There is an additional reason why negative curation is not common: the misconceptualization of downvotes on Steemit as "flags." This was a originally bandaid to solve a minor problem but has created a much larger problem in the use and culture of Steem. The metaphorical dressing on a scratch has festered into a deep, infected wound.

Another conceptual deficiency that the UI could be changed to improve is that rewards before a post or comment is 7 days old are subject to change. This is essentially part of the user-network contract that someone enters when they make a post or comment on Steem, whether they know it or not. There is potential for the UI to better educate and inform users about this, implicitly and explicitly.