I understand the problem that @ mention spamming obviously presents if used too frequently. And I see the slope is slippery as far as allowing its use without any guidelines. But, at the same time, insofar as steemit is a community of sorts, which rely on the interest and attention of its most esteemed members, it seems to me you guys at the very top are by your nature, being there, the equivalent of public figures IRL.

Now, in real life, if a lunatic wants to call a senators office over and over again, the senator never has to deal with it. Some poor secretary sits at desk and answers the phone all day. I understand that here, if this were a thing that happened all the time, it would drive you crazy. But, I can think of two legitimate reasons to use such a tool:

The first, would be as a form of social protest. I can imagine a scenario where the "proletariat" equivalent steemit user bands together and takes the only action against their bourgeois overlords which they are actually empowered to take - namely annoyance.

The second, though, and the one I hope I fall into, is to use this kind of mass call when you actually have something of value to show all those people. Obviously that's hugely presumptuous and totally subjective, but in terms of the equities at play, it seems a fair trade.

I'm interested in your thoughts.