A few weeks ago @fubar-bdhr published Boosters-- Why they are Bad for Steem and Steemit.
"Something needs to be done by the community to reign in this abuse. We need to not only put pressure on the abusers by removing their payouts but the owners of these boosters. Get them to check who they are voting on. Get them to add protection for voting on accounts that are on @cheetah. Get them to not vote on posts that have been identified as abuse by @steemcleaners. Get them to not vote on low rep and especially 0 rep and under accounts. Get them to remove votes on posts and accounts identified as abuse."
Within the first 6 hours following this post having been published, @reggaemuffin responded that he would be happy to offer API access for the blacklist to any bot owner who wanted to use it.
This shows that @reggaemuffin and @buildteam are active in this community and responsive to it's needs.
Currently I'm co-ordinating with @reggaemuffin, community leaders, and bot developers to get this all set up, and make the process easier for everyone.
Also, @minnowbooster has an amazing customer service department in it's Discord Chat Server.
There was an extensive discussion in the comments section of that post, so I've collected some of that material here.
"We have a daily and weekly limit that slows down abuse. We have a blacklist for minnowbooster specific abuse. We are in contact with the steemcleaners and report spam we notice while checking minnowbooster votes. Multiple team members are even helpers in the steemcleaners discord. We disabled voting on comments, And I am using a big chink of my personal voting power to combat abuse by flagging away rewards."
@bloom says:
"These upvote bots may not only be bad for steemit as a whole, but sometimes also for those using them, at least for those producing good content. If used early, they discourage upvotes by real users as they make posts overvalued and destroy possible curation rewards. So there are cases where users don't get upvotes precisely because they are using these bots. I think for many of them it would better to produce quality content and wait until they get discovered, because that's what curators are looking for: undervalued quality content."
And there is something that can be done apart from not upvoting and downvoting: not voting for witnesses who operate bots that might be harmful. I make it a personal policy not to vote for such witnesses, including those involved in the heavily promoted minnowsupport project (MSP), before I see some evidence that the overall effect of these bots is positive."
Before I share @reggaemuffin's response I'd like to introduce you to:
MSP Anti-Abuse Team
MSP-AAT is in their 8th week of operation and @Discordiant is doing an exemplary job of responding to these concerns(way before this post by fubar). He is the MSP liaison with @steemcleaners, and works overtime to make sure that these services, which are meant to help new users on this platform, are not abused.
MSP Anti-Abuse Team. Weekly Report #8
If you want the quick version you can read this post by @narconaught about the MSP Anti-Abuse Team which was written a few weeks ago, and highlights it's duties pretty well.
Now, back to ReggaeMuffin:
I made minnowbooster to give the botting world a good example of a bot. And that includes proactively mitigating abuse of it.
In the end botting is not preventable, so instead I am trying to establish a well-meaning bot. should steem change in a way that makes voting bots stop working then I will be glad. Until then I hope minnowbooster is the better alternative.
...
I hope you evaluate my witness work separate from my minnowbooster work. If you decide against voting for me because of minnowbooster that is something I have to live with :) Should you ever be in need of support or if you have any questions about how steem works, in detail, I am available in my duty as a witness to assist you :)"
I will note, here, that I've seen this sentiment from @reggaemuffin ever since he got here: "please contact me if you need any help". This is not an idle offer. I have met only a small handful of witnesses who have made themselves as available to the community, minnow a whale alike. Reggae has a heart of gold.
"Since minnowbooster is crowd-funded, most of it's earnings are actually going to all the users who invest in us and how much they earn is all visible on the blockchain in daily payment transfers with detailed memos. We plan to develop graphs that show earnings and daily payout in a parsable format (json) and in a human readable format (plots and tables) so you can see everything without having to query the blockchain. But that process is still undergoing.
We show all upvotes the bot did on our website: https://www.minnowbooster.net/upvotes and offer other features there that should improve transparency. Obviously the blockchain is the tamper-proof way of verifying what our website displays.
@Buildteam is doing a monthly bidding process for the BUILDTEAM token that allows everyone to invest in the team and get a share of their earnings. We use this token to pay all our team members, who work hard to provide all the services we provide. More infos on this here:
"Here is a list of projects where I have offered my support with a donation and the possibility for a salary in BUILDTEAM tokens:
- https://steemit.com/steemdev/@armandocat/steemit-more-info-1-2-chrome-extension-firefox-extension#@reggaemuffin/re-armandocat-steemit-more-info-1-2-chrome-extension-firefox-extension-20170929t121405680z
- https://steemit.com/deutsch/@quincho/steemworld-challenge-deutsche-version#@reggaemuffin/re-steemchiller-re-quincho-steemworld-challenge-deutsche-version-20170928t125550788z
- https://steemit.com/deutsch/@leroy.linientreu/neues-sensationelles-steem-tool-steemworld#@reggaemuffin/re-steemchiller-re-leroylinientreu-re-leroylinientreu-neues-sensationelles-steem-tool-steemworld-20170927t102122524z
- https://steemit.com/steem/@jedigeiss/steemworld-is-here-impressive-new-tool-all-informations-at-one-glance-check-it-out#@reggaemuffin/re-jedigeiss-steemworld-is-here-impressive-new-tool-all-informations-at-one-glance-check-it-out-20170927t101054266z
- https://steemit.com/steem/@dehenne/lets-turn-steemit-into-a-mmorpg#@reggaemuffin/re-dehenne-lets-turn-steemit-into-a-mmorpg-20170927t103527347z
There are way too many challenges to count that I am supporting. Also multiple community projects like @stach or
I hope it is clear, now, that @minnowbooster, and @minnowsupport are doing a great job at mitigating any abuse of their services, and that @reggaemuffin and @aggroed are doing their best with the most widely used services on Steem, as witnesses, and as human beings.
Another post is forthcoming, highlighting @aggroed's career here and detailing his specific view on this subject.
DISCLAIMER: These are my own views and not to be considered as official releases from either of these witnesses or projects. Any weaknesses in this post are my own. Any strengths this post exemplifies, are a reflection of the amazing community that makes up @minnowsupport and the @minnowbooster team.
References
- @fubar-bdhr - Boosters. Why they are bad for Steemit.
- Minnow Booster's discord Chat Server
- Welcome, MSP Anti Abuse Team
- Steemian of the Month. Witness and Rockstar-Developer @reggaemuffin (Part #1)
- Steemian of the Month. Witness and Rockstar-Developer @reggaemuffin (Part #2)
- @minnowbooster - Abuse Cases Defined
Thanks for reading "The Inquiring Times" by #newsteem
Join Us in the SteemitBC Discord Server
One thing I can say about @reggaemuffin is that he is always keen in helping you when you are in need and he is a good coder too.
Thanks dan @inquiringtimes for introducing me to this minnowsupport last 2 weeks ago. It really helps not only boosts my posts but my confidence as well. :)
Affirming your support for them right?
that would be correct.
As a relative newbie to Steemit, I've received tremendous support from a handful of people in the minnow support project. While I understand the argument against bots, I don't see a way to stop them. Steemit is the wild west and at least someone is attempting to pull in the reigns, as it were, to curtail abuse. Great article!
If any of the bot creators/operators want to work with me and our Blacklist, I can find a way to get them access to our list.
yeah, we should talk about that stuff
Totaly agree that @reggaemuffin has a heart of gold, he's awesome :) definitely able to help out on posts that deserve to get a boosted and stood out there. Great post man, thanks for sharing and have a nice day. #keepsteemin
This is a very nice piece. It kind of entails the "If you can't beat them, join them" mentality, but also tries to improve the way things are done so that everyone gets better. It's kind of like the Google Fiber of Steem. We don't want to put our service everywhere, we just want to scare the cable companies into being more fair with their pricing. haha
Anyone who goes to Steemcleaner's Discord will see Reggae and other members of the Minnowbooster team there working with Patrice on a daily basis. I think they really mean it when they say they want to curtail abuse of their system.
Awesome post! Thanks for sharing!!
you are a funny guy, mike.
Also thoughtful, capable, and superduper.
img credz: pixabay.com
Nice, you got a 10.0% @minnowbooster upgoat, thanks to @thecryptodrive
Want a boost? Minnowbooster's got your back!
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @inquiringtimes to be original material and upvoted(2%) it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
very good post
Very interesting and very helpful. I will definitely check out this minnowsupport and minnowbooster. I'm a bit confused with all these bots etc. but this sounds good. Thanks for sharing.
@inquiringtimes
#newsteem
Comforting to know there are Steemians keeping the platform safe from abuse.
upvoted,
🎀 @theprettysoul 🎀