I often watch the categories 'religion' and 'spirituality' (I don't know what the difference is between them).
I didn't used to be aware of the 'MUTE' function, so when I didn't like something, I would just say it in a comment.
Some of the articles are really harmful, though. I saw an invitation to some vague spiritual conference where the speakers were promising solutions, but they didn't say what they were going to solve (but they did requested donations for it).
Still, I cannot just comment on every article I hope to go away, as then I would break the FAQ rule that says that I create abuse when I engage in:
Leaving nearly identical or materially similar comments on multiple posts.
For some reason people are allowed to post a series of nearly identical articles, just not comments.
I was invited to read an article
Somebody sent me a link to this article.
By doing this they also violated another rule of the FAQ that says that abuse is:
Comments that are unrelated to the topic of discussion.
The very title of this article is a form of abuse, as the writer implores the readers to watch a video that is not even their own, and FAQ says that abuse is also:
Asking for money, views, upvotes, follows, or resteems.
Still, they earned over a dollar, for this abuse, in upvotes.
Either way, I thought that genuinely wanted attention from me, as otherwise they wouldn't be inviting me, would they?
So I gave them some.
I wrote them a detailed analysis of a part of the video (with timestamps and all). I stated in what places the speaker was talking not on topic, where they made factual errors and stuff.
It takes a great amount of energy to write a well designed video review, but the blogger ignored it. [Update: they did get back to me, and their response was positive].
An article I actually did like
My favourite article so far has been this one.
The article has been hidden, because some idiot with 11 thousands STEEM Power downvoted it, yet I still like it, and the imagines are still available for viewing, but won't show up on the screen unless you press a button that reveals them.
What it means for me
Even Steemians with content better than mine get their posts downvoted and hidden by idiots.
One of my articles has been similarly downvoted, but at least I earned it by posting it in an incorrect category. Here a perfectly fine and well made article got downvoted for no reason.
I contacted the author previously, telling them how much I liked it, and now I contacted them again, asking them why it was downvoted. I hope they will answer me again.
After muting the articles I did not like
I mute authors of articles that just promote Christianity or otherwise create no value.
I don't want to engage in a discussion with idiots, as then it would earn me downvotes, and actually be against the rules, as I cannot write nearly identical comments under several articles.
Still, I think that by muting (as opposed to downvoting) the authors I do not hurt their reputation. These actions are visible on the blockchain, but I think they do not show up in the authors' profiles, and do not affect how other people see their articles.
I am happy with having done it, as now after I muted so many Christian authors I started seeing articles about Diwali, which I really enjoy watching.
The obvious disadvantage of my blog
I am guilty of many of the flaws I see in others.
I haven't created much value since I joined Steemit. After deleting my previous blog I haven't created a new style yet. (The old blog was usually just detailed reviews of YouTube videos).
I am trying not to write articles every day, as I do not think that I can create enough ingenuity in such a short time.
A minor criticism under a video
I generally like rewarding content creators, and if I cannot vote for somebody's publication, because it is not on Steemit, I just write a comment. I value positive and negative comments equally.
I am writing here about it to prove that I care about the content draws my attention, and seldom fail to acknowledge it.
In this particular video Jacque Fresco talks about something I mostly agree with, yet still I require some clarification, so I wrote:
I don't know. When I write a computer program, I create it. It hasn't just been inherent in the programming language from the beginning. People really create stuff.
I think that this video deserves its own review in a separate video. I was personally present at a Jacque Fresco's talk on a similar topic.
I think that The Venus Project, Jacque's main creation, was idiotic, but still Jacque had many wise things to say, and I enjoyed the talk I was present at. (Jacque didn't talk much about The Venus Project at the event).