The query is what determines when the practise of having multiple accounts is abuse....is it one more account....twenty more accounts.

Indeed! But probably the quantity isn't the critical factor, it's more about the usage of those accounts.

Perhaps Steemit would be better served to stipulate what the best practice or policy is...

Being the decentralized community that it is, maybe we need to start coming up with our own policies and decentralized countermeasures in the community.