By "Voting Abuse" I mean the self-voting or proxy-voting of LOW EFFORT posts and comments.
-self voting a Bot (self voting of welcome bots becoming increasingly popular)
-self voting a spammy comment ( "Thanks" "Hi" "Welcome" "Interesting")
-self voting a non original low effort post (just posting a youtube video or an internet picture and self voting)
This activity is spreading fast and it's called #SteemFarming or #rewardpoolrape.
The whale @BernieSanders opened 2 new accounts @rewardpoolrape and @eatrewards to farm rewards, though he says he's doing it just to prove a point.
The 2 accounts involved in the stunt are already making a fortune:
https://steemit.com/@rewardpoolrape
https://steemit.com/@eatsrewards/comments
This highlights once and for all that without a combined effort from all Whales to tackle this abuse there is no future for Steem. And downvoting just this 1 big abuser and ignoring the miriads of other abusers won't work either.
It needs to be a systemic approach that will eradicate all abusers, whether big or small.
What can be done?
Steemit Inc and Whales should delegate at least 3 million Steem Power to a Downvote Team which will indentify all low effort self voters and flag them into oblivion.
Millions of Steem Power are being wasted in delegations to circle jerkers (all voting each other and selling votes) when defending the integrity of the platform is far more important.
If word gets out that Steem is an exploitable platform all your vast amounts of Steem will soon turn to dust.
#SteemFarming is happening all across the Steem platform.
Here a few examples that are only the tip of an iceberg:
@newsteemians Welcome Bot self voted by proxy @gaman. Self votes under the guise of offering a service to help steemians (free resteem service).
https://steemit.com/@newsteemians/comments
@hien-tran Welcome bot shuffles between 15 different replies to avoid detection. proxy self voted by @tonyson4078
https://steemit.com/@hien-tran/comments
@coinlend Not sure if a bot or manual comments. The fact remains this kind of spammy comment should not be rewarded.
https://steemit.com/@coinlend/comments
@pilot Manual comments. Yet even less engaging and thoughtful than a bot. proxy self voted by @wonka (just a decoy)
https://steemit.com/@pilot
There are hundreds of active Steem Farmers like these ones self voting low effort posts/comments just to milk rewards. The worrying thing is that they are increasing in number exponentially. The clock is ticking....either this issue is resolved in a timely manner or we'll soon see Youtube videos exposing how easily gamed the Steem platform is, with inevitable sell offs from genuine Investors. On the flip side, if Steem proves capable of dealing with such abuses and exploits its price would skyrocket!
Would be wise if @ned and @Steemit (who control a huge amount of Steem Power) would hire someone to counter this kind of abuses and exploits.
Abusers once they see they can't exploit the system anymore might power down or simply hold and engage in more productive social activity.
But smart big investor's money will start pouring in and viewing Steem as a more legitimate and sustainable platform.
The current community funded initiatives like @spaminator and @steemcleaners seem unable to deal with any of the examples I highlighted in this post.
PS: I'm not putting myself forward. If anything I'd like to see people like @sherlockholmes, @paulag and @behindsteemit taking charge in neutralizing abuse of the Steem platform, even if they may ruffle a few feathers.
EDIT: The best example yet of Self Vote Abuse by @checkthisout and @grumpycat
This is a great tool to catch these blatant self/proxy voters: http://www.steemreports.com/trending-comments/
Yes, Steemit Inc. should delegate at least 3-5 millions SP to few moderators to counter these abusers. Can somebody with connection to @ned or top witnesses (@jesta, @timcliff) reach them? It is getting beyond the realm of absurdity.
What makes you suspect they aren't not only aware of it, but are it?
Not saying they actually are, but that there's no way to know they aren't.
I'm pretty sure the bones of Steemit were made for this purpose. Actions speak louder than rhetoric.
nice post, really true just to say me i fuck nobody because i'am new and the rules are not easy, and 3 weeks ago in 15 minutes i was in 43 of reputation, and after at 7. since this day i'm trying to come back, and in the same time i learned many things about steemit, and you have a big part of mother fucker here @ericjordan
Isn't this the same problem with creating more and more bots here on the platform?
Here's more of this kind of self-vote abuse on an even bigger scale!
https://steemit.com/sbd/@checkthisout/sbd-correction
thats well over the top.
Thanks for the mention :-)
Must be a great Steemit user to be called out for ruffling of the feathers...
Thanks for the info. I'm trying my hardest not to be dismayed by such manipulation as that's not what the platform is about at all. Although I'm also scared of flagging and downvoting when I'm still a minnow as I'm not sure whether i will end up getting flagged in revenge.
Happy NYE !
This is irritating and utterly unfair. Where do these people get these wicked ideas from? I concur with the author of this post. Something should be done as fast as possible b4 steemit fades into oblivion.
I suggest like others have a delegation to a body to watchout for these spammers
Or create a bot that checks up for post and compare the post with its reward if its worth it. Based on length, originality and also the reputation. And then the bot calls the attention of some auditors to audit the post
Hear, hear! This stuff is getting out of control. Actually, I don't think any moves by Steemit Inc. are a good idea. Remember, we as a community have to invent ways to tackle these challenges. I get the feeling that in the future, as Steem and Steemit become more popular these challenges will only increase.
Education is the first step. Teaching new users not to upvote crappy comments is essential. Making bots to track down these bots is another solution.
The main issue right now is that it is not directly profitable to tackle these problems. One of the main issues is that bots inherently have nearly infinite time and attention... humans don't.
The best solution would be to somehow make it so that bots weren't super profitable.
This is something people haven't really considered when they ask for easier onboarding. If it's this easy to launch a fleet of bots now, how easy will it be once the signup process is simpler?
Basically, we need a way for people to simply visualize and see behavior happening on the Steem blockchain (not sql... not new Steemian friendly) and better rewards for well-placed downvotes.
Who do you think is getting the super profits? Steem is being concentrated in those accounts with the most Steem, at an accelerating rate.
This is a clue.
There are no posts at #steemfarming, fyi
Interesting - as a newbie I´m totally astonished, that these things are even possible - and the most amazing thing is, that there really is an account @sherlockholmes, which has instantly become my new favorite! ;)
I agree with your points in that self voting can be somewhat troubling behavior.
These are hiccups along the way. I'm sure people high up the chain have noticed this and I'm sure many people are working on a solution. There will always be obstacles to overcome and this is just another one. I feel like people overact a bit too much whenever some problem arises. Saying that there is no future for steem if they dont fix this right away is bit extreme.
Consider that ~10% of accounts remain active after 1 year.
That means that 90% of accounts go inactive during the first year.
What could be a more existential threat to Steemit than that?
Considering steemit is not even two years old, that data doesn't project long term usage, there are a number of possible reasons for people leaving the platform. Reward pool rape is just one of a number of problems we face here if we want to have long term success
A 90% churn rate doesn't portend a much longer period for data to accumulate.
I've been here long enough to have learned many reasons for leaving, and had my purpose in coming here been to earn, I'd have been gone.
The simple fact is that most people are attracted to Steemit by the potential to earn. When they observe that Steem is being concentrated at an ever increasing rate into those accounts with the most of it now, they leave.
They don't even need to get all they way to that truth. They only need to see they can't get a fair shake. Slow learners, those willing to descend to pandering, buying votes, etc., take longer than most to leave, but they usually go too.
Some few stick, mostly because they're not here for earnings, like me.
No one is averse to earnings, however, and there is a collective breath held, awaiting a platform that actually performs what Steemit advertises.
I've also been taking on a few of the 'lottery' services that collect upvotes and split the rewards harvested from the rewards pool with the voters. The linear rewards and lack of curation rewards for downvotes give the abusers an edge though.
what gives you the right to take down every steem lottery?! are you the developper of steemit or what?! like srsly... get a life dude! you got 300k on your account you should really think if it's the right thing to take away those opportunities for LESS wealth ppl!! go buy yourself a girl, maybe then you will have something to do instead of flagging stuff on here!
I've explained my reasoning repeatedly, and you haven't offered any counterargument. You just keep downvoting unrelated posts and comments I make and venting at me. That is not persuasive, and you are wasting your time.
And btw, how do you know what people earn on lotteries while you flag stuff?! just stop being an asshole and spend your time by UPVOTING stuff! MR Police officer! -.-
the @rewardpoolrape example is infact that of a whale (probably @berniesanders)
And f you look at my comment below, posted well before yours, you'll see another example of a Whale engaged in massive self vote abuse.
Removing rewards from self vote abusers, whether big or small, is the right thing to do and the only way to save the reputation of the Steem platform (which is already badly tarnished).
Comments like yours just make me want to power down. I've no intention of helping with my investment those who wish to exploit the system.
Just so I am up to speed.. Power down? This account? It only has 5SP, or are you running this as a pseudonym of another account, if so which one as I prefer to deal with transparent authors. I agree, self voting is a somewhat epidemic problem at this point and it also seems as if those the say they are here to save us and help us minnows are likewise the ones that engage the most in this type of behavior.
I'm pretty sure @steempolice is an alt account.
I don't care from which it stems though. I just want to hear the thoughts which impel my own to emerge.
This is also my observation.
Thanks!
Not "probably." Rewardpoolrape is definitely berniesanders @steempolice. The account was created by ngc, which stands for nextgencrypto, which is owned by him.
Probably, not the best way to reach you, @dreamscape, but I did not know how else and wanted to thank you for being a friend to poetry. Wishing you much more of it, on the page & off, Yahia