It is time Steemit delegation recipients were thoroughly audited

Steemit Inc, Hive account@ned and company, delegate large free amounts to get development off the ground, different apps, projects and the like. How they choose their targets I am unsure about but, they seem to continually have some challenges arise.

The delegation account is Hive account@misterdelegation and you can see the accounts it delegates to here:

I know them all except for Hive account@trending-grace and most at least will be familiar to many.

Another case, how many is that now?

 
Some of you may have come across this post in the last few hours talking about the misuse/abuse/something of the free delegation to Hive account@dmania. I understand that some of these apps/interfaces are important but, the delegation coming from Steemit is not available to all, only some favoured members. Again, not my area however, time and time again, there have been issues of abuse, favoured voting, voting alts and generally serious allegations leveled at some of these developers.

At least to the general public, it seems that some are doing more padding of their own pockets with free (and very large) delegations than developing and building the community. Perhaps this is a problem, perhaps not but, Steemit should have much tighter vision over these activities as they are Steemit-backed enterprises and are therefore representative of Steemit and Steem as well as Hive account@ned himself.

I understand that the delegation is a kind of payment for services rendered but, what is the right level for developers, how far should the rest be distributed, how many votes can a small circle at the top get?

Best practices, accountability.

 
I have suggested in different ways before but, these delegations should be accounted for, Steemit should know how and where they are being used and should have guidelines for best practices. For at least Steemit, there should be full transparency from the app developers and, there should be an independent accountant (or a few) who continually monitor and track how the delegations are being used.

The amounts they are playing with are not insignificant amounts and the way they use these large delegations affects the entire ecosystem. These accounts and their practices should be audited like any other service provider to make sure that what they are promising the customer, Steemit, is actually happening.

Time and time again some of these delegation recipients have failed to use their delegation for much more than a circle jerk. If they were private accounts, that would be one thing but, these have direct Steemit delegation and are a reflection on the entire platform and the future of it. If a private account performed this way it would be classed as abuse, when a Steemit-backed account does it?

It is all too common that when people get free delegation, whether developers or private accounts, many seem to not find an appropriate line of healthy personal growth, community support and abuse. There has been memo vote selling, circle jerks, voting on alts and massively over-rewarding family and friends with free delegation.

Bring in some professionals

 
I think all delegators should keep some eye on who they delegate to but, ALL Steemit-backed recipients should be held to a much higher standard. That takes transparency and accountability. Without this, these kinds of allegations will continue and Steemit will look more and more like a corrupt crony government emptying the coffers.

Perhaps it is time Steemit Inc hired a few professionals for an internal audit rather than relying on those they delegate to to act with integrity. Just in case.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]