idea who Haejin is and I'm not sure what it has to do with @ultravioletmag unless you're saying ultravioletmag was/is behaving like Haejin?