how to properly source a post

in #steemit7 years ago

Hi peeps!

I am fairly new to Steemit and I would like to discuss how to properly document, cite and link sources. I am a bit frustrated with the hype versus the reality of what makes up original content here on Steemit. I am speaking about the seemingly successful posts that people upvote without really reading the article, checking the sources, or considering the origin of the content. It's important to know how to read critically, and how to determine where the source of information comes from.

For instance, many "stories" that I see are just links to contents on the web. They aren't original, nor do they even try to name the source although it's evident when you see the link to youtube, then try to match the name of the submitter. Or there are the wonderful articles full of lovely photos (not credited), where the word content is verbatim to an article on the web by a different author.

Memes.com

Dude! A source is meant to provide background on where you obtained facts. Copying the article word for word is PLAGIARISM. It doesn't matter how you dress it up with fancy quotes, large font, cool photos, etc. If it is not your ORIGINAL work, that needs to be credited top of the page with a note saying that this is not your writing, filmography, photo, research, etc.

Or, as explained in this wonderful post here, https://steemit.com/steem/@grittenald/copy-paste-steal-cite-your-sources, you may quote the lead paragraph with a link to the source. Putting a link to an article and burying it at the bottom of the page as a "source" is misleading the reader into believing that you are responsible for writing the article. Sad!

There are tons of articles on wiki about how to credit photos, and how to document your own work. Be proactive and responsible. Here is an interesting link that discusses how to cite an online article.
http://www.wikihow.com/Cite-an-Online-Article

Anything less than this is at best shoddy work that should not be rewarded by Steemit, and at worst, unethical. It's a cheat to your followers and to the people who worked so hard to create the content in the first place.

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Putting a link to an article and burying it at the bottom of the page as a "source" is misleading the reader into believing that you are responsible for writing the article. Sad!

This is so common right now :(

I'm glad you made this post. This is highly relevant and important material for anybody who creates content for social media sites, websites, blogs, or any other online and offline media.

I think the dawn of the Internet really pushed people back as far as copyright infringement goes. The fact is that it's almost impossible to police copyright on the Internet fully. Sure, people like musical artists and movie production companies can afford to do it, but your average person cannot.

I have a few blogs and websites, and my articles are stolen all the time. The only recourse I really have is to file a DMCA "takedown" notice, but those take up a lot of time and even then sometimes the people who have stolen your work simply ignore them.

I don't even go after people who steal my articles anymore. It's too time consuming and it's not worth getting angry about and risking my health over.

I think that we've come a long say since the Internet was in it's younger days, but it's still basically a free for all.

I find it sad that there are so many people who are lazy enough to simply steal another's hard work. If enough people start writing articles like this one, hopefully we can help spread the word that plagiarism is NOT OK!

BTW, I upvoted and followed you :)

thanks! i've not worried much about stuff like pirated movies before, but the theft of work and done by the lone artist affects their income; whether they will continue to create or be forced into a common job they detest. on the web, we can either rely on personal integrity to oversee content, which is chancy at best, or implement a big brother scenario, which will dissuade participation. as you say it's nearly impossible to monitor or enforce.

what i see here at steemit may (i hope) simply be lack of education. hence the post. but i cannot rule out laziness or greed. the get easy money value pushed by the downside of capitalism is to blame here, not to mention lack of ethics. in my experience, we can't make people responsible when it's so easy not to be.

some brilliant person will eventually create a program that prevents others from copying written content on sites with cut paste so that this becomes a bit more difficult to do.. until then..

people have advanced now such that even though such program is designed, they will still take time and do the typing by themselves if the cut and paste features are not made available.

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