You're really talking about two issues here arriving from flagging / down-voting, which are unfortunately conflated on Steemit:
- Lack of post visibility (flagging)
- Reduction of payout (down-voting)
The first issue could be side-stepped by changing the UI by changing or removing the loss of visibility. I presume this is what @sneak is suggesting. For example, flagged posted could be given a mark which indicates it's flagged without graying it out.
The second issue does not seem to be considered an issue by many here and was of course a planned feature.
Solving the first issue is really as simple as UI change, without the need for complicated guilds, which as several note are susceptible to abuse, and we could leave the righteous indignation at the door and get on with business as usual.
I would suggest two things:
- Rebrand flagging as down-vote, as it should be to be to be consientent with effect on payout
- change visual effecy of down-vote
A simple chart of some kind, showing up vs down vote, maybe adjusted for weight of effect. I'd feature it prominently but not visually large. Maybe hiding down voted post could be a feature of Steemit.com, like nsfw but opt-in instead of opt-out.