Thanks @freakygeek... of course, it takes a little while for everyone to learn the way things work. In general, the best way to build community (and a following for your own content) is to follow a "pay it forward" philosophy... I may not be the "biggest fish" on Steemit, but doing so has stood me in pretty good stead here.
In the ideal world, we can try to re-educate those who spam and encourage them to use a different approach. Some will learn-- sadly, some will not.