Stop! Thief!

The internet is a veritable treasure chest of information. You can find articles and videos on almost anything. You want to know about it? Just make your way to your favorite search engine or reference site and voila! You've got it.

It's what's so great about the internet. But this easy access, coupled with almost complete anonymity bears some pretty rotten fruit. That's right: I'm talking about plagiarism.


When researching the legitimacy of LUUUX.com - a community site where bloggers can come together to share information and earn points they can buy items with - I did not come across many complaints in terms of LUUUX the website itself, but rather, its users.

Information on blogs is easy to steal regardless, but compound that with LUUUX's great incentives and you can have a real problem on your hands. As Julia from MissChievous.tv pointed out: "Real bloggers put in countless hours of meticulous research and some invest in expensive photography equipment to enhance their content. It's no surprise that copyright theft would happen on a site where members gain compensation for every post they make. These "bloggers" only have their eye on the prize, and don't think twice about stealing content from other people." She goes on to state that she believes that "real bloggers" don't blog on LUUUX.

Those are some pretty harsh words. But I have to say, I agree with her up to a point. While I realize that LUUUX does breed the uglier form of blogger, I am sure "real bloggers" do blog on LUUUX for the double benefit of exposure and earning LUUUX$. Plenty of people work hard on their LUUUX entries. Some others - not so much.

As Bloggers, it is our responsibility to ensure that the content we put up on our Blogs and the content we publish on LUUUX is not plagiarized. I'm not saying it has to be 100% original - after all, there are only so many ways one can put on bronzer etc - but it is important to give credit where credit is due. Reference where possible, If you're going to quote, specify as a blockquote or between quotation marks - otherwise, use your own words. Remember: If it's not between quotation marks, copy + paste is a no no.

Make sure you take the time to link to your sources. Also, take the time to comment on blogger's entries that you have referenced, so they know you've used their information and can ask you to take it down if they so wish. Don't be shy to communicate! They're probably happy to have the acknowledgment as it is exposure to both you and them.

It may seem like too much work, but believe me, when your work starts getting stolen and credit is taken away from you, you'll be thankful for every single person who linked to you instead of just hashed off with your hard work. So keep that in mind the next time you're publishing content.

And remember guys: Karma's a B*tch.

Have a good one!

x NTA

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Credits:
LUUUX: A place where thieves get ahead - MissChievous.tv
Image: Stop by FrenchByte on deviantArt.com
All other edits on images by xNTA