So i just found the first part of the 'Attack' on Steemit's information flow
Steemcleaners
https://steemit.com/@steemcleaners
These people will come in posing as doing 'vigilant work' while being 'super popular' where as they are likely using VPN and multiple account and being funded by some random agency.
if that sounds paranoid let me just tell you i'm from 'VOAT' actually if that sounds paranoid you are naive and don't know social media at all and you shouldn't be developing one like this.
You can read a bit more about my analysis of social media here:
Voat was attacked with many of these vectors it always starts with 'doing vigilant work' 'upholding the law' in the name of censoring and or hiding content.
so OK Steemit might be flawed and if content really can be hidden with the flag button then it's a critical flaw and Steemit is 'cooked'
that's the down side ...
here's the upside !
Steemit likely uses 'Websockets' which just means that this is a front end that is using encryption from the Steemit Blockchain to feed content to the browser.
this means in theory any fork of this system can be used (in theory) off really any BlockChain base
Don't get me wrong I love Steemit - and i love the idea of 'SP' and i think tying the 'SP' up in the platform is both genius and good business theory that would have benefited both users , investors and the developers.
However if your content is going to be spammed to oblivion by 'vigilant upholders' (basically Agency spooks posing as both sides of the SJW argument ) then you can write the whole genius of that economy off.
Without engagement REAL engagement from real people the platform will not grow, the best writers will not come and as this is a peer environment they will go where the information is more efficiently organized and not censored.
yeah, I'm that guy that tells you the truth because i have absolutely zero stake in it, so i won't be influenced and i don't care about your feelings.
It's just a fact that if VPN spammers weather they be from NSA Monsanto or fucking Microsoft can spend a little money (or none) and censor content on the platform then you have little more than a failed unpopular 'Myspace' not even that really. you have Reddit but all of the content will be Cat pictures and poems.
Summary
Believe it or not i expected/predicted all of this - here is roughly how i expected the trend to occur:
- Reddit ( a long time being destroyed and hit critical dysfunction)
- A non decentralized Reddit alternative (that was Voat) that would be attacked but in an exponential timeframe manner we would get :
- A decentralized alternative (that's Steemit) and likely this will be attacked though human flaw and naivety (prety much looks like what is happening) if it can't be fixed then
- A series of Forks of that decentralized system will occur and will repair the errors of the first system.
Steemit seems to be currently at #3 all of this is very promising and I'm very much glad it exists but while that 'Flag' button exists I presently wouldn't even bother mining it.
it may be pumped etc but all of that stuff is short term if the platform is critically flawed.
So goes the content so goes the crypto and any 'economy'
One possible upside for the developers/investors if they don't want to fix it
Play the 'flawed alternative' card - :
When a real fork comes off that fixes the Errors likely various agencies will try to invest in a flawed alternative - this could be Steemit, the idea here is that the people trying to control the content will try to invest and promote the broken system that they can control.
kind of like well, Bitcoin i suppose.
If that is your system then you may well see an uptick in 'funding' and 'promotion' as the various controller will have to choose to promote their broken alternative against (and while attacking) one of the real successful forks.