RE: Five Bad Steemit Habits to Give Up Now
The follow 4 follow / upvote you -- upvote me thing is so common I've wondered if it isn't a cultural norm in some parts of the world ... the way you get things done there. Granted, Steemit isn't the place to use this tactic ... but it is so prevalent it's made me wonder why!
The "poor comments" examples are the kind of thing that has made me wish there were a "delete feature" on Steemit -- not that I get many of them, but I do get my share. And I've ground my teeth in frustration seeing them and knowing that they got the same amount of "count" in the number of posts at the top of the user's blog as my "novellas" do. (That's what my husband calls my comments. I've told him for years somebody needs to take this keyboard away from me!)
As for plagiarizing ... let me tell you, having been numerous times in the situation of seeing my content stolen, posted on someone else's website with their name and copyright claim on it -- there is nothing that sends my temper / blood pressure straight through the roof faster. I have had entire articles stolen -- word for word. (Click / paste / done!!)
Someone stole the entire front page of my shop site complete with formatting -- and we never were able to get his ISP to pay one speck of attention to our complaints. (I consoled myself with the fact that he was going to have to deliver actual content if he got any business from it ... and if he couldn't write his own sales / promo page, his chances of delivering anything of quality were virtually nil.)
I had someone steal text from one of my feng shui articles to use promoting his own xeroxed and stapled together "book" on ebay. I could find you half a dozen examples tonight if I tried, I'm sure. I run across them by accident all time time, which means they really must be out there. And if you think you can steal stuff and no one will ever notice ... think again. And if you think you can steal my stuff and I won't recognize it when I find it ... you're wrong.
Plagiarism is theft, plain and simple. In the real world (of print publishing and journalism) plagiarizing content ruins careers -- and it deserves a lot stronger reaction than it gets on the internet. (Maybe you can tell I feel strongly about this.) Every once in a while I see someone who has just discovered his or her own stolen article posted under someone else's name -- and the rage is real and immediate -- even slightly amusing. But I know exactly how they feel. (And, in my experience, people actually are not banned from Steemit for plagiarizing. I've reported a number of people. Their article gets "hidden" by steemcleaners and their pending reward wiped out, but they keep right on going -- like the Energizer Bunny.)
As for "playing the long game" and "negative mental attitude" -- Steemit is an interesting place, but it is not for the faint of heart and it is certainly not for the lazy. I'm surprised it has as many people as it does (and I am not surprised it loses many writers who can turn out decent content.) Not everyone is willing to work so long and so hard for so little. It needs a far better strategy to attract and keep quality people ... but I haven't the foggiest idea what that would be. (Evidently, almost everyone else is in the same fix.)
Rewards are slow to build and the culture is constantly changing ... but that's part of the attraction, strangely. The people here are pioneers in a way ... and that requires a special mentality from the start. I don't regret my presence here one bit -- but I will also say, it's sure not for everyone. And if you arrive with inflated expectations about its prospects, the reality-shock can be stunning. I see that happen lots ... and the developers seem to be way behind the curve in addressing genuine concerns. Then again, I know that until you've stood in someone else's shoes, you don't know their problems -- so I'll leave my thoughts at that.
I enjoyed this one a lot @arbitrarykitten. You always make the time spent here worthwhile.
from #theunmentionables
I side with the hubby, great "novel" comment my dear :)
I had someone plagiarize most of my books. One person. I would say they do not have a family or life as they have an exorbitant amount of time for marketing and advertising, and after changing the titles and blurbs they make a decent living from my countless hours of creation.
Needless to say it's a sore spot. That's me being super nice :)
I have a copyright attorney. It can take ten to twelve years to get everything back under my control...
I think both follow 4 follow and plagiarism are cultural norms. I've spoken to a few people who actually (seemed, although they could have been playing me) felt bad for using someone else's work and genuinely seemed to not understand that is was wrong- not to mention illegal.
Well, in this instance, at least I had the time needed to write a complete comment. I don't seem to have much of a "mid-range" button. Either I have nothing to add ... or I have so much to say in response that I don't even dare get started. In that case -- and I can't begin to count the number of time this has happened, I reluctantly move on without saying a word, because something in me would rather not start a project than do a half-assed job of it. (I don't know what to do with me either!! [sigh] )
I would argue that plagiarism is not theft. Copying is not theft under any circumstances, and "intellectual property" is not property. Copying is, however, fraud against those who read the unattributed material when it is presented as original content.
And I would say we disagree. If I create something and someone else takes it and says it belongs to him, I label that theft. If I built something tangible -- and someone else took it, used it, appropriated it, or sold it as his own without my permission ... society calls that theft. Intellectual property is indeed property. When plagiarism occurs "in the real world" or copyright infringement suits are brought and won, damages are paid to the writer / musician / artist who created the original work, not to the readers, listeners or audience who saw the copy. REAL MONETARY DAMAGES ... and, as I said, careers are ruined over such things. So, evidently the law disagrees with you, too.