I think this is just a little bit unfair. Plenty of people feel that some big whales shouldn't be earning as they are. They were lucky (or smart) enough to get in early, or they were able to invest big, but their content isn't necessarily much better than that of a minnow, who earns $3.00 for a similar post. There might be a lot of disagreement on flagging and when it should be used. Some say it should be reserved for plagiarism, others say it should be used for curating, just as much as upvotes are used for that.
If you look at it like downvoting, so it's simply to curate good/bad content, then flagging gets a less bad rep. Plenty of people would like to downvote some content that they don't feel is very good (or simply over-rewarded by bots), but they are afraid of retaliation from a pissed off whale who can destroy their acount/reputation within minutes. I know I would be, so I use flagging for plagiarism and spamming only. I'd love for it to be called 'downvoting', placed right next to the upvote button, so people wouldn't be so scared to use it. It would feel like a fairer curating system, but that's not the Steemit we live in. In this case, we can only try to speak our mind and hope for some whales to fight our battles for us.
If we want fair, we need to change the way people look at flagging and we need to accept that it's used for curation aswell. If we want to be okay with big whales (not just Dan and Ned) ruling the platform, then we'll have to be okay with the whale war flags and hope we don't get on anyone's bad side. Flagging will simply keep its bad rep and everyone will be afraid of it.
I, personally, don't mind if > $1,000.00 payout posts with no more value than those that earn $3.00 get downvoted somewhat. I would love for that to become socially acceptable, but I know it won't.
In this case, fuzzy (in case you're reading), I don't mean your posts specifically. I really don't know enough about them to form any sort of opinion there.
This is not directed at you, but at a single point I'd like to address.
Who's content was it that helped build the platform up from nothing?
Was it the people who got here early when they were posting for months and earning nothing, yet continued supporting the platform OR was it the people who waited to see what would happen and then once they saw others actually got money they finally decided to support the platform and post?
For some that "good content" does not outweigh the continued support from those who got here early and stayed even when the price dropped to near nothing; while some others with "good content" only seem to show up when the price spikes, then tend to have extended vacations when the price is down.
Loyalty has it's rewards for some I guess and I think that's especially true for many whales/dolphins. I personally would rather support someone with mediocre content that sticks around and helps build the Community over someone with great content that post when the price is high, cashes out and leaves for 6 months until the next pump.
There's a lot more to Steemit than posting content. Behind the scenes, many of these people that aren't considered great content creators are some of the most ardent supporters and Community builders in the ecosystem.
Many don't see that part of them, because those people aren't Community builders and don't come behind scenes to help out, they just comment about content on Steemit and complain about how much in rewards someone did or didn't earn. So their perspective is skewed. :)
They see Alice, who's content is crap to them, and it's earning $300; but they have no idea Alice is in chat every single day helping out new users or fighting spam and then they complain about the rewards she's receiving.
I'm not saying that's always the case, but it is the case enough times to bring it up so that others are aware of why some with not so great content make big rewards. It's not always about the content, sometimes it's about the individual and the other things they do here and it works both ways. If someone's an ass, yet their content is great, they may get flagged to zero rewards. :)
I can completely understand what you wrote here and I agree that content isn't the only reason people deserve upvotes. Heck, I upvote people, simply because they're good conversational partners too.
You're right, some people do a lot of things behind the scenes and deserve rewards for that. I'm sure some actually get those and others don't. People don't always notice these contributions, but if they are really that invisible, shouldn't we drag those contributions out into the open more? We've got plenty of members who keep going up there in Trending. Why not have them shine the spotlight on some valuable, behind the scenes members?
What I don't completely agree on is the fact that the early birds should be constantly rewarded for being the first ones. Yes, they got in first and put their faith into a platform. However, from what I've seen, posts from the early days got crazy high payouts, compared to now. Isn't that their reward? They've managed to build up their earnings really fast here, while an average newbie struggles to even get $1.00 payouts now.
Yeah, some people are here, simply to cash in when the price is right. However, not all of our low earning minnows are new and not all of them quit when things get rought. There are plenty here that have pumped out posts every single day for over half a year and they are still struggling to get seen. They don't leave when things get tough. Yes, they vent sometimes, but can you really blame them? By now, they've been here half as long as the first members have. By next year, that difference is only a quarter. How long do the first members have to be carried on hands and feet for being the first? Who even qualifies as being the first? I'm sure if Steemit is still here, 10 years from now, all of us current members will all be considered the first.
So when is someone seen as a loyal member? I've been here about 8 months now and have never stopped posting more than a few days, due to vacation, where I refuse to go online. I help plenty of people out aswell, but I do it through comments, because I don't know how all of this 'behind the scenes' stuff works. Am I a loyal member? Or will I never be, because I hadn't heard of Steemit 6 months before I joined? Or because I'm not a programmer or other useful backstage person?
(P.S. Not meant to be personal, I'm just using myself as an example here.)
Bravo 👏🏻... Bravo 👏🏻
Up-Yunked