What's with this wacko "troll-bot" account created via
around 6 hours ago? Shortly after, the account was funded with 970 STEEM from
. Then, starting about 4 hours ago "troll-bot" went live on a flagging/downvoting rampage over hundreds of steemit posts at a rate of around 1 or 2 every few minutes.
Here's just a small sampling, courtesy of steemd stats: https://steemd.com/@asshole
asshole downvote @alexpmorris/stop-eating-chicken-eggs-you-evil-car… (-1%) 1 hour ago
asshole downvote @contentjunkie/alternative-facts-and-threatening-t… (-1%) 1 hour ago
asshole downvote @ttitto/they-discover-a-new-species-of-frog-in-per… (-1%) 1 hour ago
asshole downvote @batngat/nhanh-nhu-anh-sang (-1%) 1 hour ago
asshole downvote @anasz/flies-2017124t8736683z (-1%) 2 hours ago
asshole downvote @sbjamison/pch-scam-contact-the-ftc-at-1-877-382-4… (-1%) 2 hours ago
asshole downvote @yurra1/kitai-vypuskaet-sobstvennuyu-cifrovuyu-val… (-1%) 2 hours ago
asshole downvote @jg02/3-ways-to-trap-yourself-and-achieve-your-goa… (-1%) 2 hours ago
and
: is there a good way yet to deal with such obvious malicious and abusive behavior?
Perhaps this is a good time to revisit this topic, which at least a few of us have commented on before.
It does not seem right or fair that anyone should be allowed to devalue a post by flagging it for no good reason. Therefore, I propose a change whereby flags must be accompanied by a publicly stated brief reason for flagging, to be shown as a special kind of comment. There should also be a means of challenging a flag whereby it can be removed if enough users agree with the challenger, perhaps by indicating their agreement through voting on this flag comment accordingly. This, together with some clearly stated guidelines for flagging from
would also go a long way towards preventing the abuse of the flagging system.
Here is a comment I posted on another thread last month:
I even wonder if people should potentially be penalized for malcious/inappropriate flagging, or at least a comment should be included as to what is objectionable. If others disagree with the reasoning, then the FLAG can be downvoted as well and possibly even penalize the flagger (ie. reduce their future "flag" power in some fashion to indicate "low quality" flagging, which could even identify high-quality flaggers in the community).
And one more...
Downvotes don't count unless they are accompanied by a comment explaining the downvote and that comment has been upvoted by someone that is not the downvoter.
So simple, so direct and so effective. Yes, I know trolls have friends. Yes, I know trolls are probably smart enough to have more than one account and could upvote their downvote. But! Trolls don't have many friends and trolls are lazy. Plus it's pretty easy for the community to pick up on this behavior and police it. I am convinced that this mechanism would greatly, massively reduce the amount of downvote trolling and other bullying that is currently underway.
Please share any thoughts or other ideas on possible solutions for this, as this is the type of behavior that serves only to damage credibility and ruin the ecosystem.