Achievement 3 by @dhanishree, Task: Content Etiquette
In Proof of Brain, people produce content by using their brains, while others curate it to reward them for the work they have done. With centralized social media platforms, users can create great content, but they will merely get likes and comments on it, and they will have to be satisfied with the rush that comes from the likes and comments they get. However, the Steemit platform pays users monetary rewards for producing content. Isn't it better to produce original content that the rest of the community will enjoy as well?
People share other people's content on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc without mentioning that the content is not their own. The original poster doesn't take any financial or ownership losses on centralized social media platforms, but on platforms like Steemit and Hive, if other people use your content on their accounts without referring back to your content as the original source, then even though blockchain records the original post’s timestamp, the plagiarizer will still benefit from the rewards given to the plagiarized post if nobody flags it as plagiarized content.
It is always important to give credit to the original writer whenever possible. By doing so, the original poster can be sure their content is good and that other people are enjoying and benefiting from it as well.
It is important for Steemit users to follow and abide by the community etiquettes. Having these rules and guidelines makes our platform stand out among the rest and it also helps a user increase the reputation of their accounts.
The use of someone else's work in your post can be indicated in a way that is easy to spot. The copy-pasted text should always be enclosed in quotes, and the original post should always be linked. You link back to the original post and describe what the original poster was attempting to explain, and why you included that part in your post. Then people know that the part shared is not yours but you are influenced by that specific part and hence, you have used it in your post.
We will now see what you can do practically to accomplish this:
"User-generated content brought in billions of dollars for social media platforms. What about the content creators? They made nothing.” - Source: Steem
While I really like this paragraph and want to use it in my post, I will reference the original content since it is not my own and comes from the official Steem website. What should I do in that case?
User-generated content brought in billions of dollars for social media platforms. What about the content creators? They made nothing.” - Source: [Steem](https://steem.com/)
It is very simple, you just need to put the whole copied paragraph in quotes, and then provide the source hyperlink to the original content page, just like I did above.
Alternatively, you can use > (greater than), which is a markdown template for formatting/quoting other people's work.
“Every paraphrased paragraph, sentence or idea should have a reference as close to it as reasonably possible to indicate its origin.” - Source: How to Cite a Source by @cryptokannon
The following are other Steemit community etiquette guidelines that every user should follow: @thecryptofiend's Steemit Etiquette Guide.
It is common practice for people to post their content on Steemit and then run without seeing what others have posted. The only reason they post is to make money, but they never contribute to the community. There are many ways to give back without always involving money. You may choose to just upvote or add some meaningful comments. You are not giving back anything if you do not do that, and that is not a good thing.
Don't overpost - Overposting can make your followers perceive it as spam on the platform, which will lead to you losing some followers too. Keep your followers in mind as you post content.
Posting nudity or graphic images, unless tagged with NSFW, may be a perfect recipe to attract people of a specific age group, but it might not work for other individuals. As I have enrolled a high number of students on Steemit, many of them are in the 14-18 age group, and I don't think their parents would be happy with the idea of them watching NSFW content every day. In that case, you could tag it as NSFW so that the user has the choice to open it or not. If you do not use the NSFW tag in your post, then the users will see the post by default.
Be honest with your content and avoid false claims or plagiarizing others’ content. On Steemit, stealing is the cruellest thing you can do. The copying of a person's content without mentioning the original content is a form of stealing. To let readers know that the material was borrowed from another source, ensure that you post a reference to the original post.
Using tags that don't correspond with your content is considered spam. I should not use tags, such as "newcomers" or "blockchain", to describe a book review or movie review.
You shouldn't re-steem everything you see. This can lead to a disastrous outcome for you, as if your followers are not fans of the content you re-steem, they will unfollow you immediately. In addition, it creates a clutter of information.
Commenting on unrelated links is putting yourself in a bad position, like scamming or directing traffic to sources that are questionable. Sharing these kinds of links should be avoided.
Avoid asking directly for votes - One of the worst things you can do is post plagiarised content, while another is to directly ask for votes. You won't get much engagement if your content isn't worth reading.
Bribery to vote on your posts, direct requests asking for money are both bad for your reputation, just as posting plagiarized content is bad for your reputation. Unless it's for a charitable cause, most people don't like being asked for money, but if you explain how the charity works as well as what you intend to do with the money, it will be okay.
If you disagree or don't like something posted by someone, don't flag it immediately. Decentralised platforms are about sharing all sorts of information, so if you don't like something they've posted, you shouldn't flag it right away. It is important that you respect that Steemit welcomes a variety of content.
Critique people's work only if they ask you to - As mentioned above, on the Steemit platform you are free to share whatever you wish, but in no way should you criticize their ideas. You and the poster may see the same topic from different perspectives, but you should only critique the post if it was requested by the poster.
Please answer your comments - The advantage of the Steemit platform is that you receive instant responses. In order to convert your readers into your followers, you should respond to every comment they leave on your post.
It is important for you to share your knowledge with fellow Steemians - The more you know that would benefit other Steemians, the more likely you are to help them succeed. In the worst-case scenario, the person might begin following you. It doesn't seem like a bad idea to me.
There are four categories in the post section that you can sort the results by. Make sure you check them out and curate the content. The "new" category provides all of the latest content that has been posted by all users. You should always look for such content and curate it whenever possible. Besides helping the person who posted the content, it will also benefit others looking for good content.
You can verify yourself by posting achievements, and you can learn more about Steemit by creating them. In achievement 1, you provide your verification post, which allows the community to get to know you better.
My Steemit etiquette post is now complete. I think this is all the information that a newcomer needs for their journey on Steemit. The point is to make sure you understand all the points I shared here, and I hope you learned something from it.