As the most influential members of the community, this post is directed mostly at the whales, however I invite anybody who likes the idea to assign themselves with the same task.
ABUSE is a strong word.
We all have our own opinions on what can be defined as abuse here on steemit. This is a bit of a problem because while the unofficial rule is “only flag abuse”, anybody who wishes to flag anything can claim “I consider this abuse”.
CEO @ned once said “down votes are like fines”. Have you ever received a fine for something that there was no written rule or law against, that could be referred to when disputed?
Prevention is better than Penalty
Don’t you think there would be less bank robberies, if there was a rule against them written down with the potential repercussions?
Who sets the rules on a decentralised platform?
There are all kinds of content that you might deem as appropriate, inappropriate, valuable or even abuse. You can read The Unwritten Rules of Steemit but there are no official rules. There is however, some value in setting your own rules for yourself and in addition if you have a lot of influence on the platform, the rules you set might even influence those who seek your vote.
The rules are already there. We already flag material that breaks our personal rules. But if I were a curator and I had wrote down my rules where anybody could refer to them, maybe I wouldn’t have to waste so many votes on flags…
Sample Template
Hello steemit users. This post is a declaration of the content I, as a curator deem worthy of flags. This list is subject to change whenever I deem necessary. My vote is my own to use as appropriate and as I set these rules myself they are mine to break when necessary. The purpose of this post is to help the community to avoid being penalised for something I deem worthy of a penalty.
Content I do not support includes
- spam
- plagiarism
- witch hunts
- trolling
Please educate yourself on the definitions of the above and have a great day.
If you think this is a good idea, then using the #myrules tag please write your own post explaining the "abuse" you would prefer not to see on the platform. Hopefully this type of dialogue could help clean up the site.
Communication is key.
