Hi Steemians / Steemizens Welcome to my post on the Etiquette rules here on Steemit. To read my #achievement1 post visit [this link](https://steemit.com/hive-172186/@emergingtech/i-am-here-even-though-my-family-is-not-tech-savvy-and-thinks-steemit-is-a-pyramid-scheme-or-some-sort-of-mlm), and this was my post for the second task #achievemnet2, [Basic Security on Steem](https://steemit.com/hive-172186/@emergingtech/achievement-2-emergingtech-task-basic-security-on-steem). ![Content etiquette](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVHDsD4vg7mtJamD1A2sAJkdmjuqHmuZh9R6HzFM2vxHH/Content%20etiquette.jpg) Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash See the image above? I did not take it. I went to this great resource called Unsplash and got it from there. This image might be the one thing that has grabbed your attention so the least I can do for the person who took it is link to them. That is rule number one. Plagiarism - is what you do when you decide to copy and paste someone else's words (literally or word for word) but even if you alter the text if it is not your idea and you use it without giving credit to the original creator that is not good and you've been a bad boy or girl; and it is actually a form of fraud. But don't worry! Obviously get inspiration from others or do your research and share freely what you found out - when you form an idea or have an opinion on something, your thoughts don't just exist in a vacuum - they were based on information you learned or read - the important thing is that you **always share and give credit** where it is due. Look at the below example. I recently shared a post here on Steemit where I wrote about this project and company I find very inspiring called fetch.ai >"Fetch.ai is building an open access, tokenized, decentralized machine learning network to enable smart infrastructure built around a decentralized digital economy." ^Source

You see what I did there? I quoted their website from where I learned what they do. If you are interested btw you can [read my post here]((https://steemit.com/crypto/@emergingtech/two-great-powers-combined-offer-an-insight-into-the-future-of-automation-introducing-fetch-ai) ). You will see a lot of different ways I reference my sources. Why is this important? For one, **we are in part here because we believe in a better internet and believe in rewarding creators** for their effort. Plagiarism is really the opposite of this cause and taken very seriously here on Steemit. Have you heard of the "Proof of Brain" concept? In short straight from the Steem bluepaper: >"Token systems that reward users as they contribute to a token-based community system require mechanisms for establishing and evaluating content’s social value." ^Source

There are members / teams on this platform who try to ensure that these rules and best practices are adhered to and users don't spam or steal from others. I personally believe that as long as you do your best to cite all your sources you'll be fine, because obviously to some extent it is impossible to separate out your own ideas from ideas sparked by your friends, books you read or videos you watched; moreover language is formulaic - words do occur in the same order together frequently, think idioms, common knowledge, etc... Patchwriting is another reason why sourcing can be a complex task - but again just make sure in one way or another you DO list your sources and give credit where it is due. Besides plagiarism I've learned the many other social rules we all need to follow on this platform in order for this place to be a friendly, supportive and inspiring environment. The ones that stood out for me over all others are the following: "Don't post and run" (make sure to curate, comment, participate); "Stop spamming" (this one is obvious); "Respect others privacy"; "Respect for others work and keep an open mind". **I have read and understood the Steemit Etiquette on Steemit Community and will do my best to embrace them** Thank you for reading and keep on Steeming