https://i.supload.com/SyJLFeuHx.jpg
Image Source: re-mixed from Pixabay

_note: I wrote this with the intention of sharing it to other websites_ 

# Steemit is the new blockchain-powered social media site that pays its users to post and upvote content, but as is the case with all new things, it’s not yet well understood by many people. 

To make things even more confusing, it has a collection of fierce critics who don’t see Steemit’s full potential or hidden successes. Steemit is not a perfect economic model and as an early adopter, I have my own criticisms of the platform. The biggest problem for me is the way the rewards are distributed. It’s imbalanced because it seems that the rich are getting richer and the poor have trouble gaining traction when they first start out on the platform. Also, the only way to make any decent amount of money is to get upvoted by the big account holders called the _whales._ If you fall out of favor with the _whales,_ your Steem rewards will shrink and your user experience will start to feel really bad. Unless you have a streak of fierce determination inside, you probably won’t stay in Steemit for long. This is what I have noticed happening with some of my friends who tried out Steemit then left the platform because of the feeling of unfairness with the reward system.

## Most people focus solely on the reward system and fail to grasp the hidden successes of the platform that fly under the radar. 

It’s easy to focus on the rewards since you are confronted with the monetary value of posts every time you look at them, but I’d like to tell you about one of Steemit’s lesser known success stories: the reformation of internet trolls.

http://i.giphy.com/MfIGtdhq6Q9aM.gif

# As you know, trolls are the bane of the internet’s existence. 

Most people have had some interaction with a troll on the internet and in some cases, it can completely ruin your experience with a particular site. In the early days, there were some trolls that definitely ruined my online experience in Steemit. One troll was responsible for scaring away a lot of users. Special groups and chat channels had to be formed just to deal with this troll and some especially vulnerable users suffered a great deal. Some chose to stay away from Steemit because the verbal abuse was _that_ bad. 

# During this time, the Steemit user interface was changed to include collapsed comments and a reputation system. 
http://i.giphy.com/26hisWdTd1284HXOg.gif

Along with these changes, a more robust anti-bullying culture developed and before long, even the worst of the trolls had slowly begun to morph into the semblance of functioning members of human society. 

### Let me describe the specifics of these interface changes. 

## The collapsed comments work like this: if someone leaves a nasty, trolling comment on someone’s post, users can flag the comment which collapses it, thereby hiding its contents. 

You can still choose to see it by pressing a button that says “show” on a comment that is listed as “this post was hidden due to low ratings”. The other result of having a comment or a post flagged is that the person’s reputation score gets lowered. People with high reputations can greatly lower the reputation of users with lower reputations. And once a user gets a reputation of 0 or lower, his or her posts appear collapsed and won’t show up unless you press the “show” button. Is this system flawless, free of abuse? Absolutely not. I’ve seen some high reputation users abuse their power and destroy others who were not trolls. If you’ve seen the Nosedive episode of Black Mirror, you’ll understand Steemit better. But no human-created system is perfect. 

## The other thing that happens when a post or comment is flagged is the monetary rewards are reduced or entirely removed from it. 

So, as far as trolls are concerned, the system inside Steemit is the first one that ties a negative economic consequence to the act of trolling. If you troll people on Steemit, you won’t get any kind of monetary reward for doing so and you will become more and more invisible. The whole point of being on Steemit is to earn monetary rewards and build a community. One user named @klye used to describe himself as being a troll, but now he’s an active member of Steemit. I was conversing with him the other day and this is what he had to say about the topic:

<center>[![a0792b8016.png](https://s23.postimg.org/w50m74vwr/a0792b8016.png)](https://postimg.org/image/69gvnxu2v/)</center>

Image Source: @klye

> “Ah. Thank you very much for the clear explanation. Much appreciated.
I've never considered myself a journalist. I'm just some weirdo that showed up to draw MS-Paint di**s and troll people.. Somewhere along the line I got sidetracked in all of that and ended up a politician.. lol”

I probed him further to tell me what sort of troll he used to be on the internet. Here’s what he said:

> “I'm a general all purpose asshat. If there was a joke to be made at someone's expense I generally hoped on it. If there was chaos to be created I fed the flames of it. There are far worse troll examples out there than I was.. Generally was basically tame compared to some who flex racist, sexist, etc etc ideals on people. I joined Steemit after it had been hacked.. Was doing the chaos routine and causing FUD.. Then @ned was all like "No need for this." ... I was un-trolled by the CEO my first day here.. Now I'm fighting for the rights of users on our network..I'm a damn good troll.. But seemingly a better witness.. I guess it all works out in the end.”

And there were other trolls in the early days of Steemit who have stopped trolling, too. Of course not all have completely vanished, but due to the interface changes, their power is so diminished that no one really notices them anymore. 

# It seems that Steemit is so far the only internet site that truly solves the problem of the evil internet trolls. Reforming trolls is Steemit's secret weapon.

[![shoes.jpg](https://s28.postimg.org/vdgdruu19/shoes.jpg)](https://postimg.org/image/9r1datvgp/)
Image Source: Unsplash

Finding a purpose in society and feeling valued are basic human needs that even trolls secretly desire. Steemit taps into that desire and makes it possible for trolls to find work within the Steemit community. The secret to finding your purpose in Steemit is defining what you like to do and then finding an outlet for your energy. No one is going to tell you what you should do in Steemit, but there is plenty of work to do if you decide to look for it. 

**Steemit…….turning internet trolls into functioning members of society since 2016.**

My goal with this article is to get it published on CoinTelegraph, CoinDesk, etc. If you have connections with the editors on a site, please hook me up. Thanks!

[<center>![follow8f3ef.jpg](https://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/09/27/follow8f3ef.jpg)</center>](https://steemit.com/@stellabelle)

Buy Stellabelle's book, [_Un-Crap Your Life: Navigating Life's Crappiest Situations_](https://www.amazon.com/Crap-Your-Life-Navigating-Situations-ebook/dp/B017PBLZPA) on Amazon.