spaminator is just a no-money flag they use to keep track of things, as far as I recall? (don't quote me, I don't know) Given it's not even a 1% vote and not even worth half of a half of a penny, I'd say laugh at it and ignore it entirely.
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While I am not a supporter of specific aspects of Hivewatchers and vote accordingly, I'm not really sure what "illegal witness" means because anyone, anywhere, for any reason can become a Hive witness and it is never illegal (I suppose a compromised block production account would be, but the community then can unvote. Ask me how I know!). Many people very freely discuss their dissatisfaction on Hive, on Hive, which is one of the reasons I love this chain very much and put in the work I do for it. I passionately defend that while Hive is very human and should be encouraged to be the best version of human we can make it, Hive is also for enemies, and that's incredibly powerful.
However, I don't have much more to add to you in this case I'll have to respectfully disagree with you about GP, not to mention find that any attempts at on chain doxxing incredibly problematic and distasteful. I work with him almost every day on most of the completely thankless admin jobs that people shunt off on us, and he has been a staunch friend, an excellent high level project manager and administrator, and I've witnessed first hand how he supports entire communities of people and projects out of pocket. I am not here to convince you otherwise, but I also won't be drawn into that particular single discussion as it serves no useful purpose for me.
I will say I have no doubt that with a few passes through my own wallet and voting history, someone else could probably create some similar web of deceit and misery based on their own perception of blockchain connections, and develop much the same attitude about me, so I just keep myself on my own path and work with the people I know are advancing our space in the ways that don't compromise my own morals and ideals.
Hey crimsonclad,
This wonderful blockchain has a way of capturing your own craziness for you to embarrassingly review in the days that follow. Please know I never dox anyone, doxxing is the same as snitching and should be reserved for bottom feeders. I apologize to guiltyparties hivewatchers and whoever else I implicated as doing any kind of wrongdoing on this blockchain. I am shadowbanned on web2 social medias, Hive is my sanctuary for me and I felt like that was being threatened. Now I am fully aware that the way I was using Hive was not helping the Hive community grow and that is why Hivewatchers sent a warning shot to make me aware that I was doing something wrong.
The information I gathered about Hivewatchers was available in post on Hive made by other users who investigated into the actions of this group. I didn't actively seek information about GP AMD or anyone, that information is public. You are absolutely correct that anyone can surmise perceived illicit activity when looking at someones transactions, but I didn't go snooping around. What I did was worse, I eagerly accepted information without verifying it because I was blinded by my own anger. Trust me when I say this whole thing has been very embarrassing. If I could I would go back and delete all the ridiculous comments I made that would've already been done, so please tell peepz to ignore them.
People like me have no idea about the hard work people like you or GP and all the other devs do behind the scenes. including Hivewatchers. I am forever grateful for the time and effort you beautiful people have sacrificed for Hive. All I can do is apologize for the way I acted and keep working to be a better community member.
While they still wage war...
Just to be super clear, I don't think there's any craziness in you over being upset in a place where humans interact in ways that often touch human emotion- actions like, say, downvoting. The response that you have to Hivewatchers, I would argue, is actually much more common than not and doesn't need to be qualified to anyone. I am just of the sort that is happy to agree to disagree on things at times and who loves my friends and respects even the people I don't like if they're doing things that ultimately need to be done, and so, it felt apropos to throw in my 2 cents about GP. There's no universe where you're required to change your opinion. As for the doxxing, yes, I totally know that this wasn't originating from you, has been making the rounds and is honestly really, really funny in some ways (especially as I too am Canadian.) But the darker side is, sharing any info related to a non-consensual doxx on an immutable chain is one of those things that I personally feel has to be weighed incredibly carefully and rarely is worth doing, even in things like citizen journalism.
All that aside! Negative feedback sucks. People have hated it about the chain since day one. Anything that can indicate displeasure or disagreement these days is removed from our society at large, and we are usually less likely in person than we are on the internet to disagree. Youtube and everywhere else removed downvotes because they're uncomfortable and can disrupt complacency on site. Reddit sees huge brigades of people who will actually censor information with them because they're unilaterally powerful. Here on Hive, while yes they can have an impact on the distribution of rewards, they don't have an impact on the flow of information, and that's the part that's amazing. The flip sided problem is- Hive as a base layer has no algorithm for suppression OR discovery. It relies on myriad people using myriad front ends using myriad methods of all sorts, to create content visibility. When there is no single foundational manipulation of what gets seen (good or bad), it means that the granularity moves up levels of centralization. Downvotes could perhaps be interpreted on one front end to grey out a comment, while on another don't do anything at all. Upvotes could rocket one person's comment to the top of the section on one front end, while on another that observes community or mutelist functions, won't even be shown at all based on post author preference.
People telling you "not to worry" aren't trying to dismiss the very real feelings that come with this stuff, but rather, help you recognize where the benefits of the medium allow you to be confident enough not to care. No one, not one of those people, if they brought the weight of all the stake on the chain in all existence to bear against you, could stop you from posting to Hive. They can't prevent your posts and comments from being shown at any front end you choose to direct people at to find you, nor can they prevent anyone from pulling that same information to distribute to the world in any form. You can move to any interface and have the redundancy of the ledger protecting the availability of your posts. The idea that they are holding info back actually makes more sense when viewed the other way, which is that the blockchain unlike Facebook, Twitter or whatever else, isn't actually lifting you up over anyone else. No one ever questions the algorithms when they go in your favor and someone else is quietly tamped down out of sight instead. And here, if there's no front end that meets the criteria or the needs you have for how it deploys its own algorithm or sorting or display options...you can just make one.
Imagine a world where you know you're being shadowbanned on twitter for wrongthink, so you just fire up twitter2 and it pulls right from the original's database, but presents it with totally different rules. We live in that world now, and it's full of opportunity for iterating towards something better. Maybe that's siloed frontends for community, or specialty algorithms, or dozens upon dozens of filters to create a singular feed of information tightly honed in on content exactly like yours that chooses specifically not to show any downvotes alongside it. Completely doable, and protected by the way the Hive works at it's core. It's far from perfect, but it does create an equality of opportunity that is wholly unrivaled.
TL;DR, I love Hive, talk too much, and get that it can be a huge mind fuck and demoralizing sometimes. Where people gather, marketplaces form, and humans are going to human. Sometimes Hive is more human than everything else out there, warts and all.
I have been compared to a bell, quiet and solemn until something strikes me. Once I am hit, it's hard to make me stop talking, so I completely understand and empathize with you about talking too much. 😆
As far as your two cents, each penny was greatly appreciated. I was angry because I felt like I was being wronged, or information I worked hard to gather and write up was equated to me trying to take advantage of people. People who do know me know taking advantage of people is not my character, and I have spent my entire adult life traveling and reporting from some of the most war-torn places in the world. I also do research work for the Armed Conflict Location Event Data project and the Yemen Data Project. All my research and journalism are 100% pro-bono; I simply research the information and offer it to independent news outlets and non-governmental organizations to inform people of the human impact of conflicts.
So, to be told that my content was not original was a kick in the gut, not to mention the implication that I was taking advantage of Hive, something that is dear to me. Colleagues and friends tell me all the time, why do you use that platform? When I talked to one of them recently about this issue, she asked me why you are even dealing with all that just don't post there anymore. Because I love Hive with all my heart, Steem was okay, but our blockchain revolution was the greatest thing I was a part of on the internet since we stopped the "Stop Online Piracy Act" in the US in 2011/2012.
With all that said, I treated GP the same way I felt like I was treated, accused them of being something they are not, and tried to implicate them in some kind of wrongdoing. Emotions can sometimes lead us to close our eyes to our own hypocrisies.
One thing that you said that I still question, and I thank you in advance for hanging in there with my lack of understanding. You say a downvote does not censor a post. My post got downvoted by amd, spaminator steamcleaners, etc, and now has a message to users that says that this content received a low rating from the community (I understand it isn't on all front ends). Just because my post is there and still visible does not mean it isn't being censored, in my opinion. Dissuading users from viewing content because four powerful users downvoted it is not exactly the idea of free information access to users. If the content is deemed malicious or spam, it should have a message warning users about that content. Right now, if a few whale accounts dislike a post, that post is equal to and treated as spam. Downvotes don't prohibit free speech; you're right, but can you confidently say that downvotes do not discredit the information in the post or make a user less likely to engage with that post? What is the difference between dissuading users from engaging with content and censorship?
I am sure I am wrong, so please tell me where I am mistaken.
It is a conundrum because downvotes protect free speech as well, the free speech of the user who is displeased with the content they downvoted, and if used in a natural way by average Hive users, I do not see any issue with downvotes. I remember debating in the comments on Hive a few years back with smooth about downvoting, and smooth stated they were downvoting to even out the reward pool. I understand that form of downvoting way more than I can wrap my mind around what Hive Watchers is doing. After replying to your comment before, I went and voted for the Hive Watchers proposal after researching their mission more, and shortly after that, amd and others downvoted my post. I know they are the power behind Hive Watchers because Hive Watchers has no actual power.
So, how can I support a project that I know is targeting Hive accounts that disagree with them? How can I support anything attached to anyone involved with such totalitarianism? If they are doing it to me, all the stories about this downvoting mafia on Hive are true, and it is not a good look for Hive. At this point, I wholeheartedly support gtg's zero proposal. Downvoting is only an issue when it is abused and used for selfish, myopic reasons, just like any authority. Once they get power, that authority will inevitably abuse that power. Hive is supposed to work on a consensus of votes from the community, yet Hive Watchers' proposal only has 397 votes. Much of the HP in that proposal comes from blue whales like Blocktrades, smooth, hiro-hive, and others.
I don't understand why people on Hive would want to take the form of a publisher because that is whole other list of things that Hive now becomes liable for once you start to police content in any way you are taking the role of a publisher, like facebook or X. You are going to get angry people who feel as if they are being censored, so while I think it is a valiant effort put forth by Hive Watchers to try to quell spam and abuse on Hive. They are way understaffed, unprofessional, and lack objectiveness. The only adjudication offered is a kangaroo court held in a discord channel where you can be banned at any moment. Once you're banned, that is it. There is no further way to contact Hivewatchers. All their accounts lead back to the same discord.
Hive Watchers signed up for a hard job that they get paid to do it, but it is a job they invented and volunteered themselves for. They shouldn't be able to accuse any account of wrongdoing and then block that account from any kind of adjudication because words offended them.
Whether it is censorship or not can be debated ad nauseam. What matters is that to many people, it feels like censorship.