Will you FLAG me if we disagree?
First Things First
First, I have had a blast on Steemit. I have greatly enjoyed writing posts and meeting new people. Steemit is a great opportunity to build social and financial assets, but you have to be ready to serve other people by creating quality content.
I am striving to be a great content creator. I still make mistakes, but I am practicing my craft.
Second, I have never flagged anyone (at least not yet). I am a bit afraid of the dreaded flag.
I understand the importance of flagging, but I am afraid of retaliation. It seems like anger can lead to flagging which leads to more anger and more flags, and then all of a sudden there are a much of bloodied Steemians laying on the floor, with digital bumps and bruises and low voting power.
Stresses me out thinking about it!
Plagiarism
So it is pretty obvious that plagiarism deserves a flag. We can not build a community of trust when people steal other people's work and claim it as their own. We cannot be a community of honorable content creators when the content we post was not our own creation.
Hands down. No questions asked. Plagiarism is unacceptable and it can not be tolerated. And the flags come up and everyone cheers for justice served.
Self Advertising, Follow For Follows, Upvotes for Upvotes
This next category seems to be a gray area in our Steemit community. I have seen some of our fellow Steemian express concern and willingness to flag immediately for this type of behavior.
But others have given warnings. They have taken a possible questionable moment and turned into a teachable moment. They have given grace to a new user who maybe joined Steemit for the wrong reason (fame, power, and money), and are trying to provide guidance and direction.
Honestly, both positions are valid. But cheers all around for our patient friends who understand that investing a moment to model and teach makes our community stronger.
But what about if you disagree with someone's opinion?
- Do we value free speech, but only as long as it matches our own values?
- Can we support a person who has vastly different religious and moral values than what we hold dear?
- Can a Democrat and a Republican cast an upvote for one another or should the flags come out?
I have very strong personal convictions about life, marriage, managing money, serving those in need, and the list goes on.
So what happens if the content of my message offends you.
- Should I just avoid those controversial topics? Not necessarily.
- Should I bunker down in fear? Definitely not.
- Should I develop relationships with people who are different than I am? Most definitely.
- Should I speak truthfully with kindness? Always.
I want to leave you with two thoughts:
- Let us give freedom to allow others to disagree with the content of our posts.
- But let us unify our community with a willingness to speak with kindness as we post, and comment, and reply.
Image Source:
https://pixabay.com/en/pirate-flag-black-skull-piracy-2344562/
Blatant plagiarism deserves a flag...difference of opinion, no flag.
Completely agree. Plagiarism can not be tolerated.
I don't think someone's comment should be flagged simply because you don't like or agree with what they said. If the comment is an outright abusive personal attack, then it is possibly warranted, but other than that, no. I think that in order to preserve freedom of speech and avoid excessive censorship, there needs to be an appeal process for unjust flagging. If the flag is found to be retliatory or unwarranted, then the flagger should get penalized. That could help to mitigate people flagging others just to be jerks. I certainly hope that this platform will continue to be an uncensored place with a free exchange of ideas and not have an atmosphere like FaceBook (aka FascistBook).
@sabrin514, an appeal system is a great idea. I agree that a system in place like that would probably help with the misuse of flags. We still have a long way to go. Steemit is still in BETA for goodness sake. I just hope that we continue to be a community that supports freedom.
I have seen some censorship flagging. I believe that it is excessive and not what Steemit is about. If someone disagrees with your opinion, you should NOT flag them.
If someone is posting malicious content that can cause harm to another member of the community (more than just hateful words), THAT Post should likely be flagged.
At least that's my $0.02 :)
@evolved08gsr, thanks for commenting. I appreciate it.
I completely agree that we need ways to protect member of our community from being harmed. We have a great opportunity to build other up. We should work together to do that.
I agree that we need to stick together!
The struggle is when a "whale" flags a post, many of us little guys have to stick up for the post that was flagged, which potentially leaves us vulnerable to the same flagging. Abuse of power is just as real here on Steemit as it is in the Real World, unfortunately.
Good point. The rubber meets the road when we put ourselves in a vulnerable position to defend someone else in a vulnerable position. Thanks for that addition to the conversation!
As in life in general, there are too many people who cannot accept the adult view that an opinion can be different than their own. And they flag to censor.
"I disagree with the pay out they say." but they choose to flag and disappear the comment.
It's just part of our world.
Thanks for adding to our conversation. I believe in the right to express your thoughts and opinions. I also believe that we need to protect those who are being harmed. Sharing a differing opinion does not necessarily mean that someone is being harmed.
I think that the attitude in which we post is as important as the content that we post.
I don't think opinions should generally be flagged. If you start passing those opinions off as fact that may be different though.
That is an interesting statement: passing opinions off as facts
I believe that truth is truth whether or not we believe it. But how we perceive facts can vary differently. Honestly, a lot of people can not tell the difference between fact and opinion. If they believe it, then it must be fact.
Great comment!
Of course not, as long as your writing is not insulting, discriminating others either in the form of race, nation, religion, etc. Why fear to be different? Is not it because the difference makes nature beautiful? Then, keep working even though different. Be yourself and good luck.
Differences are good. I spent over 10 years living in another country, and I appreciated the opportunity to experience a new culture. It let me learn a lot about myself.
Yes, i agree.
Differences is the way of life and living. Cuase, we can't live alone we need somebody else to be our companion in this life.
The only thing I've downvoted on content grounds was something extremely racist and had no attempt to justify why it was posted.
@eturnerx, that is a great point. I think that the Steemit community will be come stronger when we can justify our actions. This is an important thing to consider when we flag someone. If we flag someone, we also are responsible for providing justification. That person needs to know why they received a flag so that they can take action to become better community members.
Normally, yes.
Im still a novice in terms of steem it culture - but am enjoying the learning curve and personally think steem is going to continue to grow based on users being able to govern themselves...like anything its not immune to corruption - my hope is that the general population of users would have enough power to shut down the corruption as it rises up
As a whole, I would prefer that the community to govern the community instead of the corporation governing the community (especially in regards to censorship and corruption). That being said, I have seen a few instances of community justice being exercised and everyone involved (the condemned and the condemner) both walk away battered and bruise.
This types of issues are emotionally charged and we need to work together to make sure that our actions create unity not division.
Nice content
thanks!
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