Browsing period isn't intuitive, on the new page you're sifting through different languages and there's not really a way to weed out the spam (from what I've read flagging doesn't help your account.) Content doesn't just flow like reddit, twitter, etc, partially to the size of the community.
Doing spammy things is almost encouraged - I upvote my own comments/posts because it makes sense to. I hope they make the changes because I want to see Steemit grow!