This proposal is a form of protection because it will protect a % of future earnings.
I have spent 7 years developing for a virtual world and fighting theft/fraud/abuse and any other dark matter spawned from the bottom of the barrel user base. Over the last few weeks i have been keeping a very close eye on levels of exploitation that is taking place and could potentially get out of control on steemit.
If you take away the key they cant open the door
Basic logic really. Eliminate the simple possibilities to exploit and the attraction to exploit is lost. If it takes to long or is to difficult, the profit becomes too task - la - matic.
I hope to hell they hold off for as long as possible on the "Sign Up With Email" option. The Horde of bottom feeders will have tsunami effect on steemit.
The three major issues i have noticed
- Bots.
- Copy and pasted comments that have no relevance to the post.
- Upvoting votes from single user multi generated accounts.
Expect this to expand like a bubble on steroids if action isn't taken. Something needs to be implemented before the introduction of "Email Account Creation".
My Proposal
Make the Flagging option multifunctional.
- Flags current comment or post (currently active).
- Disables the ability for that user to comment on any of my future posts.
- Disables the ability for that user to upvote on any of my future posts.
- Disables the ability for that user to upvote any comments on any of my future posts.
Mute option (currently disabled) 
The flagging suggestions mentioned above could also be implemented with the mute button. But i think we should take this one step further. We should have our own blacklist. We can add or remove usernames. The option for users to share their lists would make the task less work. Blocking multiple users fast is key.
A mute option in the profile could be a way to add and remove users to a muted list.
The Dungeon
- The blacklists from all Steemit users kept on a public database.
- The database would record and cross reference inputs by users.
- If particular offenders are submitted to the database x-amount of times, they would be moved to the "Dungeon"
- All dungeon dwellers would be automatically blacklisted to all steem users.
There is no escape from the Dungeon
Steemit is a young child and growth and maturity will come. However i have seen platforms destroyed because of exploits. I want as much protection possible for my investment as well as yours.
USERS GAMING THE SYSTEM. I am no code expert whatsoever but i have been using programs,apps online platforms for over a decade, and seen the decline of many for this one simple reason.
Side Note We need a way to display our entire wallet history:)
This is a great idea, but dont you think that the flagging-bots would just become more powerful? Like, some users employ bots to flag all other posts within a given topic, so that their post rises faster. Increasing the power of flagging would potentially make this attack even more damaging. When I first came to the site, downvote brigades (aka ecpnomic bullying) were common among non-bots - and I can only imagine what would happen if the powers of the flag were increased. There is such an important role to be played by curators. Its kind of silly that some of the core functions like "follow" and "mute" are still non-functional. I mean, there are sites with better interfaces that DONT have a 300+ million dollar cryptocurrency to finance it.
You may be correct with part of the flagging structure, but i don't believe what is going on can continue. The increase of spam and users purposely upvoting votes is like direct theft to honest curators. If this ecosystem is to survive it needs something in place to minimize damage to it's core benefits. The ability to mute is definetly something that needs to be in place. At least this will prevent further attacks from the exploiters.
Actually i just had to go eat food and get some more brain power back,lol...no you mis understand what i was trying to put across( i think), maybe the way i described it wasn't 100% the way i intended it. What my way of thinking is: When you manually flag a comment it also automatically mutes that user from any attempts to comment/vote/upvote anything of yours. It is not about creating a flagging bot to grief flag for position, it is about protecting your account from being leeched. Also notice i say 'my' (meaning mine and you as the reader)not all, i am referring only to the actual account being targeted, not giving the power to that user to globally set the flag for all future posts, merely a way to protect there own account, and submit that information to a global database. How that database algorithmically effects the outcome of that offender would be obviously decided by the powers above
Oh I see, actually you answer something that could be really crucial in balancing the power. It protects the user. I understand now - and have no counter arguments other than suggesting that once youve flagged a user once, you cant do it again for 24 hours to prevent further brigading and harassment. The flagging bots are usually targeting specific users and/or topics, which is soooo unfair. Thanks for the good conversation :)
You have my vote. Make the community a better place!
good proposal, it is necessary
It might seem draconian to the really hardcore libertarians among us, but personally I think it's more than reasonable that if any single user is getting flagged to absurd levels, as well as never Upvoted ... their account should be forfeited.
The "as well as never Upvoted" bit is important though. It should never be illegal to be controversial. Think Milo Yiannopoulos on Twitter - not everyones taste, but he's entitled to his opinion.
Agree
Proper mute and BLOCK functionality is badly needed.
I've noticed drama starting here and there recently, and people making malicious flagging.
I fell victim to it today after some person (or people, not sure) took exception to a comment i made, asking for verification on an intro post. - A handful of my recent posts were then flagged, clearly maliciously, by multiple accounts. Obviously, I'd like to be able to block these accounts completely. Kinda messed up situation.
Exactly.....if nothing else we need that mute button to mute all activity on our posts, from any users we apply it to.
"If particular offenders are submitted to the database x-amount of times, they would be moved to the "Dungeon""
Why dont you just move them to your personal dungeon. Why should you have the power to choose who I see and who I dont. I dont want to follow sheeps like you.
Twitter and YouTube and Facebook has a lot of these big censor things too. Steemit was supposed to maybe not be too much like them and I hope maybe they do not become too left and centric.