When I think carefully about the design of Steem, here is one blaring flaw I see with it. Currently, it is designed to reward non-contentious topics such as cooking, travel, light-hearted philosophies, but it happens to be poised to shut down deep conversations about crucial topics that might be contentious or uncomfortable for people to talk about.
We need to talk about contentious things. Life cannot always be about beautiful roses and pretty, decorative crafts. Sometimes, we need to get down to the serious subjects and hash things out. Opinions will vary and strong feelings will form, but open discussion on those topics are still needed.
All that said, Steem is designed to demonetize these important, albeit contentious subjects. Why is this so?
Upvoting content is a way of recognizing someone's effort and responding with appreciation. Downvoting content can be an expression that you dislike the concept, which might seem good.
Some argue that not having the ability to express distaste for something is a form of censorship. Nevertheless, the end result is that topics that anger certain communities are inevitably going to receive backlash in the form of downvotes.
