I think the moderators would need to be heavy-handed with the mute button to achieve the same level of quality control

Not done frequently enough if you ask me 🤣

Not sure, but there also might also be an advantage to branding under a single account (especially with the SEO issue that affects our communities).

It's possible. The advantage I see is that the dedicated account with an appropriate name wouldn't write to a community, using a consistent hashtag instead (the pre-communities approach). The SEO advantages with this approach, combined with the knowledge that "steemit-football" will always write about football could work.

Got to dash but wanted to reply. Will let my subconscious come up with something more considered.