Gallery Carre
violet blue on blogger ethics
Nov 2nd, 2006 by Viviane
violet blue has a detailed and highly relevant on the ethics of blogger ethics, link courtesy and credit, link theft, and updating your post.
Here’s the section on linking and link theft:
Linking and link theft: Always cite your sources. (example: theurl.com, via placeIfoundit *link to the place you found it*) Here is an example. Purpousely avoid linking to, or thanking sites that snag links without credit from you and other blogs, and don’t source their links on a regular basis. People new to blogging or ambivalent about the way information is shared among bloggers think no one will notice if they just steal links from everyone — they are wrong. Lots of people find links by simply stumbling across strange websites on Google or get sent things from friends, but often you’ll find something on a blog or site and you’ll want to display the courtesy of acknowledging them with a link. If someone blogs a link and you re-post it, you have to tell people where you found it. Here is an example of this courtesy. When someone posts a link that just appeared on another blog, it looks suspicious — and people see these things when they happen, especially other bloggers. If you post a link and it was already somewhere else and someone brings it to your attention, update your post with an ‘also seen at’. Here is an example. Follow up on your links after you post them: Geocities and smaller image hosts will go down, so keep an eye on your links after you post them as a service to your readers. You have created a resource, even if it’s a simple post.
Read the entire post here.
i mostly agree with this but i have to say that i can’t imagine scouring the net before i post about something.
say i want to talk about toronto’s pride parade or something. i’m not going to search the net for other pride posts, i’m just going to post my perspective.
if i then discover that other in my circle have done so as well i will of course link them… but that kind of due diligence doesn’t make sense if my blog is about my opinion…
different if you’re a journalist doing a blog that’s journalistic i suspect
Viviane,
True about the link ethics ! It always pays to be careful — and thoughtful of others ! Thanks.
Sincerely,
Anne Elizabeth
badinfluencegirl, violet’s post really pertains to very visible blogs (like BoingBoing) and MSM (like Wash Post), reporting on a story and not given proper credit.
It’s also an issue amongst the heavyweight blogs.
viviane of course it’s different if you’re a heavyweight or a listing service. but other than my one objection the rest of it actually does apply to anyone.
i took a link from you today and stuck it on my blog but it says clearly where it came from. i’m just little but that’s just polite.
i like violet’s blog a lot and she always leaves me wanting to have a big discussion… *laughs*
Thanks for the link BIG.
I *heart* VB and I feel the way you do about her writing. I imagine she has comments turned off, because she probably just can’t deal with the trolls and flakes who don’t add to the discussion.
Have to agree with Violet Blue, especially in re “Also Seen At” credits. I think several of us in the sexblog community have been the victim of this — and most frustratingly, at the hands of the heavyweights. It’s laughable that an editor could claim with a straight face, “Oh, we had that first…” when the time stamps tell a clearly different story.
At the very least, if it’s just a really funny coincidence (week in, week out), then a true heavyweight has an ethical obligation to note that the content appeared elsewhere first.
The issue is integrity. Needing to be first and best all the time, no matter what, reveals lots of insecurity.. and can belie a lack of actual talent too.
This here’s a big ol’ Internet and there’s plenty of room for thought leaders.
I’m not talking about a site that gets 100 or 1,000 hits a day, and I don’t think it’s as big a deal if you are talking about two non-profit ventures. But being a money-raking megablog comes with responsibilities…
i imagine you’re right viviane. i’ve been lucky so far but it’s just a matter of time before someone hateful stumbles across my corner of the net.
i’m hoping not to end up having to moderate my comments but it seems like it always ends up there.
we should start a violet blue discussion forum! *laughs*