What I love about Steemit is the anarchy of having the freedom to game to website in any way possible. I don't think that anyone is draining anything. Sure the Steem Pool could be distributed more evenly but fork by fork we improve the system. In the meantime there is money to take for everyone participating in the game.
Now for the whale the whole scenario must look like a huge chess board to influence entire communities by upvoting their projects. Like you said the potential is enormous. That means that the stake our whales have will be worth even more of a fortune it is now with even more influence on the platform. So if they are smart they hodl and play. It doesn't matter how the game is being played as long as it is being played and steadily improved.
The one thing that will push Steemit the most are discussions like these that get viral on the platform and spark initiatives and ideas how the community can react to unwanted content or behaviour. The hive mind will always find the answer in a system like this.
@flauwy That's what I love too, although I do feel it can be a steep learning curve for those leaving centralization and new to the ideas of free world thinking.
I'm interested in your perspective that this is like a huge whale chess game and no one is draining anything. I do agree that those with large delegation have the right to play as they will. However is there a set amount of STEEM in each rewards pool payout? I'm not sure I fully get how that works yet. I do see that there is money for all and perhaps this is what is best to focus on? However it does look shady when salty minnows see how rewards get played.
"It doesn't matter how the game is being played as long as it is being played and steadily improved."
This is so true and thank you for adding this perspective, it's easy to get stuck in a small bubble when truly we have the whole ocean. Here's to the hive mind and to open and honest discussion towards solutions.
Finally may I ask what is your opinion on removing SP from flags?
It is so easy for a Minnow to think how unfair some things on Steemit are. That is because the whole functionality is confusing and needs to be simplified. But do these people expect? Outside of Steemit no one is handing them money over. But here it becomes something that must be for everybody and hence must be distributed evenly or else...
But that is of course BS because the money comes from the investors trusting in Steem for various reasons. Some will upvote themselves, others will invest their upvotes carefully into great projects while others just run around and do upvote-jerking-off. That is all cool and their right. It adds variety to the platform. Thanks for putting so much money into Steem dear Mr. and Mrs. Whale or otherwise the price would be lower and probably less people would come and join.
I think whales are overrated anyway. Everyone wants a whale to swing by and upvote their stuff. But it is much cooler to have tons of Dolphins or an aremy of
the deadMinnows. With that you can make even more money in the long run.Either way there are so many things on Steemit where despite all the negative mechanics the community is hatching the most marvelous dragons. So I think that we need to be patient, enjoy the ride, hustle the game like a ten year old power raiding World of Warcraft and embrace the changes and updates on our way. And if we really want to change something than I suggest saving for some equippment and becoming a witness for Steem and contribute on all levels to the progress. Or even better: develop your own 3rd party app based on Steem.
About remong SP from flags: I don't know about that. Taking away to stupid possibility for a whale to destroy a career on Steemit is good! But wouldn't that open the door to even more ridiculous flagging? I think I don't have a particular opinion about this topic yet without more knowledge of the actual mechanics and looking at some flagging statistics.
@flauwy Hey I wanted to really sit down and brew on this reply. Thank you so much for dropping so much perspective on the topic. It's so valuable that anyone reading this comes away with a balanced view of what's going on. I appreciate you for that.
I agree that I and other minnows can be very thankful for all STEEM investors for their part in growing this platform and fronting the value in their chosen way. We all serve how best we can and provide value in our chosen ways right.
I enjoyed your power raiding analogy and agree to the extent not to piss other people off with spam comments and certainly not to plagiarize. However like I've said, every one has their own hustle and intentions. Plenty space for all and as you said, patience and enjoying the ride is key.
The flag adjustments will be interesting, I too have no strong opinion either ways yet. I started out feeling flags should simply be outright removed. However as I've read more and learned ok, wholeness is balance and we would be disarmed to defend the platform if we removed the yin to our yang. For the same reason I'm not sure about the imbalance of having stake scalable upvotes but not down.
It will be interesting for sure as we fork it out. Oh and yes absolutely agree that if one wishes to serve Steemit in the highest then they'd be best to step up to run for witness.
Anyway thanks for expanding this discussion with your insights. Much appreciated and you have a new follower.
Steem on! 🙏
Thanks for letting me be part of it. I enjoyed the article and comments. I like the Yin and Yang analogy.