One of the major problems is the way all formats of content are aggregated into one feed. This might be less of a problem now dmania is no more but the quantity of crap I have to wade through to find nice new stuff is tiresome. If there were a way we could apply filters it would be much better, especially where I like to hang out in the 'new' feed.
We all need to be harsher with our flags. Steemcleaners have a battle royale flagging the single plagiarised pic brigade and Hive account@themarymark works like crazy battling circle jerkers but it shouldnt be left to these people alone to battle the bollocks. The community should be self-policing and we must all take responsibilty.
Encourage people who work hard on content (even if its not necessarily great) and discourage the quick buck merchants. It's not difficult.
Even us lowly types can make a difference! Another point is we should all use the share function and blather fb and twitter in Steem..make people notice.
In a nutshell. Use the flag Luke.