13 August 2007
Blog Marketing 101: Give Credit Where Credit is Due
Posted by Darrell under: Blog Marketing 101 .
Remember in school when you’d hear about someone being in trouble for plagiarism? You know… they stole someone else’s ideas or copied someone else’s work. I, personally, have never had a desire or need to plagiarize. I guess it’s because I’m full of stuff to say and don’t need to copy anyone else’s work.
Unfortunately, plagiarism rears it’s ugly head outside the classroom and beyond a few lazy high school kids. Plagiarism is alive and well on the Internet - even among bloggers. Before going any further, let’s take a look at what plagiarism actually is:
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means
- to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
- to use (another’s production) without crediting the source
- to commit literary theft
- to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
In other words, Plagiarism is an act of fraud! It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward. (direct quote from www.plagiarism.org)
I’ve had to endure the experience of being robbed…. someone busting my car window and stealing my stereo and collection of Hank Jr & Willie Nelson cds, breaking into my shed and stealing my lawn mower. Many of us have had to suffer through this. Remember the feelings you get when you are a victim? Your hands are tied and their is an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. I wonder if being robbed intellectually is worse? Because, you still feel helpless AND you know exactly who robbed you.
I recently wrote a post about Jim Zumbo and black rifles. It was pretty good, if I don’t say so myself. So good in fact that I subsequently found large exerpts from my post copied on another site. One post included my title, parts of my post, and no new content! There were, though, multiple comments about MY content and ideas. A discussion had been initiated with my ideas! Flattering, huh? Not really, because it also did not include any mention of where the content came from. No mention of my site and definitely no links. What a loser! Apparently, one of those lazy high schoolers has grown up and entered the blogging community. Well, maybe ‘grown up’ isn’t the correct terminology. His parents probably told him they’re going to kick him out of the basement if he doesn’t start doing something meaningful - so he figured out a way to turn plagiarism into a profession. Allright, I’m getting off topic - back to the subject at hand - giving credit.
Please do not get me wrong. Do not be afraid to use and build upon your fellow bloggers work. I do not plariarize. However, I often use my fellow bloggers as sources of inspiration. If I read something interesting or exciting on someone else’s blog, there is nothing wrong with writing my own piece or my own opinion on the same subject. Serving as an inspiration to someone else is flattering. Being quoted is flattering. Being copied is even flattering - as long as credit is given. In the case above, I’d be ecstatic to have served as the foundation for discussion on someone else’s blog - if only credit had been give for my work.
How can you give credit? Credit is given by noting the source. In the world of blogs, this is done simply by linking to the content. I generally like to mention the author or the site in addition to linking to the content. Some bloggers, in their greedy efforts to block all exits, think they can get away with mentioning the author or site without actually linking to it. In my opinion, this is a slimy way of trying to stay legal. It would be comparable to a hunter that abiding by the law to not shoot a sow with cubs, simply shoots the cub.
Of course, beyond the fact that it is the legal, decent and right thing to do, there are other important reasons for giving credit via links to the orginal content. The search engine algorithym is looking for that link. If you have duplicate (copied) content on your site without a link to the original source (which has likely already been indexed by the search engine) than your site will be penalized (unfortunately, it is possible that BOTH sites will be penalized). You will not receive a citation and you probably won’t even be aware of it, but your site will be considered less trustworthy (by the search engines) and ultimatey will receive less organic search traffic than if you had simply linked to original source. You will reap what you sow - and there is no way around this. This is why ‘giving credit’ is part of a ‘marketing’ post and not an ‘ethics’ post. Giving credit via links directly effects the trustworthiness of your site, your site rank, and ultimately the amount of organic search traffic you will receive.
So, don’t be a thief. Give credit where credit is due. (And, if you have my Willie Nelson CDs, I want them back!)
7 Comments so far...
Kristine Shreve Says:
13 August 2007 at 7:59 am.
This is a huge problem in the blog world, and one that keeps growing. What makes it worse is that the first blogger might knowingly steal your work, but other bloggers might unknowingly perpetuate the same fraud simply because they don’t know any better.
I always make sure to give credit where credit is due. I also try to stay away from things if I’m not sure of their origin. It might take an extra second to be careful, but I think crediting people for their work correctly is worth the extra time.
Arthur Says:
13 August 2007 at 4:13 pm.
Amen to the whole article and what Kristine said. Just recently on my forum I found a list of facts someone had posted and wanted to use it for a post. Problem was the person who posted it didn’t know the source so I couldn’t use it in my blog post. Kind of a bummer but I didn’t want to be supplying facts without any source reference. Not only to not plagarize but also to not just post things that were indeed not factual!
Bryan Says:
14 August 2007 at 6:43 am.
Sorry to hear about your experience (car and blog). As an instructor (and aspiring professor) at a University, I’m fully aware of the seriousness of plagiarism. Tom Remington recently posted about another issue of importance: proofing (http://www.mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/). As bloggers, we will only be taken as seriously as we make ourselves out to be, including whether or not we proof and plagiarize.
Matt Says:
15 August 2007 at 5:26 am.
Good post. One of the things I envision for the Outdoor Bloggers Summit is to work on some journalistic standards for the blogging community. I think a lot of the plagiarist bloggers just don’t know any better.
Kristine Shreve Says:
15 August 2007 at 8:40 am.
Matt, I think that’s a great idea. We’ll add it to the list.
Darrell Says:
15 August 2007 at 3:58 pm.
Matt and Kristine, ‘journalistic standards’ could be some great educational seminars at the Summitt. It is sad that we live in a time when some people don’t know any better than to ’steal’ from others, but I’m certainly not against teaching that lesson.
Kristine, I liked your point about some bloggers further down the line not knowing that the material they just quoted was stolen. You could inadvertently give credit to a source for material (when they stole the material in the first place). What is the solution?
Arthur, you bring up another good point, too. What about displaying information that is unsubstantiated? The internet is full of rumors. Thus, a blogger must be careful to not state anything as fact that isn’t substantiated in some way.
Bryan, WELCOME to my blog. Thanks for your comments about proofing. I’ll undoubtedly use your quote “As bloggers, we will only be taken as seriously as we make ourselves out to be” in the future. Thanks again!
kevin Says:
17 August 2007 at 10:37 pm.
I am constantly struggling with exactly how to draw the line on linking to others and how much I can really share of other writers.. I always try to provide links and check my facts.. and the best rule of thumb is the golden rule as well as check and double check everything you write…
K
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