If you build up a big follower base, you can operate with impunity to censorship bots/groups.
The censorship groups like @steemcleaners do not have enough power to flag a big steemiters, or successful posts that operate outside of their guidelines.
So this means minnows have no power, and whales have it all.
For example, if a minnow posts an affiliate link, it's more than likely that his post will get completely hidden, whereas a whale will still have his post for all to see.
This means the censoring of minnows actually drives more affiliates to whales, because they are the only source of affiliate links. The whales should be thankful for the censorship, as it drives more traffic to their links. It actively feeds the top of the chain, and prevents minnows from stepping on their turf.
Whether anyone should post affiliate links or codes is a different topic, I'm just highlighting how it is.
Currently the appeals process for these censorship groups is painful. You can reply to a their comment on your post and wait a few days with no response. You can ask them in an appeals chat about the post - and get no response. I did both. It feels like a big automated machine where you cannot actually discuss or ask questions about what to do.
Yesterday, after no response from @steemcleaners, I changed one of my articles to avoid "bot" detection and reposted it. I was more than happy to change my post, but I assumed that this was all bots because there was no communication or reply to my questions.
My blog post skyrocketed to #1 hot in the bitcoin tag - and had a unanimous approval and positive comments.
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@softgrip/the-future-of-money
Today it's been flagged again, but I managed to get past the approval barrier, so my post is still be visible. The single response I've had is only after the appeal to my second post.
Damn Man SomeOne Is Flagging You Like Crazy, What's Wrong ?
This post received a 2.1% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @steemian69! For more information, click here!
I Think These Guys Hate You Now :
All I Can Tell You Bro Is Either Start Another Steemit Account And Leave This One For Upvoting And Resteeming Or Buy Like 50,000 SP And Fight These F**kers !!!
nothing is left unnoticed =)
I Got It From SteemNow.com And I Put @softgrip In The Username, It Gives You Your Upvote, Curation History :p
it looks like your "The Future Of Money" post seemed to be too tasty to flag =))
So, someone decided to swallow the whole reward. Nice =) and it's SO polite =)