I read this post and comments top to bottom.
Then I did some checking. This first "net" that skims the junk floating in the lake is indeed getting a lot of garbage. (Blatant spam, non-stop copy/paste from the internet etc).
On a quick skim down the "new", you can see who has been an established writer before, and who hasn't.
But a keen curator can also read titles, and descriptions of content, and immediately go.. Oh! That guy's a (1) and I know all he did was copy/paste a coindesk article I just finished reading.
At a glance, this is working very nicely. I'm fully aware there will still be tweaks, and adjustments. But overall, this is a really nice system. Great job.
This doesn't mean new "unestablished" users don't have a chance. It just means they are more likely to be scrutinzed a little closer until they build their reputation. (ie: post theft and repost is something that happened to stellabelle and I, on our collaborative glossary. Reputation would have fixed that immediately).
I got to catch all the reputation like Pokemon. Good game.