Thanks for the suggestion. I will get on that verify process immediately. I do see having a community here superior. Neither Communities nor SMTs were ready when last I was on Steem. So I'm SO EXCITED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL HERE. And see what Leo did with it, I am literally STOKED. But like... not if every other post gets demonetized by downvote bots. Not that I mind so much, but I know my userbase would feel like shit if I brought them into an uptight, overly judgmental or toxic environment. Many don't join medium and stay on Facebook simply because users there will flat out comment that your article sucks! LOL! (I know, I'm a writer for 3 publications on Medium too.)
I have big dreams that's all. I don't want special treatment. Just the ability to participate.
Back on Steem I never liked when folks promoted posts all the way up $500 and I would never do that here, but I definitely think it's valuable if I'm spending an hour on a post that I can boost it— after fees and the WAIT for rewards, they usually half. And then converting SBD to LEO or HIVE or Tips will run it down, etc. It's working for pennies, most of which I keep or put back into the system. I'm very much about staking- but I like to maximize my efforts but not be wasteful.
Anyhow, thank you for your help and advice.
People have to realise that with rewards at stake there will be abuse, but people should not cry over every tiny downvote. Some will choose to troll the system. What you have suffered this week is definitely not typical and seems to be an unintended effect of a script.
Buying votes is generally frown upon on Hive. There's a thing called Project Hope that was giving votes to their community if it got 50% of the post rewards, but the greater community did not like that and many were downvoted to remove the big vote.
Nobody is entitled to rewards here and they should be earned based on what the community thinks. That does not always happen as some big accounts automate their votes, but there are curation projects that use manual reviews.
There are no hard rules here, so you have to see what works for you without upsetting too many people.