Steemit for Newbies: Part 4: Downvotes, Flags, Plagerism rules, Steemcleaners and Cheetah Bot

What are the reasons for downvoting?

Users are allowed to downvote for any reason. There are many users in the community who suggest you only use a downvote on abusive posts. It is up to decide if you want to follow this rule.

Does a downvote mean I did something wrong?
No, a downvote does not definately mean that you did something wrong. The downvoting person may have just want you to get less rewards. Often people will leave a comment explaining the downvote, but sometimes they might not. If they left a reason, it is up to you to determine if you did anything wrong, and if there is anything you want to change.
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Will a downvote hurt my reputation?
Not necessarily. If their reputation is higher then you it’s possible and or if they have large steempower.
See: What causes my reputation score to go down?

What is the difference between a downvote and a flag?
Currently, there is no difference between a downvote and a flag. They are treated the same at the blockchain level.

Plagiarism, Spam, and Abuse
What is considered spam or abuse?
· Asking for money, views, upvotes, follows, or resteems.
· Leaving nearly identical or materially similar comments on multiple posts.
· Comments that are unrelated to the topic of discussion.
· Sending unsolicited links or requests to users via wallet memos.
· Posts that require upvotes to enter or play in a contest or game.
· Sending users a link to your blog or a post if it is not relevant to the conversation.
· Posts or comments that include little or nothing more than an offer to trade follows or upvotes.
· Using tags that are unrelated to the post.
· Threatening users with any type of physical violence.
· Not citing sources when using someone else’s material.
· Posting ‘not safe for work’ content without using the “nsfw” tag.
· Selling or offering to buy votes/resteems/follows, or schemes that facilitate this.
· Scams or Fraudulent offers.
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What are Steemit’s policies on plagiarism?
If you are posting plagiarized or copied content, you can get in legal trouble for violating copyright laws. Plagiarized posts and spam are seen as abuse and will be downvoted by community members. If you are posting or using someone else’s content, you must ensure that you have the rights to use the content, and properly reference the sources where you got the material from.
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Is it okay to use random pictures from the internet?
If you are using an image that is not your own, make sure you are allowed to use the image, and cite the source of the image.
Using random pictures from the internet without giving credit is discouraged. You may, however, use photos from “free image” websites such as Pexels.com or Pixabay.com. All photos on Pexels and Pixabay are free for personal and commercial use.
Here is a post from @mindover that has links to many websites that have images you can use: https://steemit.com/steem-help/@mindover/don-t-plagiarize-images-here-are-13-free-and-legal-ways-to-find-high-quality-photos-you-can-use-on-steemit
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What is Steemcleaners?
Steemcleaners are a group of Steemians concerned with plagiarism, copy/paste, spam, scams and other forms of abuse on Steemit. https://steemit.com/steemcleaners/@steemcleaners/announcing-steemcleaners-the-steemit-abuse-fighting-team
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What is @cheetah?
@cheetah is a bot developed by @anyx that scours Steemit for copy/pasted content. Cheetah will not downvote copied content, but it alerts other users to look into it further.
Abusive accounts (serial plagiarists or identity thieves, for example) will go on Cheetah’s blacklist. These users will get downvoted by @cheetah accounts when they post.
More information on the @cheetah bot can be found in this post: https://steemit.com/steemit/@cheetah/faq-about-cheetah

References
Steemit Whitepaper
Steemit FAQ