Why “Copy and Paste” Jobs Are Sloppy, Unethical, and Downright Bad For Your Blog
It’s my pet peeve: wholesale “copy/paste”-ing from another blogger of entire posts, or darn near the entire post, into one’s own blog. Yes, I know you attribute your source. I know you link back to the original blog. I. Don’t. Care. It’s still silly, wrong, and counterproductive to your own blog.
Your readers come to your blog to read your thoughts. As wild as that undoubtedly sounds to some part of you (and that part of me just can’t get over it, still), it’s true. Posting someone else’s thoughts robs them of that opportunity. And what’s going to happen when this occurs over and over again? They’ll start to agree with that self-loathing part of you that can’t believe they like you in the first place, and find another blog to read.
That blog post you’re eyeing represents someone else’s sweat and tears - an honest effort. Even if you’re lifting it to disagree with them, you’re depriving that blogger of deserved traffic. Think about it - if someone’s interested in reading that piece, they would have gone to that other blog, before you interfered. That’s traffic they’ll never get now, because why click the cow when the milk’s free … or, er, something like that?
It’s cheating, frankly. If that blog post represents a subject you want to write about, then write about it - in your thoughts, in your own words. Link to the other post if you like, but offer the counterpoint that can only come from.
Don’t deprive the rest of us of your talents!
copying other blogs, choosing content for blogs, blogging ethics
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