Welcome to the Steemit world, maybe one of the few ( if not only ) platform using a cryptocurrency which is based on Proof Of Brain ( because POW-Proof Of Work algorithms have serious scalability issues ).
This is not a FAQ post, you can find it here. This is more about what steem is about as a culture.
Here at Steemit, the only thing that matters and can make you big is your content and your skills to present it. It is not another social network, where you'll just keep liking everyone's photos and posts. Nor is it only like pinterest where you post links to latest news or stories. It is more than just that. The most similar thing to steemit is blog, where an artist can present one's art. Be it storytelling, analysis about recent events, music, dance, painting or anything that's original.
Steem encourages originality. It wants artists to get their share on what they have created. Hence everything you post on steem should be attributed. e.g. the pictures used in the post are attributed at the end of the post. Plagiarised content will be caught by Cheetah bot. You can't run from it, for Cheetah is one of the fastest animal.
Every user has bandwidth (so they don't abuse the system by posting too many posts or spamming everyone's post by comments). Every action you take on steem ( be it post update, comment, deletion anything ) uses the bandwidth you're provided. So, be frugal with your activities. Don't post more than twice a day.
That said, if you have a say on something, do comment. Don't be too concious about your bandwidth in those cases. Don't comment on posts saying "Good post", "Cool!", "Resteemed" as it doesn't add value and reduces your limited bandwidth.
I know many of you are here to earn money, and that's fine. Everyone wants a reward for the hard work one has put in. Just make sure you don't fall victim for frauds which ask you to send some steem dollars, and they will provide you with upvotes. There are many services which do so, just be cautious about it. And one more important thing, don't take the easy way out. Don't post already available news, youtube videos, stories and poems from great poets/authors without adding any additional insight from your side. It may earn you some money at initial stage, it pollutes the steem culture.
Don't post things you will regret for in future. Steem is on blockchain, hence every post, every comment, every upvote is a transaction here. Everything stays here forever, one can always go back in time ( in past blocks ) and see what you'd commented, replied or posted.
Don't vote more than 20 times a day. Your upvote is your power, and it's valuable. With each vote, your power diminishes. It takes time to have 100% power based on how much you've already used. As Voltaire said,
With great power comes great responsibility.
Make sure you use your limited upvote power carefully. Only upvote things that you like and are original. You get curation rewards for that afterall. Curate as if you were a teacher checking students' copies. Although, maybe you're not a whale ( yet! ), you'll become one soon if you do things right.
And most of all. Have fun. Make friends. Enjoy the content by fellow steemian and prove yourself as a good fellow Steemian by writing and curating good posts!
Feel free to comment or ask any questions you have!
Pictures used in the post are taken from Pixabay.