As I learn more about the platform and the community I find that I am left with more questions than I initially set out to answer.
Why did I lose reputation on Steemit?
The other day I noticed my reputation score sink even though I have been posting and engaging positively. It raised, and then dropped for no reason. I couldn't figure out why and couldn't find an answer on Google. I shook it off as a bug or something mysterious I didn't understand about the Steemit platform.
As a means to keep up with the community despite the lack of a notification section, I regularly check my comments and replies.
Today I noticed one of my comments greyed out. I didn't know what to think of it. It was a comment to a user named @Haejin about a coin I am currently holding called OmiseGo. The video was fair and informal with an interesting prediction. I was happy to finally see other people talking about OMG and so I commented and upvoted to show my appreciation for the content and info.
(Haejin's post)
At first I didn't think much about the greyed out comment with the option to reveal it, but still it bothered me because I didn't understand what was different from my other comments other than the words & substance. Did I say something wrong? No. Did I spam? No. I shrugged it off as a potential Steemit bug.
(my greyed out comment)
Rechecking my comment section I noticed the greyed out comment again with a little dot by the flag. It was the only flag with a dot by it. Using common sense I presumed this meant that my comment was flagged. I went back t the post to see if I noticed anything. My comment seemed appropriate and relative to the post but I quickly noticed the other flagged posts and fake user accounts. But the fake accounts were not greyed out and are still roaming around Steemit.
After taking note of this I was a bit hurt. I was being punished for no reason and it also made me want to avoid the platform all together. It wasn't fair but I quickly realized I was not alone. Not to mention my score has been doing well since then because I thrive to engage positively.
Although this unnecessary flag was hurtful, I wasn't alone and that was the important part. Many other good posts where flagged by the obvious fake accounts like haejinsucks. I was just shocked that after putting in so much work to provide honest comments on posts I truly enjoyed, one flag could cause so much harm. I have since then flagged the potential culprits (the obvious trolls) but am not sure how to avoid these issues in the future. I have since gone and upvoted all the greyed out, useful comments from real users in hope to help them because you should not be punished for following the community guidelines. Although I am a plankton I think any little bit can make a difference.
I wrote this post to see if any of the more seasoned users have any advice for newbies like myself and also to create a searchable post about how reputation on Steemit could be lost, as well as what the greyed out posts mean. I really look forward to seeing advice from this great community as many of you have already proven to be insightful and helpful. Please feel free to link any posts that may help new users such as myself on this subject. Thank you for your time.
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STOPThat is awesome to hear lol :D
There is a lot going on in Steemit and sorry you got hit. If you look closely you can see that some people don't like haejin while some people don't like another user berniesanders. I know what it feels like if something goes a mess and we really didn't do anything bad at all. There is a feeling of responsibility that we have to take action but best to play it cool and keep posting great comments on good blogs and your reputation will go up fast. Also visit @qurator. They helped me a lot.
Thanks for your kind words and perspective on this chaos lol. I'm learning as I go. Will check out @qurator
Keep creating
It is really disappointing to have people like that on Steemit but no matter where you go, things can unfortunately happen. It sucks to know you can get flagged for doing the right thing. Its very discouraging but that's just what it is. Steemit is still a great community. I hope you get your reputation back up soon and malicious flagging doesn't happen again.
The good thing is that the community is large enough that the reputation system actually works. Its comforting to know that though these people may cause some damage, they eventually weed themselves out by being negative.
Sorry you got caught in the middle of something and how it affects you on Steemit. Do you know who downvoted you? They should have to give a reason.
Being a newbie too, I understand how disappointing this is.