As a part of this growing community it is your responsibility to help fight spam and discourage damaging behavior on the blockchain.
Screenshot from steemcleaners report page
So you're enjoying a cup of tea, browsing around Steemit clicking on some posts and you see this - What do you do?
A sad reality
Spend some time in the created section of your favorite tag and you will notice that spam, tag abuse, comment farming and account-farming and other plagues have become really common now on Steemit and it's heartbreaking to see.
But this is what it means to have a truly censorship-resistant platform - everyone can post what they want. This is what it means to that a system is truly decentralized - it doesn't really belong to anyone, it belongs to all of us.
But Steemit is also a self-regulating platform, that regulates content with economic incentives. But what does self-regulation mean? It means responsibility. It means that everyone of us, the Steemit participants should contribute their votes to shape the best Steemit they can. That doesn't just mean that we should contribute upvotes to support authors that produce great content, but also not hesitate to flag obvious spam and help the Steemit become a clean, high-quality platform.
What can you do?
So what can you personally do to make Steemit better?
1. Friendly Comment & Reminder
If you detect a newcomer who spams tags or doesn't cite sources of content that is not his, you don't have to whip out the flag hammer right away. We all make mistakes, and perhaps it wasn't intentional. A friendly comment that tells the author about his mistakes and how he can improve - can go a long way.
This is a friendly encouragement that will help the newcomer grow instead of scaring him away from the platform.
2. Flag/Downvote
If the user is not new and is very much aware of his wrongdoing but still prefers to spam the blockchain and claim rewards for plagiarized material, don't be afraid to flag his post to show that this kind of behavior is not welcome here.
3. Report to Steemcleaners
If you see a user that is indulging in obvious heavy spamming or comment farming, don't hesitate to report it to steemcleaners. This initiative was brought to life by @anyx and @patrice who are doing amazing and tedious work to make our beloved blockchain so much nicer. They have enough Steem Power to counter the heavyweight spammers. But they can't do it alone. They spend hours after hours digging through dirt and it still isn't enough. Contribute by reporting spam to the link below - You may even be rewarded for your contribution.
Report abuse here: https://steemcleaners.org/abuse-report
Screenshot from steemcleaners report page
Steemit is a reflection of the collective efforts of all it's participants. You can help make it better. Your flag matters.
- Nick ( @cryptonik ) -
Wish I had enough steem power to be able to help clean it up more. So much of the stuff is atrocious and utter 💩 . Resteemed and saved report page to favorites.
Cheers mate, it's sad but we can help fight it.
Thanks for bringing this awareness. I am also one of principled "fools" that would rather fight spam that turn a profit. It seems we are a rare breed indeed. I am glad there are some good whales in our midst to help. Without them, this place would go to hell in a handbasket I'm afraid.
If you regularly flag abuse like I do, I have started an initiative to give something back to your typical Steem user that uses flags appropriately. I have been working on organization and automation as this is my part time gig so time is at a premium. Would love to have you join us on the Discord and to get your feedback. It's called @steemflagrewards
You are fantastic! I will join you!
I'm happy too.
Thank you for posting this..
It is true that many new people do not know some rules, but com' on .. It is a matter of nice behaviour and being polite. You either have it or you don't
Steemit is our reflection and we should not act differently than when being ourselves, with friends or family.
Respect, Value, Think ... Are a few things that people do not even bother to do
I have not flagged anyone, I have not downvoted any post but I have informed people about spamming. What worries me is that they most probably do not even check their replies.
Again thanks, you got yourself a new follower :) Steem on!
Hehe thank you! The reflection is the most interesting part about Steemit. It is a game that shows good and bad palyers just like in real life. I guess, we should strive above and build a better platform than real life :P We have the power to encourage or discourage bad behavior and I think we are all interested to have a place where we can read high quality blogs. Also, I think it is not right to see 'flags' as something bad. It is merely a downvote feature which is equally important. It expresses that you don't like the content and/or disagree with the rewards. These rewwards are returned to the reward pool. I think it is an equally important feature of steemit to ensure a good reward distribution. We should not get emotonal about flags. Easier said than done, I know.
More clean up needed
Preach!
This nice post.. thanks for sharing this steemitbloggers..
My pleasure :)
Great post, motivating our fellow Steemians to contribute to a cleaner place here at Steemit.
Resteeming this valuable article.
Appreciate it! :)
Hell yeah bud!!! viva la resistance
Haha...I guess :D
Yeah, It's kinda our duty to clean this place up all the time, because spam and abuse will always be here since it's a decentralized platform and everyone can post whatever they want.
Damn right you are^^
Hi, im very new on steemit and I'm fascinated by it. But also very concerned about the regulatory aspects.
Does exist any kind of reward for those making the job of cleaning content? That reward is provided by the platform or by other users?
Thanks
Hello @viterbo, there is no regulatory organ on steemit it is decentralized. Steemcleaners is a team of volunteers who try to prevent and diminish spam! And they also reward contributions from you, if you report some real bad spam in their abuse reports form.
Further more, take a look at @steemflagrewards which is another team that rewards you for "meaningful flagging with detailed explanation of reason."
Feel free to ask more.
Actually i'm too new, i've never came across such things, but i will keep it in mind and try to help
Don't worry you'll come across it :D
Hi @cryptonik, these are useful tips for the newcomers.
Cheers!