Heeeeey! Happy Saturday. At least, I hope you are having a happy Saturday. Some of you probably know about the blog drama that has gone down with a blog that has been plagiarizing lots of people. Anna at Sparkles & Lightning was one of the affected bloggers. (Gosh that sounds so Dystopian). Anyway, that day once I'd heard about it from Anna, we had a pretty crazy discussion about plagiarism along with Jessi at Auntie Spinelli Reads.

We ranted and got pretty mad about plagiarism, as we talked it all out. Hence, Operation Plagiarism Sucks was born. So today, on this the 19th of January, you can find all of us, along with Nikki  from Fiction Freak, and other bloggers posting about Plagiarism, because we feel that lots of times, this kind of thing happens and then people just blow it off later as DRAMA. That's why our tagline disagrees. BECAUSE IT IS NOT JUST DRAMA. That is what we are talking about. The ins and outs. The good and the bad. Think of it as Plagiarism...unveiled.

@annabellemariev @inkyreads @geobobspinelli Yeah plagirism is very underated and nobody ever even notices it goes on! I'd be mad if I were u
— Kierra (@Kiki3239) January 16, 2013

NOTE: That was a very calm explanation. I'm not going to scream bloody murder, but in the following post, I will be sarcastic, and somewhat ranty about things. These are my honest opinions. Please also note, that within the following post there will be quite a few gifs and tweets to express my points. You've been warned.

Plagiarism Hurts. It hurts like heck. And it always spreads like a virus. Affecting so many people. Doesn't matter if you are the affected one, or the plagiarist yourself. YOU ARE HURT. And even people like me, who aren't touched, get hurt. It's really sad to see the loss of a blogger friend because of drama. It's sad to see people break honesty codes. People you had trusted. It just HURTS YOU GUYS. So. Let's walk through this story of pain shall we?

When you're a blogger and you write a review, or any post, that is your own original work. And you are proud of that work. (At least I am anyway..) It feels sort of like this: 

You've written something worthy of being shared on the internet and wow! people are actually reading it! So the fact that then someone would swoop in and TAKE their work makes no sense at all.


Plagiarism, plain and simple is taking someone else's original work and calling it your own, without crediting the original author. That enough she be throwing warning bells. And it's not okay.


But that thing I don't get is why people plagiarize! It's a CONSCIOUS action people. It's not a choice you can make under duress, or hypnotism. On the contrary! YOU CAN NOT PLAGIARIZE AND GET AWAY WITH IT. Seriously, if you are blog plagiarizing, that means you are on the internet. The internet is a public place my friends, this is not something you do without knowing. It's will-full knowing that you are STEALING peoples things. To us, it's like this:

@annabellemariev @nikki_wang @geobobspinelli There is NO excuse for anything LIKE this! NOTHING. It's stupidity.
— Hannah (@InkyReads) January 14, 2013

In the end it always, goes stale and moldy, so why even do it in the first place? Why in the world to you plagiarize? There is no such thing as an excuse in this case. "I'M NOT CREATIVE ENOUGH TO WRITE MY OWN THING", or "BUT I JUST LOVED THE WAY SHE WROTE IT" will not cut it. If you aren't creative enough to have your own content then why are you blogging? Your blog is exactly that, YOURS. Not your best friends. Not your sisters (unless you co-blog). You should have started for the purpose of sharing YOUR. OWN. THOUGHTS. People are reading your blog to see what YOU think. Not the blogger down the block.

As readers we trust you when we read your blog. Most of the time it's a trust we aren't aware of, but we make it every time we start to read your blog. We trust you to be honest to that moral code we all have. No matter what religion you follow, if any at all, everyone has a conscience. Honesty is in that conscience. It's in the button you click to make your own blog. It's in everything you do as a blogger!

Oh and what about taking COPYRIGHTED work, hmm? See, my blog is protected by a Copyright. Annabelle's blog was protected by a copyright. By taking things from her blog or any blog without permission or credit given, AND THEY HAVE IT COPYRIGHT PROTECTED, well that is worse. It's heinous. I mean what are you try to accomplish here? The blogging world isn't a Survival TV Show. It's pure fun, if you keep it that way. [To protect your blog visit HERE.]


I can not condone anything relating to stealing people's writing. I generally don't get involved in Blogger-Bashing-Battles, but I can't agree at all with the things that happen in these situations. Everything is staring them(you) in the face, and yet, people can be so blind. So blind that they don't see see the hurt, lingering there. That sneaky conscience you have will comment the act is NOTHING like the feeling when it runs straight into your head of the people of your master. From the writers perspective is crushing. They may be putting on a brave front,


but on the inside....it's a mess. They're annoyed, and most likely very mad that all their hard work went to waste.

It's real pain. Of course, what about the blogger that did it in the first place? The culprit plagiarizer? Well, it's different for some. But others. They can act everything up and turn it around. Most feel pain and guilt. Extremely. WHICH THEY SHOULD. Heck, they stole! 

@kiki3239 @inkyreads @geobobspinelli I'm madder than mad. I seriously am seeing red just thinking of this.
— Annabelle Lovell (@AnnabelleMarieV) January 16, 2013

@annabellemariev I do to! It's a horrible feeling to know someone copied your work that you spent so much time on. :(
— Amy Fournier (@amabe421) January 16, 2013

@amabe421 That's a new development. The worst part is the blogger showed no remorse whatsoever, like she thought she was the victim.
— Annabelle Lovell (@AnnabelleMarieV) January 16, 2013 

 

@annabellemariev Yeah, I think that was the problem. And obviously if she took down a bunch of stuff she was trying to hide what she did.
— Amy Fournier (@amabe421) January 16, 2013

It's extremely sad to watch these kinds of things happen and know that it was because of one tiny act, that could be so easily passed over, but wasn't, ruined so many bloggers. You all remember the drama of last year right? That hurt so many people that I know. Finding out a good blogger friend is a thief? That your idol is a "criminal"? Doesn't feel so good.


And I'm sure the plagiarizer doesn't feel so chipper any more either. This person's blog secret has been found out and exposed and no there is all this ranting and shouting and cursing and hurt heading their way. Yeah, they always dish out sappy apologies, and that is great, but at the same time it's hard to forgive people, or think logically, when they could have prevented the situation in the first place. And plagiarizers get that kind of response. The negativity bounces back to hit them full on. It's a chain reaction, and the pain spares no one.



Do we get the point? It hurts. People break off friendships because of this thing. People leave the blogosphere. Trust is lost. And it's all caused by an incident that people knew about when it started. There are always choices in life. This is just one of the sadder, more tragic ones. But one that is made nonetheless. That's really all I have to say on the matter. So as I wrap up my post I have a couple last things to put out there.

First, I am NOT condemning people. I make it my place to stay out of this kind of thing. When big drama happens, I express my distaste and condone with the person who got hurt but I don't feel like I need to run around making judgement on people. I hardly know them, and it's not my place. I understand that people make mistakes, even if they are more serious dishonest ones. But second, I DO NOT agree with it at all. That's what my post was about. Sharing the ugly truth of plagiarizing and hoping it helped you all to open your eyes and take another look at what plagiarism is, and how it affects people. Protect your blog. Pledge honesty. The blogosphere has so much good, and so much evil. Let's be the good. Plagiarism Sucks, so let's stop it.


Thank you guys so much for listening to this. Since this is a part of a group posting, make sure to check out the posts from Annabelle and Jessi: