I think the free downvote has been a refreshing addition to the blockchain and has really given more control over curation and limiting expoits of reward farmers. It also provides a better engagement metric for users to see how content resonates with people and not just positive reinforcement. We this on YouTube and Reddit and it works well there
Like any system, there is room for abuse and flag wars etc but we have to accept that no change comes without an element of abuse.
Its also seen a shift to manual curation and I'm seeing more rewards going to authors who I personally feel should be rewarded. I just want to see more engagement on posts, I think its still pretty lacking
Also instead of the wallet memos perhaps you should also take advantage of the various promotion services now available on tribe sites and via eSTEEM app
Dear @chekohler
Thank you for your comment and sharing your thoughts. I fully agree that downvotes can serve great purpose. Hope there will be less and less situations like the one described in my post.
Indeed. That's a good direction so far.
I'm already using steem-bounty and promotions on PALnet and SteemLeo. Any other recommendations?
Memos are still the most efficient way, however I'm already sending them only to those who follow me (the way few other larger accounts has been doing).
Again thank you for your feedback,
Enjoy your weekend buddy,
Cheers, Piotr
It's me again
Just wanted to underline, that I know that downvotes can (and are) being used by many large stake holders to make steemit a better place, but it's obvious that there is huge room for abuse and there is very little (or nothing) we can do to prevent that.
My goal was to point out the problem. Problem which really exist. I can even give another example: ulqu3 - he has been away from steemit for a longer while. Came back, posted something and used bidbots to boost his post to trending page. He got number of heavy downvotes, but noone bothered to tell him what did he do wrong. Not even one warning or explanation.
I already know several similar examples and it's not hard to imagine and understand, that many of those users will quit steemit. And that worries me.
Yours, Piotr