Snapshots. Dealing With Plagiarism.

Me, taking snapshots.

Between you and me, plagiarism is rampant on the internet. Did you ever Google a topic and find that every reference site has exactly the same information, word for word? Do you wonder if the "expert" copied the work from Wikipedia? Or vice-versa?

Do you read your facebook wondering if your friends are quoting songwriters, novelists, famous people, philosophers, and more? The answer is, yes, they are.

Here's what I do. If I recognize quoted material (even when I cannot pinpoint with certainty where I read it), I share it to my own page immediately. I word my comment in such a way that I am leaning toward giving the friend, or friend-of-friend, the credit for the "quote." The truth will usually come out, especially if he or she published the passages in Notes or as a Profile Update answering, "what are you thinking?"

The facebook Notes section is given to us as a soapbox. Live it up. Write a diary, or an article, or a poem. Sound off! Upload a photo! Air your politics, if you must. But please, write the words yourself and make the article your own.  Favorite Quotes is where we go so that we may copy down those passages that we admire but that were written by others.

I like to give credit where credit is due, and I often quote "him" or "her" simply by annotating with a name, or the title, or both. Writing can be work. Don't pretend that you are Hemingway. Some of your friends cannot tell the difference, but I can.

One quick word, however. Quote the Bible all you want. That edifice was written by many in order to be spread to everyone. If this approach appeals to you, simply give the passage (book, chapter, and verse) and let the reader do the research. If the quote is a familiar one, and most are, surround the verse or verses with quotation marks. In that way everyone will know that you are not trying to pass on the Bible as your own work even though you have "made it your own" in your heart.