http://i.imgur.com/dj6iaFe.png

## <center>What do you do when you’re swimming peacefully out in the steemit sea and suddenly a whale attacks?</center>

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First off, “attack” is too extreme of a word to use here to accurately represent reality, but I was trying to paint a mental picture based on real ocean life, where a whale could (hypothetically) attack you.

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Anyway, the real subject at hand is in regard to whale downvoting. Sure, many whales have done this for various reasons, and most recently @smooth has been attempting to level the playing field for *everyone* on steemit a bit by downvoting posts that have a sizeable amount of the total daily payout. By doing so, @smooth reduces the total payout amount of the post that was downvoted.

Basically, if 20 posts on a day each get 2% of the total rewards, then there are potentially 1000 or more other posts sharing the remaining 60% of the total rewards. 

Are the motives of @smooth to destroy every good paying post and scare away users from the steemit community? I would have to conclude “NO.” In fact, it appears that the goal is to make steemit more user friendly by allowing for a greater distribution of the total daily rewards. Technically, that’s not a bad thing.

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg
## <center>WHAT DO YOU CARE?</center>

If you’ve watched how @papa-pepper interacts over the past months here, you know that I don’t jump into every “fight” or heated discussion here on steemit with two guns blazin’ and I have no intention of doing so now. Obviously, like many others, @smooth included, I have a genuine concern for steemit, the steemians, and the future of this community. But late last night, something happened.

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# <center>@smooth downvoted a @papa-pepper post!</center>

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Yep, @smooth cruised over with a whale flag and dropped the payout of my post from over $50 to just below $30. **So, now it’s time to post about how evil @smooth is and go all Captain Ahab, right?** Well, that is an option and I certainly have the *freedom* to do so, but I do have *other options* as well.

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fHXfMw4.jpg

## <center>OTHER OPTIONS?</center>

Knowing that a real concern for steemit is the reason why @smooth has been downvoting, I thought that I would share a thought that I had in response. After all, @smooth left me a kind reply stating the reason for the downvote. Also, the post was still worth about $30 anyway, which is not too bad these days.

So, kindly and calmly, I replied, and made the following point.

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### <center>Many of us do not get large payouts very often, so when we do, couldn’t a periodical *larger* payout just be making up for all the smaller payouts that we normally get?</center>

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I do think that if *every* post from certain users *always* get large payouts, then it can be a problem and not only tie up a lot of the rewards but also be very discouraging to others. In a case like that, I can see potentially good cause for downvoting to reduce the payout. Also, with *extreme* payouts that tie up a large portion of the total rewards for the day. However, I don’t think that this is what my post was.

Once I shared my thought with @smooth, the downvote was removed and the post payout increased from $29 back to $55. 
# <center>Yes, the “Big, Bad, Downvote Whale” @smooth did that.</center>

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BEJNiMF.jpg

## <center> WHAT’S THE POINT?</center>

The purpose of this post is not to run a negative or positive PR campaign for @smooth or any other whale. The purpose is to make a point. How you interact with others matters. I could have cursed @smooth and made posts complaining about what happened. (Everyone is free to choose as they wish, I’m just sharing that I’d rather ***not*** take those actions.) I could have used nasty and derogatory language against @smooth.

I could have quit steemit. I could have flagged every comment that @smooth made. I could have made a meme about it. But, instead, I chose to discuss and share some thoughts. 

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### Rather than resorting to emotional, childlike, or negative behavior, I chose to have a respectful conversation with another adult, and @smooth chose to do likewise.

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Of course I had no guarantee that anything would change on the payout of my post, and it didn’t even have to, but @smooth chose to. I understood the viewpoint of @smooth and @smooth understood the viewpoint of @papa-pepper. Not only that, we both concluded that the viewpoint of the other was valid. Also, @smooth now may have a slightly different perspective one this issue, which could potentially affect future voting and downvoting by whales.

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

## <center>THE STEEMIT COMMUNITY</center>

Overall, @papa-pepper isn’t just concerned about @papa-pepper any more than @smooth is just concerned about @smooth. There is much going on here that involves a whole community, and it involves every one of you too. If you have thoughts on the matter, please *respectfully* share them below, and thanks for your time.

#### In case you are interested in seeing the full conversation between @smooth & @papa-pepper, the [LINK](https://steemit.com/steemthought/@papa-pepper/steem-value-papa-pepper-and-the-future) to that post can be found [HERE](https://steemit.com/steemthought/@papa-pepper/steem-value-papa-pepper-and-the-future). Our discussion is in the comments.

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Also, you may be thinking that it is easy to interact kindly and respectfully when things go in *my* favor. It is **easier**, to be sure, but even when things are hard, they are still possible to do! Plus, the current potential payout for that post is at $66.29 and although it will probably be dropping slightly (they usually seem to in the morning) before the first payout in 5 hours, there is still a chance that the payout could receive an "adjustment" due to a whale downvote. Whales certainly have the freedom to use their Steem Power in that way.

Regardless of what happens to me or my posts, at least there is a potential that whales will take your blogging history into consideration prior to adjusting a payout with a downvote. If it's your first big hit or perhaps making up for many low paying posts, maybe they will just swim on by! Either way, Papa cares, and I hope that you choose how you interact wisely!

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![33.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRuyx9bYc6xxXgvtGRFv9oBWsR8fchQxrDpUv2iNYz6Lx/33.png)
# <center>STEEMIT LIKE YOU MEAN IT! (RESPECTFULLY)</center>

https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uVNBbyL.jpg

<center>https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgur.com/uAgeoSs.jpg</center>

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# <center>*FOLLOW*</center>
<center>https://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/08/26/papa-peppe2r25056.jpg</center>

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<center>Awesome Handcrafted @papa-pepper logo **kindly donated by @vlad** - Thank you!!</center>

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<center>https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/https://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/09/30/5bca34b1e3af80061337b7202f1a8a4e.png</center>
### <center>[OPERATION TRANSLATION](https://steemit.com/translation/@papa-pepper/operation-translation-now-under-construction-what-it-is-and-how-you-can-help) logo provided by @oecp85.</center>
<center>(click link above for more info on Operation Translation)</center>

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### <center>The long-term purpose of this account is to help provide the necessary funds to live a self-sufficient lifestyle at home with my family.</center>