You don't have to downvote anyone.
The reward pool is fixed and is shared out in proportion. So upvoting someone else is equivalent in value to downvoting haejin in terms of percentages.
The real problem is that the rest of the community isn't upvoting enough. They could easily counter the whales by going on voting sprees and voting for deserving articles (the articles the whales vote for then get less of a reward percentage).
If you want to stop abuse the most efficient way is to go out on a voting spree and the more people who do this, the more effective it will be.
because, whats the point when your vote is literally worth less than .01? wasting votes. i vote on posts and comments i think are good content. but it has no impact.
although this is annoying and disturbing drama to be observing as a newb, its an important topic to the future of steemit. if im going to invest 6-8 hours a day writing one post that might get 1$, its worth following this pissing contest a bit. So, here i am trying to make sense of it.
your suggestion sounds good, but doesnt seem like it would even put a dent in the problem because minnows still wouldnt be able to effectively participate in directing the future of this platform. 0.01 vote helps no one. all it does is drain your inconsequential voting power.
the people who are earning so much, good for them, i guess. some of them. whales complaining all over the place how whats his face is basically cheating, yet are not helping minnows get stronger to join in. there are way more minnows here than witnesses and whales. so when you say everyone should upvote other people, ummm. minnows are but its bascially null and void, at the mercy of a whale or curation team for a couple of crumbs. there are some curation teams which are super inspiring because they truly are giving benefit to the community. helping others.
lastly, is steemit going to be a social platform where only discussions on crypto have value? i was under the impression it was supposed to be an all inclusive diverse world wide social network. why are MORE whales and Witnesses NOT bumping up minnows? is it because of greed? afraid to lose power? because thats sure what it looks like. if you think everyone should just start upvoting everyone else, minnows need a whole shit ton more leverage. sorry so long
If thousands of minnows are voting, then it adds up as far as the reward pool goes.
The problem is that most minnows think like you do and are not bothering - and that attitude hands power to the whales.
Not true! We ARE voting! As I said, I'm commenting and upvoting every single day at an easily weakened 100%. Maybe 10 votes a day before I'm slapped on the wrist with loss of voting strength from participating too much. How is that giving more power to the whales? I'm voting on stuff that's really well constructed by people who are investing their soul into the content they're creating. It's just like real life. My vote has no direct effect but I'm sure as hell going to vote anyway for the reason that I like SUPPORTING the people who are doing a great job.
i was trying to emphasize my point which is a little hard to show through text sometimes. so i wanted to clarify, reading my response to you in my head, i was not screaming hahaha. i was being animated but not angry for what its worth.