I've been here right about a month. There is a guy that started about the same time as me and I ended up following him because I saw him as a train wreck about to happen. Being new, you are attracted to posts that look like they're going to help you learn how it all works.
I kept seeing titles that appeared to be answering questions I had, and very often it was this guy. I checked his profile and called him out as to how he "knew" his information only being here a week. His response wasn't terrible and he admitted he was sharing what he was learning as he went. That's when I signed up to watch the train wreck.
He was getting all kinds of upvotes and making money on his posts too. He was posting like a madman so he was putting up lots of content. I called him out on something at least once more. After a week he quit his job to do Steemit full time. He had called in sick his whole first week.
The next thing I was was others were calling him out for duplicate posts. Not just one duplicate, but he would post the same post 3+ times. Reposting every couple days. His reputation score miraculously stayed in tack somehow, maybe be cause he's almost stopped posting completely.
A lot of his posted were the shilling type you mentioned. I doubt he'll be here for the long haul, but I'll watch him a little longer to be sure.
Usually these guys don't last long. I've seen many of them come and go.
I would imagine so. But if they write good titles and use keywords, their legacy is left in google.
I downvote and unfollow people who repeat spam posts.
I've down voted one or two, but I haven't seen anyone I follow so that to unfollow them
I'm new, so I'm on a Follow binge while I find good content. Anybody with a post I like I also follow. I figure I'll be trimming Followees that don't keep up the quality, or do things I think harmful to Steem.
That's not a bad plan.