I'm writing this post to hopefully set things straight with those who are being flagged and making excuses for their actions. It's been disheartening lately seeing some of the posts I've come across that clearly have minimal to no work put into them. Some have nothing to do with sports. Most of them are hoping to not be noticed and receive some sort of payout before they get flagged. Honestly though, it is more disheartening when these sorts of posts are being flagged for the good of the community and to not encourage garbage posting that the people posting do not learn a lesson and instead make false accusations and terrible excuses. This sort of behavior is toxic and should not be tolerated. When your post is flagged, more than likely there is a good reason for it whether you agree or not. To then become defensive and downright vulgar to the flagger including making false accusations against them and playing the victim does not fly and people can see right through it. You're only making yourself look silly and more guilty trying to argue an invalid point. If you truly believe the flag was put there in error or someone is harassing you then by all means you should take appropriate action and contact someone from Scorum about it. If you are however trying to get away with posting nonsense in hopes of not being flagged, you won't. If you are unsure about something, there are many outlets you can go to in order to ask questions or to ask for help. Here is a list of reasons why you might get flagged so there are no excuses and you can avoid this in the future.

Plagiarism/Google translate

This should be a given, but you'd be surprised at how many people completely plagiarize their content including pictures. I don't know exactly why anyone would even try to get away with this other than hoping to sneak it in and make a quick dollar. Do not do this. It is dishonest, lazy, and you won't get far. Many of us spend a lot of time working on what we put out into the community and if you do not feel like you can do the same then you're on the wrong platform. It's pretty sad how deceptive some are in trying to do this too. Do not copy and paste a post from a different language and translate it into English in hopes that it can't be traced. It won't work and many of us within the community know how to spot this sort of writing. Most of the time, especially if you are not a native English speaker and try this, the post will not translate the proper meaning correctly, it won't make sense, and you'll get caught. We have caught many doing this. Please, save yourself the time.

To clarify, I have also seen people that are not plagiarizing and using Google translate because they are not native English speakers. I really want to address this because the racism word has been being thrown around lately and it's completely unfair and inappropriate. If you do not speak a certain language and cannot have someone proof read your work, you would be better off going to your country's domain and let me explain why. I have seen many posts get flagged for extreme broken English. Then the poster becomes insulted and accuses the flagger of being unfair and racist. That is not the case. Bottom line, most people on this domain speak English and are looking to read English written articles. When they are unable to read your content, there is a chance it may get flagged. There are other domains for Scorum that you can use to post in your own language. While I have heard complaints of certain country's domains not getting enough attention or rewards, I understand, but until it expands more for that domain, that's just what it is. Instead of being upset and frustrated, why not try to build up the domain and invite more members to join the community? Make the audience bigger. Try to understand, no one is being racist and there are other options available to you even if you don't necessarily agree with them right now. This may not be your ideal option, but if can prevent potential misunderstandings in the future. Please consider this before you accuse anyone of being racist.

Garbage content

Here is another point that should go without saying, but clearly it doesn't. First of all, it should be pretty obvious that posting a picture with a sentence or two written is not only putting in zero effort, but you're not going to receive any rewards for it. No one is going to take a second look at it. We want to try to discourage people from taking advantage of this platform and hoping by being lazy they will be rewarded. If you can't be bothered putting in some sort of effort and maybe actually reading up on what it is you're talking about, don't bother. No, there is not a word limit listed by Scorum on what length is acceptable, but I don't think it needs to be stated that writing a few words with a giant picture is garbage content. Another example of garbage posting is irrelevant content. I came across a few posts last week, especially by a user who finds it acceptable to post pictures of half naked women and act like it is relevant because they are somehow related to sports or married to an athlete. Not only is that distasteful, it's ridiculous. Let's try to remember that this is a sports platform. Unfortunately, there is a gray area in the 'Other' section on Scorum where many seem to make up excuses of why they do not need to post sports related articles. Hopefully this can be addressed in the future. If you choose to post irrelevant and nonsense topics, don't be surprised if it is flagged.

Truth!

Inaccuracies and refusal to correct them

I came across an example of this today and I was really agitated by it. Someone was flagged by a user for having many inaccuracies in their post. The writer of the post decided instead of accepting that they were wrong, they should defend themselves and say the flagger was just bullying when in reality the flagger was right. A person is well within their right to flag you if you post content that is incorrect. Most of the time they will let you know and are even willing to remove the flag if you fix the mistakes. Some see this as unfair, but why wouldn't they flag it? Others are reading your content in hopes to read something interesting and factually correct. If you have information up that is false, fix it. If there is a mistake and someone points it out you, you should be thanking them instead of attacking them. If I posted information on NFL players that was wrong, I would expect someone to point it out and I'd go ahead and fix it. By arguing, you're just showing that you didn't like what someone had to say and you're annoyed that someone pointed out a mistake. It is childish and if you are unwilling to fix it then the flag will stay.

The bullying excuse

This also comes from the same example I was giving above and the same person refusing to fix their mistakes. The flagger was being accused of being a bully. This without a doubt was not the case. This is clearly just another excuse to not want to admit that they were wrong. By doing this you are giving other members of the community the false impression that if the person has a big account, they will just go around flagging things they do not agree with. That is a lie. If the case really was you being treated unfairly and have produced accurate and honest work, then you can contact someone at Scorum or come into the I Am Scorum Community so we can see what the problem really is. No one here is trying to be a bully. Most of the time, they are just trying to point out something that should be fixed.

I am the co-founder of the I Am Scorum Community, a place where we try to do what we can to fight abuse and flag it when we come across it. This type of behavior cannot and will not be considered acceptable. We have seen everything from repeat offenders, the ones trying to sneak in garbage posts quietly until payout to those who try to bargain with the excuse of it being a first time mistake. If you know what you're doing is wrong, avoid doing it in the first place. No one is trying to be a superhero. However, this is a great community with a lot of talented writers and people actually want this platform to continue to thrive. We do not want it to become a dump site full of garbage and discourage those really putting in a lot of hard work. It is not fair to anyone and to attack the people who are trying to help is wrong. To be honest, I am beyond tired of seeing those trying to do good being called names and belittled. The rules are the same for everyone. Large accounts do not target small accounts. If it was a large account committing the same actions, they too would be called out for it. Put in the work, don't be foolish, don't be lazy, and don't play the victim. No one is trying to ruin you. Let us keep this platform as positive as possible and continue to encourage one another. Happy new year everyone!

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