Steemit is a great experiment and everybody must know what does it means. The idea is to mix a totally new technology, the blockchain, with the concept of social network. In traditional social network you can control who have access to information and erase it whenever you want. Steemit is a public blockchain where everything is being registered and you can't erase, never.
It means that in the near future there will be maybe hundred of apps that will access information freely. So, all your private information published in this network will be there forever and accessible without any kind of possible restriction.
I do understand why everybody think that a verification process is necessary, but you must inform responsibly the possible repercussions for the rest of their life that this verification could have.
Remember, Steemit is an experiment that has only three months. We should be very careful because we don't know how this will evolve.