Without lock-in the reputability of an account becomes as fluid as the token. The network loses its resistance against manipulation. Vesting is necessary to shiw that the author is in it for the 'long haul.'

This argument and many arguments like it make a common mistake, they look at STEEM inly as a cryptocurrency and not a social network with a native cryptocurrency backed by content. While some comparisons between STEEM and other cryptoa translate, the majorty are false analogies.