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RE: Sweetsssj

in #steemit7 years ago (edited)

I've upvoted a few comments here and yes, even the OP - not because I necessarily agree with the OP (see below) but because it has caused a lot of interesting discussion and that's one thing I like in a community. Sure there are some inflammatory and pointless comments, but also quite a bit of thoughtful navel gazing about many Steemit topics.

Firstly IMO down voting although an attractive idea at first is often abused in ways that make it not an idle way to enhance surfacing of quality content (by hiding poor content). Punishing what is considered trolling by flagging is just bullying. IMO trolls should just be ignored - by OPS and commenters. This is almost like giving them a hell ban.

Granted I've only occasionally looked at sweetssj's posts (it's really not my thing but it's hard to ignore them and occasionally she is in some place interesting to me - which is exactly the point) but I haven't noticed any of random's comments either - perhaps because they are always lurking at the bottom below better comments or are now hidden due to his negative reputation. Either way, I feel like trolls should just be ignored.

As for the authenticity of sweetssj's posts. Well to me it is clear that someone is visiting all these places and posting all those words but ultimately I don't really care - so much of pop-culture is all about perceived images. How many pop, movie and sports-stars are actually unpleasant jerks in real life? My partner used to work in that biz with both pop and movie stars and she'll tell you - quite a few actually. But does that mean fans are being deceived and cheated, should they stop being fans and seeing movies, videos or sports games?

I personally think even if sweetssj started posting some photos of a production crew with pro-lighting set ups, make up artist, a rack of outfits on each shoot I'm sure she'd still get lots of upvotes and maintain a big following. She could also go the other way of some YouTube stars that I know and follow - arrange some meetups or pose for photos with fans. However meeting random strangers from the Internet is stressful and could even be dangerous so I don't think anyone should be expected to do that.

However I think it just boils down to a question of what the premise of Steemit is - isn't it simply rewarding popular content? Who are we to police what is popular? Isn't the OP effectively saying "I don't like what you like so you can't have it"? That sounds worse than censorship of posts to me, it's actually censoring what other people think.

As to the authenticity of Sweet's posts - I think it is entirely possibly someone is doing this on their own. I have a friend who's job takes her to travel all around the world for short amounts of time doing training classes. She gets to rack up lots of miles and her husband is an airline pilot as well so even on vacation she is able to travel all over the world - she's in Mongolia right now. Her travel guide and blog is extensive - was mostly written up in a few months of evenings of free time and has lots of amazing, cool and fun photos. She doesn't have a production team, has friends or her husband take photos and does all her own writing. However she's not a young "hot" Asian and there are no gratuitous swimsuit photos - it's not about her or images of her anyway, it's about being a travel guide to help others visiting places where she has been.

But sweet's posts I think are part fantasy, part "art", and part travel guide. My advice - up-vote if they please you, move on if they do not interest you, mute her if they irritate or offend you. And if you must post repetitively about things from a user you don't like... consider just posting them on your own blog only (like the post above here) with a link to what bothers you. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but incessantly ramming them down other people's throats will just annoy them to the point where you are labelled a troll and will suffer whatever consequences a platform offers for retribution. As I pointed out above I don't personally think the ability to use flagging to counter trolling is really a great idea - even if well applied in one case it is wide open to abuse in many others.

Edit: one thing I forgot to mention - I think it is a valid point to criticize someone who doesn't upvote any comments - assuming there are some good ones that aren't just follow and vote begging. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the observation about Sweet's posts in particular, but really folks - tending to your comments is a great way to build a following, help others and help yourself. But please criticize in a constructive way - no need to abuse someone for not doing it, maybe they are noobs like I was a month ago and haven't figure out how things work, what the economics are and even how to easily see when they have comments. I doubt that applied to Sweetssj in recent times but if they start upvoting after you point out they weren't that's to be congratulated - and to be seen as an open opportunity to make great comments on posts.

Remember folks: share and enjoy!