After flagging a spam comment on a post and adding my own comment, the apology came to say sorry for hurting me. No, spam doesn't hurt me, it hurts the spammer, it hurts the platform but most of all, it creates a negative feeling in the people who have not yet built up an active follower base. After they post, and get a comment only to discover it is another spammer, it cuts away at their motivation and drive as they are hoping for honesty in the interaction, and spam is not that.
Spam is a lie, it is play, a con, a manipulation to evoke an action from those who do not know better an upvote, a follow, a link click. It is feigning interest to satisfy desires. It is a bad date with someone uninterested in anything other than what they want.
Of course, it will harm the system as those who are already outside of their comfort zone, already trying something new on a platform they do not fully understand get the small amount of courage they have crushed as they realise no one is listening, no one cares what they have to say, no one even reads it.
But, there a counteractions for Spam, namely flags but if ones Steem Power is low, I do not recommend it as people seem to take flags poorly. However, if they are flagged by a high Rep, high power user, they are likely to either apologise, or move along. I am happy to flag and I will become increasingly tight on the content over time as the behaviour should not be tolerated.
However, this bring up a much more important point that I would like to impress upon at least my followers. Comment well but, do not only take your time to comment on the high rep, high SP accounts. Comment well on the low rep, newbies with good content. Motivate them to keep going, help them over some of the hurdles you may have faced alone, this is a community but do it even if you are selfish.
It is these people who will become your support base of the future, it is they who will slowly but surely build their power and as prices increase, it will be they who's fractions of cents turn into fractions of dollars and perhaps many dollars in time. Just as small amounts add up, a few words can build a career, a few people an empire. Invest your time in others, drop one or two comments a day on people with lower Rep, people who need the support.
One measure of a person is not how they treat those above, but those in need.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
