What a great post, @omitaylor. You have not only done your homework but really thought things through!
Steem has, long, reminded me of the Usenet with tokens. It seemed inevitable that apps would eventually allow us to take the content we want and leave the rest; just as an Admin can configure their Usenet feed to choose what groups they wish to relay.
100% upvote coming at ya. 🖕
Great analogy. I should have used that instead. :)