It is no mystery that I am not the most popular person on this site, but at least I speak the truth and do not fear the Hierarchy when doing so. I am not saying that Downvoting has disrupted this platform, but the manner in which it is being used has completely torn our system in two. We have gone from Free thinking individuals to basic drones who are stuck minding their P'sand Q's when posting, with the fear that what we say might put us not only down but out completely. While having a Reputation can help determine a persons worth and the content they might bring forth, it has also been aloud to be destroyed by careless Downvoting from individuals who have taken this useful tool and have twisted it into something they can abuse and can use to manipulate stats and rankings.
When is it ok to Downvote
This tool can be a major help to our Community if used properly and can help to stop Spam, Tag abuse and other proper issues that may need to be Flagged and removed from our platform. Weeding out the problems was the main idea in the creation of this tool and it has helped in most aspects. This tool has also been a newly drawn weapon that from the sheath of those who intend to just ruin others out of spite. We do need Downvoting, but it needs to be reconfigured to not do so much damage when used by the higher ups and it should be totally taken out of the equation when it involves your Reputation. To build a Rep takes time and effort and we should not allow people to just destroy something someone has worked so hard to get so easily.
What happened to Decentralized and What made us stand out?
We built this platform on the belief that we were going to be Decentralized and that is what made our platform stand out from all others. We held the belief that people could come to a place where they were free to speak their mind and would not be Governed for their beliefs. Sure some things need to be quieted and can be a little too much, but it should be the readers choice to just not read these posts and Downvote them if they truly deserve it. The Decentralized system has been for the most part disregarded by giving too much power with Downvotes and their weight on someones reputation if used. This makes being Decentralized a thing of the past and now we are Governed by those who have the Power to destroy a User in a single click. What happened to our site and when did the law come to town.
We need to stay different and hold our morals high, be a innovator not a liberator or Dictator. Lets make Steemit great again.