Can Steemit Get Rid of Spam and Abuse?

At some point in the past, several Steemians were questioning why a certain whale was voting on the last day. The reply was: because the system allows it. I'd like to throw another question to the community (Steemit Inc. as well): why does spam exist on Steemit? The answer is the same: because the system allows it.

Spam is the most annoying invention ever. Advertisers, armed with their silly psychology, have determined that the more they throw an idea at people, the more chances some of them will answer the call and buy the product, even if it's a shitty one. That's the core of marketing.

Spam is more visible in our mail and email, but it also makes its way through advertising on websites. Don't you hate those flashy banners? That's spam too. It pollutes our reading experience and distracts from the core of the subject.

It's easy to get rid of spam in the real world. Delete it, report it, block it. Done. No more annoyance. However, on Steemit it's a different matter. Because it's a blockchain, every transaction is permanently recorded and there's no mechanism to prevent spam from happening.

Spam Wastes Energy

Despite the concerted efforts of projects like @spaminator, @steemcleaners, and various blacklists, abuse remains unmanageable; it cannot and will not be fully contained. It requires tremendous amount of time, energy and delegations to deal with spam, only to put a dent in its tracks. We are happy to see Steemit grow, but growth could hurt the platform if abuse is allowed to overtake it.

Can We Get Rid Of Abuse?

Of course we can. How hard is it to truly block someone? If I don't want to receive comments or memos from certain users, then I should be able to do so. That doesn't only apply to spam, but also to verbal abuse which is another big problem on Steemit that is seldom highlighted. Steemit has patched the problem by hiding muted or downvoted content in Condenser (the web UI), but the information is still on the blockchain and can be seen and accessed in other applications. Muting is useless because the other users can still read the abusive comments on a person's post. Obviously, hiding unwanted content is NOT the solution.

Blocking is Not Censoring

Steemit was built on full transparency and non-censorship (that's what a blockchain is). It's a utopian idea that doesn't work for social media because the real world is full of bad actors that don't give a shit about the system's ideals or its users, and will continue to abuse as long as the system allows it. For a social system to function properly, it must consider what happens elsewhere and what the users need. In fact, the system must protect its users from harm. So far, Steemit hasn't accomplished that, despite the numerous calls from different directions to do something. Spam and abuse are rampant, and they will continue as long as there's no cork to bottle them.

Consequences of Spam and Abuse

Blockchain bloat
Waste of time, energy and resources to chase abuse
Waste of voting power to flag abuse

Solution

Muting or downvoting can only hide unwanted content in the web UI. We need a feature in the Steem code to literally reject any transaction from a blocked account by the user. In other words, each user can select who they want to block and create their own blacklist. It's that simple. No more spammy comments or memos, less bloat and a better cleaner experience. That's not all, once the abusers realize they can't pester us anymore, they would eventually give up and go away. This way, we can focus on curating and enjoying Steemit without the hassle of wasting our time on abuse.