Note: This entry was written this morning. I was too tired to finish it, hence the lateness of posting and the backdated time of posting.
I'm not as busy as the last few weeks. But busy enough to not have any time to blog, unfortunately. I'm in the office on Sunday morning, waiting to get off shift. Tonight I still work. Tomorrow I'll be free.
I did try to go round and read people's blogs last night. And I noticed yet another case of one blogger ripping off another one's entry, right down to hotlinking pictures from the source blog. I've seen this before and wrote about it too.
It's pathetic man. Why would anyone risk the humiliation of getting caught like that? As vast as it is, the Internet isn't that big a place. Word gets around and someone will find out. What more to say when the pirate in question rips off a well read blogger with thousands of regulars. Plus the hotlinking of pictures? Is it so hard to download and re-upload?
It doesn't irk me though. It just makes me feel very, very sorry that some people out there want to blog but apparently either don't know how to write or are too chicken to write things they thought of themselves.
I know how that feels like. I read blogs on my blogroll and even now, more than a year and a half since I started posting, I still feel so intimidated by the quality of some of these people's entries. Some people really, really, really have the gift. Really. Sometimes, I feel embarassed to be in such company with my rather pedestrian offerings, if one could even call it that.
I've gotten better I have to say. But my posts are no where near the quality that I would define as "good".
But lo, that is the beauty of blogging. You don't have to be "good". You do not have to be a pro. One does not have to be a literary giant with the writing skills of a poet (of course if one can write like that, then more power to ya).
Blogging shouldn't be a competitive sport where "contestants" are judged on things "quality" and "readership". Having said that I'm not against people who get rewarded for their blogging. Give credit where credit is due. Some people put in so much of themselves into their blog. Some people are gifted writers. Kudos to them for their book deals and mentions in the mainstream media. It's good for all bloggers. With this kind of recognition, we're taken more seriously. We're not just a bunch of nutcases participating in a "fad" or a "craze".
What I'm trying to say is that since there are awards and fame to be had in blogging, some people miss the ideals of blogging entirely and take the shortcut. Rip an entry from somewhere and claim it as your own. Easy, no need to think. No need to get inspired. No need to pour out your heart and soul into an entry. Just use someone else's heart and soul.
Kids, stealing is bad. Stealing someone else's thoughts is even worse. Unless you actually like being publicly reviled and humiliated on the WWW, don't do it.
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