This change would allow creators more ownership over their content and more power over their content.
Their content is not affected by comments. Their ownership of their content is not changed by commentary.
This is a complete must that elliminates stupidity ww have been seeing with comment spam these last months.
There's always a noble reason for introducing these features. But that's not how they're typically applied. There's no reason why one user ought to render another user invisible to me if I have not muted them. You talk about choice, but you're denying me my choice to see that user's comments.
It has to do with content ownership and creator empowerment.
Any creator can mute someone they don't want to see. You're OK with extending that into a classic example of silencing critics...shutting down debate...by making critical commentary invisible to other users with the click of a button. At the very least, I should have the option to view what the blog "owner" doesn't want me to see. I can make my own choices about whether or not that commentary is valuable or if the user is a problem.
These are public forums. You don't "own" public discourse. If you want private conversations and a safe space to communicate, there are plenty of options for that. When you start shutting down critical voices - or merely creating the ability to do so - you start venturing into censorship territory, which is the antithesis of what Steem claims to be. Don't blame "spamming" for the desire to control what others are able to view. Mute them, but give other users of the platform the option to see what they want to see on that platform.