Holy... So much trash and crap on the blockchain.
Heck I'm only 5 months and some old and I already notice a lot of a difference from when I first appeared.
There's SO MUCH CRAP floating around and posing as a "great project".
Shit.
No matter what good people do, the crappy ones, the smartasses are always the loudest.
Do you know why?
Basic human psychology...
The Good People Have Ethics:
Lots of us good folk have ethics, and that's what pulls us down...
...you see, we see a smartass on this platform and we don't expose him. We think about our mutual friends and we also think "Am I being too demanding of people?" or "Maybe I'm the only one with a problem with this".
A System that gives meaningful rewards, such as what we see in this blockchain, is a great way for smartasses to come and exploit it.
- @haejin rapes it 10 times a day;
- @grumpycat upvotes himself to "help the SBD peg";
- Bidbot Owners clap their greedy palms whenever overbidding occurs;
- Jerry trades votes and buys bot votes as if it was water in a desert;
- Other whales just upvote themselves to Trending 24/7 and their friends who in turn vote for them...
It's a Raping Circle Festing Bid Bot Ruled Chaotic World right here and it's getting worse by the second.
What Can You Do?
Well, it depends on what your size and your power is... If you're a big guy, go solo like @berniesanders and his bot legion.
The guy pretty much rapes reward pool rapers and gets raped back... well, I don't know how effective it is, but it helps put the rewards back into the pool.
You can see @berniesanders latest results here:
https://steemit.com/givingback/@berniesanders/before
On the other hand, if you're a small guy, maybe you should join the #friendsofgondor (@friendsofgondor).
They not only have a trail that supports good authors, they keep @fulltimegeek's quest updated, and they are part of the good team.
Mainly, they flag the donkey. The one who doesn't eat soup.
On the other hand, you also have a big responsability ahead.
Your Biggest Responsibility: Elect the RIGHT Witnesses!
If you analyze the top witnesses, you'll see that the list has something in common with Steemit:
- It is full of crap!!
But why are you saying that @spiritualmax?
Well, one of the biggest things I can point out is that you have a lot of folks there who DON'T CARE about the blockchain.
They are NOT Active!
They don't post, curate, vote, read or do anything really - they just want those sweet SP tokens and nothing more.
Can we really do a good job by electing people who DON'T CARE ABOUT THE BLOCKCHAIN?
HECK NO!
On the other hand, you should only vote for people WHO CARE!
Try to look around and spot users that care about the Steemit blockchain.
Here is what I look for in good witnesses:
- They Add Value to the Blockchain;
- They are Nice Non-Manipulative People;
- They Don't Own BidBots;
- They Don't Miss Blocks (duh);
Now, not every single one of these factors must be true, if there is one of them who isn't true I still consider the vote because the others matter as well.
For example, I vote for @yabapmatt even though he is a bidbot owner because he cares about the blockchain... he curates well, he is a nice honest person and he made platforms that add to the blockchain.
On the other hand, there are some witnesses I think are a good addition, because they do the right thing and add value to the blockchain as well, yet they are manipulative... I can forget about 1 variable if the others are there...
...Because anyone respecting 3 of these 4 factors is good for the team, and the list of top witnesses is short of people like this.
Lastly, if I may suggest one of the votes, it would be @steemcommunity
There aren't many people as invested in the greater good as the people behind that witness @abh1234 and @paulag.
In Conclusion
Some people here are dirtbags... but if the place keeps being operated by the same uninvested witnesses and the public lets exploiters run rampant...
...nothing is going to change!
OPERATION STEEM WEDDING :D
Gifts: Anonymous Donor - 5 SBD | @foxyspirit - 3 SBD
Have to Cash Out: 51 SBD
Cashed Out: 1260 USD
Total Wedding Cost: 20,000 USD
Still Missing: 18,740 USD
Join the Crypto Empire Community
Bucket of Goodies:
- Trade Your STEEM: Binance Exchange
- Hire Me on STEEMGIGS
- Get Universal Basic Income - Free Tokens
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@spiritualmax thank you for this post. its a breath of fresh air I just had a heck of a day involving myself on the drama train and getting a smack of it on the way by. Did my share of flagging and support #friendsofgondor too. its hard to do what is right when you know you are going to take a hit, but as a witness I must stand up for what I feel in right.
thank you so much for your support on @steemcommunity and for your support to me
Taking a hit, or excluding yourself from the circles Max speaks of above yeah.
Most of us know things are far from perfect, but there are at least some people that care here.
Thanks for the support @spiritualmax!
Sorry for forgetting the "5" of your name :P I stopped counting too soon.
No problem! You've got my support for sure!
I second the @steemcommunity endorsement for @paulag and @abh12345.
I really wish we could just get rid of the bidbots. I think most of us who care about the community agree that it would be a better place without them, even some people who support them. I'm sure a few very powerful people would whine and stop any efforts to get rid of them, which shows the fundamental flaw in the system. Likewise, it would be great to get rid of self voting, but again, powerful people would probably block it. As long as (most) of the power players on this site are doing things that fundamentally run contrary to the interests of all users and the system as a whole, nothing is going to change or get better. Not without some serious united efforts from the "good guys" (and gals)--e.g. @friendsofgondor.
agreed with @paullag and @abh12345 as well. I've come to see that bidbots from a UX standpoint don't help establish organic content. that is what this site is about right? connecting users with great content they enjoy reading. Instead bit bots fake users into thinking the content has value and waters down the internet time used to spend finding quality content. I am trying to recitify some of this SHIT with @sugarsteem hopefully soon ill be able to help people find better ways to find relative content than that of upvoted bidbots.
Yeah, and I know my initial reaction when first exploring Steemit (and when I show it to friends) is that there's a lot of crap that does very well financially and floats to the top of the pack because of people gaming the system. The advice that I always give people is to just ignore it and make your own great content and find other hidden gems that make content you like too. I don't go on the trending or hot pages at all. We could totally make the idealist vision of this site real if we removed all of the financial incentive to "cheat."
i think this is where @transisto and people are coming into play building a way to resolve this issue. Stay tuned there are smart minds that are aware of this conflict and user loss and are working on a solution. When @sugarsteem UI becomes available I will have the UI default to My Feed as a logged in user and default to the home page as a non-user. so the trending page will not be the first thing new users see. :)
Thanks Mallory!
Pretty much. It is their money though, why should they let 'us' decide how it is spent/earned/distributed?
Well, it's the age-old question in politics and morality: is it right to police the actions of those at the top and limit the things they do in self interest in the interest of the many? I'm sure the libertarians and free market economists among us would say absolutely not. I just wrote a whole post on morality in which I argue that the whole thing doesn't really exist, so I'll resist any temptations to make moral judgments! But to speak more pragmatically, the thing is that we're all existing in one closed economic system that is enormously influenced by being so weighted at the top, and if we're allowing wealth to pool and consolidate at everyone else's expense, then it makes for an awfully unstable system that can't possibly survive in the long term, and that hurts all of us. @paulag's statistical analysis showed that over 25% of the SBD earned on Steemit is going to bidbots. That's a huge dent in the liquidity and distribution of STEEM and it means that a few individuals are capable of completely crashing the site's internal economics if they make a few selfish moves (and, as I think we've established here, we're not talking about super selfless people).
I hear you :)
Around 90% of that 25% goes to the delegates to the bid-bots - those with the x million SP already for the most part. The rest goes to the owners, some of whom joined as minnows last year, and will be whales by the end of this.
Whether this distribution is killing Steem/steemit or not, they do not seem to care - Eggs are in other baskets, and have been for a while.
I have my hopes pinned on the SMTs, as I think blogging/vlogging (unless you aim your material at the money - dtube/utopian, will become very tricky to make STEEM from. The hope is that those of us holding SP, will not have to, and companies buying liquidity for their tokens will boost the price.
Chin up eh, loved your recent post :)
SMT's worry me as that type of growth with uneasy UI's to access the foundation flounder.
Yeah I see where you are coming from. I guess part of the reason things are taking so long?
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.
I haven't read up much on the SMTs until now--very interesting. I wonder how it'll all play out. I don't have the same level of technical knowledge as the rest of you.
One thing that does concern me re: economics of the system is that I don't know how much consideration goes into how fragile this kind of closed economic system can be. If we're not doing this already, I think we could probably benefit from some crypto-friendly economists weighing in when we make policy changes so we know the potential benefits/drawbacks of things like banning bidbots or altering voting power equations.
Im actually in favor of self voting if done only in your posts, you earned that SP so you may as well get an initial boost thanks to it.
I agree with getting rid of bidbots though, but humans will be humans...
Do I count as one of the smart asses but I was here before you :P
I know what you mean, lately it has gotten me thinking when will be the tipping point of Steem.
Asher had an article about the Haejin effect and it got me thinking whether do I really want to stay and try to stop the tide of the inevitable or should I get out while I am not yet bloody and bruised.
A lot of times I still think that Steem is worth fighting for and that we should not wait for heroes but take on the fight no matter how big or small we are.
I like this piece Max and I am happy that you are supporting Asher and Paula and knew you would like the idea of the witness steemcommunity.
Yes, but you're one of the good smart asses Mav :)
Ahahahha you are always kind to Lynn!
STEEM is definitely worth fighting for... I'm in it up to when STEEM dies in a blaze of arrows.
Ahahaha let us hope it doesn't get to the level that we would need to take an arrow to the knee
~Have you seen sbd and steem price today? Im effing crawling here!
Hahhahaha yeah we are all bleeding even EOS bleed
agreed good and smart mav... i agree this mechanic of upvoting content that isnt organic and is a gamified technique to boosting SBD on the steem blockchain feels unbalanced. I still think there is hope for steem though. there is value and these are just small speed bumps to the evolution of whats to come on the steem engine. for now i dont take it so personal anymore, i just try to educate, and continue to build and meet people. I think being here and meeting people while taking a small kick back has been quite enjoyable and im excited each day to see what happens next.
Well said!
Good smartass... like yours truly.
cant help but find your analysis interesting! we all think of it differently and it good to see your thoughts since you are a friend and fam!
gotta love the wedding money breakdown and donations ahahhah OMG! what about the thousands you've racked up with the cards and full time geeks vrill upvotes? that has to have cut that 20k at least down to 10k? :p
ps. why not have the wedding in your vineyard and serve your home made wine! foxy can make the cake, anjkara can make the dress, undy can bring the security, i can help cook, sharon can conduct the ceremony, luna can bring frog legs, dawn can be your photographer your fam can do something im sure ahhahh a true fam glam 🤣🤣🤣
Im including everything I am withdrawing from both my accounts. You think I earn much more than I do.
darn, i was really hoping for the famglam!! :(
While I thought this post was good, albeit lacking because a blind item and most people wouldn’t know what makes a good or bad witness (proof: see Jerry’s sheeple), when I got to the comments it got even better.
We urgently need to find a way to start campaigning for the witnesses, for the good ones, in order to educate the community. Because voting, as a process, is flawed if voters aren’t educated. And self-campaigning is flawed by nature, obviously.
The best way to vote for witnesses is 15 good ones and 15 bad ones that way there is an equal amount of honesty. If you vote one crowd all selling the same kool-aid you get blind-sided when they make decisions. If you keep things balanced you get narks and tattle-tails pointing fingers and that leads to more truth. You'd be a sheep to vote in all of them spewing the same story and even blinder than someone who votes for Jerry.
I would agree with this, especially since I come from typical coalition based nations (rather than bipartisan systems).
But in a DPOS setup this is detrimental since it will constantly delay achieving consensus.
The beauty of DPOS is that it’s a liquid system and voting can be changed again whenever.
Yeah I also went to fetch the popcorns for the commenting section... love to see people arguing like this.
:) lol
Also if you want a witness that is tired of the shit around here look into @valorforfreedom . Super good dude and he will not bullshit you.
Thank you for promoting my efforts DDC.
I think some time ago I kicked his ass out of my inner circle.
I forgot why tho and this post is legit so I don't care anymore.
Lets give this post a 100% upvote, most witnesses & investors don't give a shit about the blockchain.
You can immediately see who is sucking cocks by checking out their Steemit blogs, if there is no content they only have 2 way left of climbing upwards and that is by sucking and by developing.
Sadly all Steem based platforms are corrupt to the core.
I do what I can. I know you want the best for steemit and I appreciate that.
It was because I said you had a bald ugly face when you were being a dick.
I literally laughed out loud. Ok you 2 become friends and let's all fix some shit around here. Deal?
thats mah maxy right dere 🤣🤣 ^^^
Way to say what needs to be said! It sure doesn't take long to weed out the bs and find the good here, does it? I've been supporting @friendsofgondor since Dave came up with the idea, and Asher and Paulag's @steemcommunity. As an eternal optimist, I have to believe that good will prevail, especially with people like you calling out the others :)
Cheers!
Oh there's still lots of calling out to do, but we have to separate it through time :P
My sentiments on so many levels. There are simply so many people that don’t care and not interested enough to take any kind of action, big or small, at the abuse surrounding them.
There is a reason I like you @spiritualmax! I support Matt too even if he is a bidbot owner. Not all businesses are out there to suck you high and dry. There are responsible business owners that do care but they have to play the game like everything else in life. I won’t fault anyone simply for trying to survive in a world of piranhas.
With that in mind, I also fully support other witnesses like steemcommunity who values building a community. My hopes are that differences in opinions would overlap enough that they can join forces to turn this platform into a better one.
More people joining means less relative power on the top, so things will start to change.
Everything on Steemit is growing! Both the smartasses, and the non-smartasses! 🤣😆😂
Well you have a point there!
Don’t fret over the smartasses. Just be thankful for the non-smartasses!
This is extremely important, especially when the Witness vote distribution go like THIS.
If we want fundamental changes on the platform, it is important that EVERYONE do their research and participate to decide who gets to be on top. Otherwise, only the great silent whales get to choose.
Like @therealwolf has said, different Witnesses have different priorities and projects that they are working on. So, if you are only into "social" or "community" leaders, then seek out the best ones.
I look for good witnesses that also have the social and community part.
I agree. I'm going with adding value to the blockchain for the long haul.
I need a witness that will acknowledge that bid bots are stupidly inefficient at its supposed job of post promotion at the expense of proper rewards distribution. Seriously, an outsider looking at this advertising model would be laughing their way to the bank when comparing side by side with the traditional model. That's not to say it needs to be the same-- far from it. But we need to think about the fact that we have a broken* post promotion system in the first place, and that the money people nevertheless still throw at it goes to these bot supporters instead of back to the platform.
*(Why broken? It's a crazy bidding war where if you are under a particular threshold you would have wasted all your money for exactly zero extra exposure)
Okay, maybe there is no alternative right now. But barely anyone*** is talking about making promotion better!
*** Actually, there probably an even more extreme position, where we might argue that post promotion shouldn't even be a thing to begin with. Everybody should be in the business of networking the old fashioned way via engagement. I'm not sure if that's realistic though.
Well, but you and I.... we both know bid bots are going to stay... humans will be humans...
Thanks for the post @spiritualmax. Navigating the garbage on the Blockchain is a lot easier thanks to post like yours and it's always refreshing to see some direct communication and opinions on the topics - thank you!
I've just voted for some witnesses (https://steemit.com/~witnesses) for anyone who's reading this and wants to do it as well.
I like that you've got 4 criteria which make a good witness and you're willing to let one go if the others are there. I think this is a pretty effective approach, no one's perfect and just because someone is manipulative doesn't mean they are bad for the platform. Sometimes good people with good intentions choose to indulge in manipulative tactics to create impact, I'm often paralysed by these kinds of contradictions so I applaud anyone who acts regardless.
Thanks for your post and the refreshing opinions - I appreciate it!
Thank you for the kind words and for the link to the witness voting page, other readers may find themselves inclined to vote for one or two steemians they know.
Glad to see you around.
After my first week on steemit I made it a goal to avoid the trending pages like a plauge.
Some of the stuff that's gets up there are below low quality.
I do believe that witnesses are important.
I haven't had time to vote for any one, but it's definitely on my checklist.
I've not used a lot of my votes either.
What's wrong with being a smart ass?
Oh shut up :P
Just messing around. I hope with the new round of people that have come in lately that we can fix some stuff around here.
Crikey...
You deserve an upvote just for that!
To put some tangible stats on how much damage is being done by said bit bot owners.... - one of my recent posts which got upvotes from @curie, @ocd, @sndbox-alpha and @steemiteducation (which I like to think of as a 'full house' of community upvotes!) - total value = 20* less than what said bit bot owners are sending to the top of the trending pages...
I THINK I've got my witness votes correct! At least mostly.
It upsets me A LOT that The Banfield is ranked higher than @curie especially.
So while it's nice to get some recognition, at the same time there is a 'relative deprivation sting in the tail!
Sheeple... lots and lots of sheeple.
Ooohhhhh...........
Reverand Billy!
Steemit in that sense where whales control (almost) everything is a lot like "real life". Either way, better to be a smartass than a dumbass I've always said lol Steemit is still way better than the "traditional" social medias
Better to be a smartass than a dumbass.... wow! I got a new motto now, that sounds great!
i ve upvoted and resteemed this one because it speakes for me
thanks alot for your great ethics and will to save the blockchain
Thanks man!
Lots of us good folk have ethics, and that's what pulls us towards doing good things.
Do good and good come to you :)
Karma is right about that.
What I do not know are those who comment on haejin post
all of them self up voting and he is not commenting back or up voting them
dont get it. even if u are and ass dont u understate the mening of circle jerking. or the just are a paracit on him by up voting there self and the now is no problem there. regardless
@ned in the Bloomberg interview is saying trending is broken so the are aware is something but very little.
Probably a lot of automated bots
ye sems like the case. most of them are under 30 reputation. so bots or new users ho dont get it.
Well, I think a small portion may be bots, but the biggest portions are either big TA fans who actually enjoy his content or just people who WANT a vote from him and think they may get it. Tons of comments look like fishing for upvotes, tons look like spam, tons look like flag material :D
You have well said sir. It keeps growing daily and seemingly without remedy. I should believe minnows like me feel the weight of some of these smart asses especially on steemit. In recent times, I have seen @berniesanders and @haejin war against each other, but I really do not seem to get who the good one is and who the bad is. As I make effort everyday to be better on steemit, I see to also get confused everyday on steemit. Thanks for sharing the same thoughts with me @spiritualmax (
Life is never black and white, you must think and see who is in accord to what you believe.
i just got engaged and am also paying for a wedding so i feel your pain
It's costly isn't it? :P
I understand what you are saying.
But my experience has been positive so far.
I don't worry about what others are doing. People will always take advantage of a good thing. I just put my head down & make good content.
I am confident that others will find my content - like I found your great content.
Thanks for the kind words... if only it would be so simple... true, people will find your content, but it will take ages if you just go that way. If you want to grow a bit faster, you need to not be sunk instantly as soon as you post publish...
...there are countless new posts being published every hour, and they sink yours really fast. Hot section is a must, otherwise no one will see it.-
Looks like you got quite the conversation started here already, lots of passionate people, it's great to see.
I like to start these debates :D
What's up with the relevant and cohesive thoughts in this post?
Who's Steem Wedding? Yours?
Resteemed to help disrupt Facebook, I just learned that was a Stinc Goal.
My wedding yes.... I'm making a piggy bank for it... weddings are expensive stuff, or so I found out. Lol.
😲 this is all interesting. Thanks, for letting us know what is considered ethical, abuse, or rape! I thought I was reading something from the #metoo campaign. Seems like I gotta change my votes!
Hahaha, well said
I agree. There's been an overall shift into assholery in my almost year here. Lots of people not pulling their weight. I try not to let my VP get lower than 68% though
It's hard isn't it? Bah
So you've quit the bidbots?
A long time ago, I started one and experienced what they are all about first hand... they suck.
:-D glad we are on the same side again, even if we are always all really on the same side
Awesome post! Resteemed...
Thanks man!
You have the right approach to that vote - no posting, no interaction, no vote. I came to know some hard working people who are also very nice - I check out who they vote for and that gives me some leads.. if more than 3 of the nice folks vote for some witness, I give the candidate closer consideration.
That's a good approach, even though you should definitely research every name yourself.
You said it as there's nothing like having a troll on your six busting your cubes.
Get the guy behind me!
That was interesting. For me - as kind of newbie - are some questions: What can a witness do against dirtbags? Or: what's the difference between a dirtbag whale and a dirtbag witness, who has more influence?
In everyday matters, Whales, in deciding the future of the blockchain, witnesses.
Thanks for the very short, but extremely comprehensible answer ;)
Exactly that. Too much crap on the blockchain. Well said @spiritualmax
Because you were not only insulting them but are also very derogatory and slandering about them right now.
Furthermore, your "argumentation skills" are rather... lacking... as it can be seen in your comment section.
They are not the racist here.
You're being the racist here, proclaiming that a "German Race" exists.
The person in question was criticizing you and said that there is (biologically) no "German Race".
It is. They did not flag you for your views, but how you responded to criticism with insults and now start a smearing campaign against them.
hab grade gesehen was passiert ist. Hab noch nicht so die Details durch, aber das tut mir wirklich leid. Ich habe jetzt paar Sachen gesehen (von anderen, um Missverständnissen vorzubeugen) die man irgendwie als eine Form von glücklicher Selbstgeißelung beschreiben muss. Dass es in Steemit soweit kommen muss (Das kommt mir wie eine Horde Agente Provocateure vor) [hoffe das schreibt man so], ist kaum tragbar. Das Gute (auch wenn das für dich jetzt nicht tröstend ist), auch die Downvotes fließen wieder in Steem zurück. Man kann sich total das Irrlichtern in den Augen vorstellen, wie sie ihr gutes Werk verrichten.
Anyone interested in this "debate" should look it up for themself and form their own opinion and see who's right - once in the Blockchain, always in the Blockchain. ;)