Sneaky Ninja Strikes Back!! - How Ninja is Combating Bot Abuse! - Special Announcement!
Sneaky Ninja Strikes Back!!
How Ninja is Combating Bot Abuse!
How Ninja is Combating Bot Abuse!
I'm sure most of you have seen plenty of accusations lately from a certain pissed of kitty that Sneaky Ninja is acting irresponsibly. That I am somehow contributing to bot abuse on some grand scale. Also, that I don't care who uses my service and am just here to rape the reward pool for everything it's got.
A vile and disgusting villain whose sole purpose is to ruin the platform and skate away with unimaginable profits.
bwuhahahaha!
A vile and disgusting villain whose sole purpose is to ruin the platform and skate away with unimaginable profits.
bwuhahahaha!
Source
Well I am here to inform our entire community that these accusations are completely fabricated and
entirely untrue!
This is unwarranted defamation of the highest caliber!
entirely untrue!
This is unwarranted defamation of the highest caliber!
First of all, I'm just a single dad trying work my way back up the food chain after a disastrous chain of events that left my family quite destitute. Steemit and this bot have turned things around for me in a great way and have gave me the ability to change many things in my life and I want to make that possible for other people on here as well.
The truth is that I love Steemit and I see the potential here for wonderful things down the line.
What we have created here is much more than a social network existing on blockchain.
We have built an economic society here much like a digital sovereign nation!
A nation of people sharing their work and their lives with each other on a daily basis.
A nation of people from all walks of life. All races, creeds, religions and thought patterns have gathered to this great space to share themselves, and each and every one of them deserves a voice!
Starting here as a minnow you know that it can be extremely difficult for your voice to be heard.
Bid bots can help you get your voice heard.
They tip the scale of this platform so that smaller fish can get their posts seen in hot or possibly trending page which is the only worthwhile real estate here.
Furthermore, by investing into yourself by using bots to promote your post you are in fact investing in the platform unlike some upset whales would have you believe.
All of that said, there is a real issue on the platform with people abusing bots.
This issue lies in the people/accounts that are spamming and scamming the system with account farms and things of this nature and using bots to boost their plans.
The issue is NOT with people that are using bid bots after 3.5 days!
The issue is NOT with people that are using bid bots after 3.5 days!
In fact, the total amount (everyone not only bots, according to steemd if you can trust them lol) of last minute upvotes from the last 3 days has only been 298.33!
That number can hardly be considered abuse!
That number can hardly be considered abuse!
Understand that many people that vote this late are trying to scam the system. However many have a multitude of other legitimate reasons to do so. See Here
Now you may think that not allowing votes after 3.5 days will allow people more time to flag posts, thus returning more scam money to the reward pool (Which is basically the only moderately helpful thing about changing the limit.).
However, the amount of manpower it takes to comb through individual posts and flag them is unimaginable. Just ask @steemcleaners. Not to mention, as many have pointed out, we shouldn't have to. We simply don't have the resources to do it. If there were, these accounts would have been flushed out long before using bots.
If you look around, you will notice that this is true. Since so many people know it is true, making a limit of 3.5 days will actually only make the issue worse. Now the same scammers, who know that their posts will not be flagged because there is simply not the manpower to do it, will now start using bots at 3 days instead of six. This of course means that they will be pouring up to 3 times the amount of money/sbd into their scams. Thus, the plot thickens.
Also, this is now going to push people to see, and believe, that people using these bots between 2.5 and 3.5 days are abusive... Where will that end? The time of your vote is not abusive, what you are doing with a vote can be.
The only real way to combat bot abuse is to target the abusers, their accounts directly, not individual posts. Once an account is outed as being an abuser they can then be blacklisted. Once blacklisted this entire account simply cannot use bots at all... Done.
Not all bot owners and certainly not everyone agrees with me on this next part. However, having said all of that I want to make one thing perfectly clear...
I personally believe that it is the responsibility of bot owners to prevent their bots from voting on abusive content!
I've held this belief for a while now but the issue is much tougher to resolve than you think. There are simply to many factors to just start throwing out blanketed black and white rules.
I have personally been working quite hard on finding a solution to this issue. The thing is that unless I post about my efforts no one even knows I'm doing it. How could you, you are on the other side of a screen knowing only what is typed on it. When something has been removed before you see it, you neither understand it was there nor perceive the effort that was put forth to make sure it was not there.
Unfortunately when your focus is finding a solution, it is not on writing about it. This apparently has made me a very easy target for accusations and threatening assaults on my customers (to be addressed in later post).
This is why I am pleased to announce that I am now working closely with @steemcleaners to remedy the bid bot abuse issue!
This makes Sneaky Ninja the first (and only so far) bot to work directly with Steem Cleaners on this issue.
I had a private conversation yesterday with @patrice of @steemcleaners regarding the issue. As of last night Sneaky Ninja has already added 5500 abusive accounts to the blacklist and will be adding around 25000 more very soon. I then passed that list on for other bot owners to use as well.
Currently this team up is all manual but we plan to make it much easier and accessible to other bots and services that may require it.
Irresponsible?
But wait, there's more!
To all of you would be scammers, spammers and shit posters trying to use my service let this be my one and only fair warning...
If you have been blacklisted and send SBD you will not get it back... ever. You will however get a nice note back in your wallet stating that you are blacklisted. Just an unnecessary common courtesy. You're welcome! 😃
For the past couple weeks it has been being funneled into a new account, @kusari. It has only built about $110 SBD so far.
This SBD is now being used to help counter the thug attacks from @grumpycat. I have to do this manually but I will be transferring this SBD directly to some of those affected by his tyranny. This will not even come close to the amount of money he has taken from all of you but it is a start.
If @grumpycat can open his eyes and realize that I am not the man/bot that he has so maliciously made me out to be, and finally stops his senseless attacks of innocent steemians, all money that goes into that account will then be used in support of charity and humanitarian projects such as @youarhope.
Speaking of @youarehope, Sneaky Ninja is now donating a portion of it's proceeds to them to support all of their efforts to help people around the world.
If you don't know yet what @youarehope is, it is a decentralized charity designed by @sircork to help real people that are really in need around the world without the use of governments or massive institutions. Just people actually helping people from their genuine want to do so. It is entirely steem based and supported without the use of fiat currency until the very last moment when it must be converted to actually buy things for those who need it.
Personally this is the best and most well intentioned charity I have ever came across. The smiles they have already brought to our world community have been bright and excessive. It is the first and best of its kind and I certainly hope it will not be the last!
Many thanks,
Kozeni (小銭)
@sneaky-ninja
Sworn defender and protector of Sōsharumedia (ソーシャルメディア)
Trained by @michaeldavid,
Supreme Jōki (蒸気) Master and warrior for @thealliance
Hello @sneaky-ninja ! # i sent 0.500 SBD 11 hrs ago, but i didn't get upvote from you & you said: "Bid is invalid - The author of this post is on the blacklist." so i request to you that Please Refund my SBD if you can't upvote me. Thank You !
I've been very clear about not refunding to blacklisted accounts. your .5 sbd will now be used to help one of @grumpycat's victims.
@sneaky-ninja whare are your blacklisted account's list?
They are not public.
Update!!!!
I have just sent a completed list from @steemcleaners of 26,539 Abusive users to be added to the blacklist!!
This is only real bad ones like, spammers, plagiarists, identity thieves, etc.
Still more to come like ones that are copy pasta or just plain shitty posters lol.
Hi, I'm
TrufflePig, a bot based on Machine Learning to help minnows and reward overlooked content.Could I also get my hands on your blacklist? Excluding malicious payouts from my training data would improve my chances to find quality content. Thank you!
By the way, if you are interested about my inner workings, you can find an explanation here.
Definitely! Please contact @michaeldavid on Discord aka "The Docta" and I'll be happy to help you out :)
Thanks! I'll do :-)
Can't imagine the time and effort it took to blacklist 26,539 accounts, hats off man!
That work is all do to @patrice and her team at @steemcleaners. They/she has done an amazing job. There are still more to come :)
Please send me that same list to chronocrypto on discord.
Gotcha :)
That is such a huge percentage of the accounts on here!! So crazy!!
That is only the indisputable abusers, not the copy pasta or just plain crappy posts lol :)
even more crazy!!
yea, i know!
@buildawhale has been working with Steemcleaners almost daily for months.
Well said man, I totally got your back on this brother I understand where you're coming from and we know that you have struggled and we know that this is a legit system. And we're not going to have people or bullies like this in our system to try to disrupt it in any way to their own personal liking or choosing. Well put and we will continue to use your Bot for sure no worries and we appreciate all your hard work that you put into everything...
be well
@sneaky-ninja
Thanks so much for the support!
I fully agreed with your opinion. grumpycat looks like the dirt governments trying to impose their personal Ideas as rules using the escuse of Being the savior of human kind but behind everyone`s eyes filling his pocket with money with guess what. self high self vote and, circle voting and vote of the deceived people who believe they need such Savior...
Btw congratulate on your joining forces with steem cleaners. I do have some questions about then too, but at least they seems to act more legitimately than the bad kitty.
good luck on your goal of recovering from the bad events that have happen to you.
see ya friend!
They are much more legit. much of it is automated through bots so there is the occasional mistake but so much is looked at manually and the mistakes are given a chance. After my talk with @patrice it was clear that she does have a diplomatic understanding of the finer and greyer areas of most of the abuse issues.
Also, you will probably like to see This
Buenas, creo que la discusión sobre las curaciones debe traer a la larga a otras formas mas activas de distribución e inversión en el sistema. Eso e slo que le hace grande que podemos hacer las coas que en el pasado nos divieron. Podemos dara la comunidad su buena tajada, crece el emprendedor y el sistema cuenta con una plataforma y servicio cubierto por todos y para tods.
Con los Testigos que se responsabilizan del desarrollo y mantenimiento. Creo que el discurso debe abrirse a sobre como será esta plataforma con sus primeros mil millones de seguidores dentro unos 5 años...
I have started some discussion similar to this on my other page, @michaeldavid.
feel free to join our discussions there :)
Thank you very much @sneaky-ninja for this words of wisdom
I have sworn to be your loyal subscriber...
Bravo..
You rock man! keep fighting the good fight!
@sneaky-ninja hey who do i talk to you or @steemcleaners about joining up with the blacklist? @echowhale and the team will definietly contribute count us in. Great post.
Do you run a bot or something?
Hit up michaeldavid in discord. AKA "The Docta"
Being new here, I am still confused as to what the issue is over the 3.5 days and after.
I also am confused why it is being battled over by some to continue offering the service after 3.5 days, such as I suppose you are doing. I understand maybe the line is being stood to say no to someone else dictating, but the damage is hitting those who use your service, not you. I am curious why not just move it back to the 3.5 days and the community will shift how they utilize.
I know I have been here for a couple of weeks and I make sure not to use any services that would cost me such a heavy hit over a war of wills I don't really understand. So people can adjust, why not the bots? Is it unreasonable to not want them after 3.5 days?
as soon as we give into a tyrant like that we are opening a can of worms.
The next whale could have a much sicker agenda.
How would you feel if someone came here with 2 million coin and started demanding pornographic pictures of your children or you and your entire following will get flagged?
Extreme example, definitely!
However, letting people do this on this platform can lead to people dictating very bad things because by his example they have learned that the masses here will just roll over and take it.
This is one of the first to use these tactics here, we still have a chance to stop it from happening with someone else. He threatened my fucking son, you think the next guy won't do worse then think again.
For thousands of years people have faced tyrants using the same fear tactics to push their will on the masses. Its oppression at its finest and cannot be tolerated here. Here on steemit we actually have the power of numbers and the power to stand up against such tyranny.
Not to mention what he is doing is so illegal I cannot even count the ways!
You can easily liken it to him standing outside my shop beating my customers up after they leave, taking whatever they bought from the shop then threatening them to never come back or he will do the same thing again. Do you know how many times I have read someone say, oh i didnt know grumpass, i'll never use that bot again? Meanwhile there actually is no such rule. If you think it only hurts my customers your wrong.
It is complete thuggery and downright abuse of not only the platform but also of my fellow man and I will neither stand for it nor bow to it!
This guy has made so many enemies here that he does not even know. We are also working on a way to help those he has hurt it will only take time.
It's the people that I stand for. If he actually wanted to help the issue he would help the issue. So many of us have offered so many times to bring him in on group discussion as well as private ones to actually resolve the issue and all he does is threaten further. Helping the issue is clearly not his goal, pushing his agenda is. If he gets his way what is next from him? Let alone any other asshole with a stack of coin!
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I have spent the last 40 minutes since my post reading your threads and links on those threads to other threads. I am glad I did, you are a good man. You seem to be involved with a really good group of people as well (the alliance).
I understand completely when you say:
And to be blunt, the tactics are working. I spend what little I have spread out for as many small upvote bots as I can get in the hopes of enough visibility someone who may enjoy what I share will like and follow. Many here seem to be against the bots period, thinking they are giving this huge return. My experience is averaged out they produce a slight loss thanks to last minute bidders. But it is worth it to me to invest in my writing, I believe in myself.
But the point is, referencing the quote I pulled from you, I don't use you. I CAN'T use you. Nor can I use any other bots that are not compliant. I really want to make it here, and can't afford to get caught up in some war that makes me a casualty. Hell, I barely understand how any of this works.
Please forgive the length of all of this, but I am curious of one more thing. I have to imagine as the people using your service find themselves getting that special vote that strips them of everything you must be finding your bids decreasing as people shift to the compliant ones. I do not see how you can stop this, so do you just close down shop once there are barely any users willing to use you?
Thanks for saying these things and taking the time to read about me and who i really am. I really appreciate that.
I really don't think it will get that far in my opinion. I really think that grumpy, despite his despicable actions wants the same thing many of us to... for the abuse to stop.
I'm sure once he sees the efforts that myself and many other owners have and are making that he will stop hurting innocent people and turn his efforts toward real abusers. Fingers crossed at least. lol
In fact, I've already noticed him sending some of his efforts elsewhere, so maybe we have reached him but after having such strong convictions he doesnt want to admit it publicly, which is fine by me :)
I understand you not being able to use my bot fully and respect your decision to do so. Yes it has slipped some but still many are willing to stand up to injustice and stand for the little guy like I am so there still are many die hard supporters that know I am no villain lol.
The coast should be clear soon. :)
I never understood the deal with this upvotes upto 6 days, now I do it still makes little sense for Salty Cat to be hounding all users of a service because of a minority, and along the way flagging the posts of innocent good quality content creators. This is obviously a far better system using block lists, and finding a way to keep the scammers and spammers out of community should be the main focus the pissed off feline.
#thealliance
Thank you for saying that. It is really superior actually. In the long run it will save countless hours of curation from people which will in turn give them time to reward good posts... If people still do that here lol.