curation is what you get for finding quality posts before everyone else and getting up to 25% of the total reward
steem power is how strong your upvote you must power up steem into steem power, this makes it non-transferrible and it takes 3 months to turn all of it back into steem (its given back in equal amounts over time as you power down)
steem dollars run on the blockchain but are tied to the price of the dollar for better long term holding
power up is turning steem into steem power
a vest is a stable measure of steem power as it inflates
following means you see content from people you like easier
being followed means people are more likely to see your posts