Whales, please consider declining all comment rewards by default (in settings). 5 reasons to do that!
Declining a payout from a comment was possible even earlier, however it was always difficult to do that without some programming skills. Now it is super easy.
- Go to `https://steemit.com/@<your_nick>/settings
- Change "Comment post rewards" to "Decline Payout"
No need to save, it saves automatically
Why I believe some people should decline comment payouts
- Let's face is. If you are a whale, and you have 100 000 or more SteemPower, typical earnings from comments will not make a big difference for you anyway.
- However, this can make a difference for smaller accounts, because there will be more STEEM in reward pool to reward them
- IMO, when someone upvotes own comment, a perception of such behavior is mixed. For example, when you will like your own post on facebook, people very often imagine this:
This is not only my opinion, this is how people see it (according to google images):
Do you think perception on Steemit is much different? I don't think so!
Does it mean, that upvoting own comments are generally bad?
First of all, this cannot be so easily generalized. If you have a lot of SteemPower, you have a right to use all privileges which blockchain gives you.
Personally I upvote own comments from time to time, but in all cases, I'm doing that not because I am want to get few extra $, but because I want to be seen. I want to make my comment more visible because I think I have something important to say to the people.
The problem with that approach was, that it was really difficult and inconvenient to decline comment payouts with some programming tools, and also... I was always afraid, that people will think, that I was greedy. To eliminate this impression, very often I've canceled my upvote, after I got enough upvotes from other people. But that was even more problematic, because I needed to monitor my old comments, to not forgets to unvote myself.
Still not convinced?
I hope, that my intentions are clear - I want to support minnows, but the great thing is, that you do not have to be so altruistic to came to conclusion, that currently disabling comment payout is a great thing to stand out!
Some people still do not know how to do that. For them, you will be like a pro, which can do something, what other people can't. People will more often take a look on your profile, to learn more about you.
Conclusion
I really think this is a good idea, to decline rewards by default. If I will make a really long and hard to prepare comment, I always can change this setting very easily.
I'm also pretty sure, that thanks to that feature, I will actually use my SteemPower more often as a leverage, to increase visibility in threads which are super important to me. I will not be afraid, that upvoting my comments will be seen by other people as greedy behavior.
Personally, I would not be surprised if that would help increase value of STEEM significantly. Why? Because large STEEM investors more often will speak at loud, what is important to them. If those people will be heard, maybe they will keep STEEM in their portfolio for a little bit longer.
Please consider voting for noisy.witness - Soon you can expect from us a proper announcement with all the details about our node, together with info about our upcoming project SmartVotes :) But actually people can vote for us even right now, since our node is up and running smoothly :)
Dear whoever, don't expect of others to just follow your good example when you either don't have comparable amount of SP or is already using your voting power on something else anyway.
Show me you're flagging people who self-upvote their comment too much and I might start considering the same.
They ya go. Brought it down a bit. :)
What do you think we can do to change the stigma around downvotes and encourage more people to "spend" their voting power and value loss via no curation to flag more often? If I knew people wouldn't react negatively to a "disagreement over rewards" flag, I'd probably do it more often to ensure the rewards pool is used for more useful content (note, I didn't say valuable, but useful because some content is useful if it causes people to sign up, stay engaged, and especially invest in STEEM). When people respond negatively to a flag and then flag everything else that person who gave them the flag puts out, that's what prevents people from flagging more often.
How can we fix this?
I think we need more support from large whales who will counter-flag and counter-upvote flags which are done by those who don't want people to take away from their potential rewards.
@transisto already described one very good idea:
You can tell people to stop at red ligths. But you can not forbid them from taking a shortcut. What I mean is that you can ask people but unless its enforced, its people choice and its their right to take advantage of their investment.
it works like that: You right now upvoted yourself:
and now I'm wandering, whether you wanted to be more visible, or you are just selfish and greedy. Assuming first option, the question is whether $0.49 is really enough for you, to let other people question your intentions.
I would vote your smart comment but since you declined payout I will lose my curation potential... this is another incentive we should consider.
I voted to make a point. As long as this is a legal possibility, the good people will be used by the bad people. A good platform should enforce fairness. Because apparently fairness is not a built in human feature...
Define "fairness" should I be paid the same to write a book as Earnest Hemingway?
I doubt it. Do I already have the "fair" chance to get good and get paid like Hemingway?
Sure.
Fairness is a fantasy of those who can't but will never be acknowledged by people not seeking a shortcut.
I wonder what would Hemingway think about Steemit
Good question. Probably the same thing contemporary great producers thinks... F that place...
It's the bread and butter of many whales. I doubt they'll do it.
https://steemit.com/payout_comments
Will you? If yes/no, then why?
Not me. I'm not a whale and I don't spend my voting power on comment selfvotes worth thousands of dollars.
OMFG ..these are insane pending comment payouts https://steemit.com/payout_comments ! This is money i even never dream making in a post and a person just makes it from 2 upvotes from a comment!
I really wish they start declining this comment payments!
The flag wars are also taking a lot of Steem in the process,wheever each whale downvotes the other....more Steem burned and also the other whale counter reacts and again Steem used.
What you see are burnpost and utopian moderator salaries. It would make zero sense to reject reward for that.
agreed, thanks for taking into perspective - however the majority of users do not understand this "burn post / utopian moderator salaries comment thing" - a reason to post to explain maybe by a guru like you?
I think whales and other larger players could set a better example. Steemit is still small and we need to encourage the minnows so it grows. I see plenty give themselves a multi-dollar vote on posts when they are guaranteed to make far more anyway. Share the votes around. I very rarely self vote so I have more voting power for others.
Of course there are people really milking the system, but we are not obliged to emulate them.
I think some people voting on comments 'for visibility' is not always a valid excuse. A smaller vote will often do the job. Others will vote in the comment of it's good.
Let's make steemit the place we want it to be. Greed could kill it.
That reminds me of a certain C-level exec who upvoted himself for a whopping $500. I felt like delegating some SP just for the sake of offering a slider.
I think that was an exception. My policy is to reduce my vote on anything with a self vote, if I give anything.
Exactly. Personally, I always tried to use only small, but big-enough upvote, believing that if with such a visibility my comment will still not be able to maintain top visibility, then that would mean, that after all my input wasn't so special or important.
If the honchos in power, the CEO(s), would set this example things could slowly but surely become better rather than a sloppy $500 .self upvote on a comment, for the sake of being seen.
a very important information, thank you very much @noisy, the article you created is very useful for many people.
So What if im Based on comments Because My Account Is New
When you're new, your comments should attract followers, and self-voting doesn't make you attractive. Your vote on this comment doesn't actually count; rewards under $0.02 are discarded at the moment (this rule may be changed in the future).
use @dustsweeper to get the payouts. https://steemit.com/@dustsweeper
new people who self vote only see what the rest of the steemit community does, and follows their lead. if you work hard on a comment, or turn a comment into a post, i dont think there is anything wrong with upvoting. especially when most the money in your account is put there, by you. the system is set up to make it extremely hard for little fish to grow at all, and watching people only upvote themselves or circle jerk with hundreds of dollars... thats kinda where it gets unseemly.
Well said !
I like when I see ppl specially (whales) care about supporting minnows.
It makes more sense to be here on the platform .
This would really help the community.It would really bring or put more Steem in the rewards pool.
I just checked this out shared by @drakos ie https://steemit.com/payout_comments and damn,these upcoming payments are insane ....it is money i even never dream of making in a post.The highest moneyci made in a post has been 60$ and that was 4 months ago!
If all whales could decline their comment payments and instead upvote minnow posta or newbie comments,that would help some minmows.
I have to admit that in my first 4 months i had generous comment voters who helped me earn some money and reputation grow.This small money like 2..4 or 5$ in a minnow's comments is really great money as most of their posts earn consistent 0.00$s!.
I also think the flag wars are draining the reawards pool! The two whales fighting each other use so much voting power just in the name of proving the other wrong!
This continues for long periods hence draining the rewards pool.IMo its better to upvote other posts to cover the post that is deemed bad to Steemit!
If more people upvote on a great post,the bad post will obviously be pushed down below....or make a few downvotes and massively upvote great content.
Jarau lead Promoter from Uganda.
This is one of the best advice being given to whales, I hope they accept for those above 100,000k SP. And thanks for always wanting to help the minnows grow
I just set 100 000 SP as an example. I do not have so much, but I am declining rewards from all comments anyway.
It only take a disciplined person to do this and not wanting to suck from the reward pool. I wish the world have more of you. Giving rather than taking