Something has been bugging me for quite a while now. I am really curious as to what you guys think, as readers of a blog (and maybe even writers). These opinions in this blog are totally and completely mine, and you are more than welcome to leave your opinions and thoughts in the comments. However, I want to bring something to light:
Have you ever been going through your blogroll & thought
"Gee, this looks really familiar ..."
You have, right? Okay, that's expected. With all the really cool link-ups and swaps (none of which I can ever fully commit to because I'm a such a sporadic blogger) that are out there now, it's inevitable to see a common thread of stuff in some of your favorite bloggers - especially if they are friendly with each other! We bloggers have a certain vein of similarity and amazingly like qualities that tend to grow into long-lasting cyber friendships, and may or may not end up in meeting face to face and becoming even closer. We rely on each other for inspiration, for help and for support but ...
... where exactly do we draw the line & start calling foul on Blogger
Faux Paus?!
I think once a "blogger" feels entitled enough to go relentlessly seek out & stalk other blogs in an attempt to ride their internet coattails and/or "harvest" them ... it's crossing a serious line. If your best friend in the real world followed you around and bought everything you did, talked the way you did, peeped in your windows to see what you were doing everyday ... you'd get pretty sick of it. It'd come off creepy and sick and in a really weird way, demented. You'd think she'd want to ... I don't know, boil your bunny or something right? Right. So why is it okay in BloggerLand? Look at the following examples and tell me what YOU would do. I mean, I know how I'd react as Blog A ... but what about you guys? Am I imagining this kind of stuff?
Guys. There are soo many more. Go look for yourselves. I just chose some that I thought were super similar. I guess you can say these are the top ones. Let's not even look at the common ground in both blog media kits and overall attempts at similarity. At what number do we stop chalking this kind of stuff up to simple odds and two bloggers being like-minded friends ... and call it what it is? This is way past inspiration. It's thievery!
Am I going crazy?
How many of you out there have 11+ product reviews in common with a fellow blogger?
(& if you do, are the other persons reviews posted a month or two later than yours?)
If you're a blogger, please let me know how you feel on this.
I'm asking. I really super want to understand this.
I mean .. I understand the motivation, but not the action!
Why is something like this okay in blogging, but not in real life?
Editorial 2/9/14: The Blog B in question has posted a blog regarding the questions I have posed to you all. Apparently, she feels bullied. I simply stated facts. She is a very young blogger and new to the world of social media. It was not my intention to "bully" her, and I'm sorry she feels this way ... but the truth isn't blurred by feelings. Pulling the bully card was, in my opinion, a cheap and misguided attempt to deflect blame. It's like when your kid steals a cookie, blames the neighbor kid & acts hurt that you thought it was him. Same concept! Until this blogger reaches out to me directly, my opinion (and apparently your opinion) stands. I'm sorry she is involved in this mess, but it is by her own actions - and I just happened to be the one who brought them to light. I opened a can of worms.
Blog A doesn't deserve the backlash this has created, and neither do other individuals who have just called the motives of Blog B into question. Those individuals all run great blogs, with a great professional aura. They have realized that this is exactly what they don't need cluttering their blogs. I, on the otherhand, blog for me - and sporadically host reviews. ;)
I wish Blog B all the best in her life, and even her blog ... but I hope that as she grows as a blogger and person, she learns that she is setting the moral example for her child. Stealing is not okay. Whether it be in real life, or safe behind a screen. I was willing to chalk this all up to her not knowing any better and being a young-gun in the blogging world, but she remains unapologetic and unwilling to change. So, this post? Stays.
