I believe steemit is a niche and what you describe is basically a problem all social media sites have to face. Spam, bots , people exploiting/abusing the system. The algorythm has to find answers for it. Reputation was one approach. Steemit will constantly be tested and has to deal with people trying to exploit it. This is annoying at least, but it will also help steemit in a way that solutions have to be found and probably make steemit stronger and more stable afterwards. Its easier to change the algorythm than trying to change people's hearts & motivations :)