Online Plagiarism – Blogs and Social Media (WhatsApp/Facebook/Twitter etc)

ONLINE PLAGIARISM 

“Online Plagiarism” means representing my work as your own – stealing my writing from my blog and posting it online on Social Media (WhatsApp/Facebook/Twitter etc) and Blogs/Websites under your name without giving due author credit to me as the original author and without giving a backlink to my original blog post. 

Recently – I discovered that my “Humor in Uniform” stories were being blatantly plagiarised and copy/posted/forwarded on WhatsApp Groups without my permission – without giving me due author credit – or – without giving the url link to the original post.

Now – my “Humor in Uniform” stories are fictional spoofs and this is clearly stated in the disclaimer in below the story in my blog.

However – some “fauji” plagiarisers had copy-posted/forwarded selective extracts of my spoofs on WhatsApp Gps without mentioning that the stories are spoofs and this creates a false impression that the posts are serious “research papers”. 

This reminds me of a post I had written many years ago on ONLINE PLAGIARISM 

Dear Plagiariser Friends: 

You are most welcome to share my stories on Social Media.

But – instead of copy-pasting – please post the title of my story and the url link to the blog post on Social Media (Facebook/Twitter/WhatsApp Groups)

This will enable readers to read the original stories in my blog. 

Here is a blog post for all my plagiariser friends....

COPYCATS IMITATORS and PLAGIARISTS – THE BANE OF BLOGOSPHERE

Musings

By

VIKRAM KARVE

BLOG PLAGIARISM

A few years ago – short stories from my creative writing blog were being regularly stolen by some unscrupulous person who shamelessly my stories on his blog under his name.

Yes – believe it or not – my entire Blog was Plagiarized.

I was informed of this by one of my readers.

When confronted and exposed – the “content-thief” (plagiariser) shut down his blog.

In another case – a student copied my management article from my blog and submitted it to an Ezine which duly published the article under his name.

The biggest joke was that the owner of the Ezine Website saw my original article on my blog – and without checking the date of posting – he accused me of plagiarism.

After I pointed out to him that I had posted this article 3 years before it was published on his website – he became apologetic and said he will debar the particular plagiariser student from his website.

I also sent an email to the Director of the Business School where the plagiariser student was studying – and soon enough – received an apology from the student.

Just like there are burglars, robbers and thieves in the real world – there are thieves in the blogosphere who steal content and plagiarise the work of others.

Of course – I am a blogger who is not interested in making money from my blog – nor am I bothered about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Blog/Website Rankings – but for those who do – Blog Plagiarism can be a serious matter.

Some people create their own merit.

Others plagiarize.

Plagiarism means representing my work as your own.

“Inspiration” is the new euphemism for Plagiarism. 

You plagiarize someone else’s work.

And – when you are caught – you say that you were “Inspired” by the work – so you shamelessly copied the blog post – and tried to pass off as your own.

Plagiarism happens everywhere - this happens with all creative and artistic works – even in the academic, scientific, research and industrial world. 

There are copycats and imitators everywhere.

Information Technology has made plagiarism very easy.

You can surf the internet – and find what you want to plagiarize.

Then – you just have to copy and paste – that is all.

Plagiarism is rampant in the blogging world too. 

As I told you earlier – my Blogs were Plagiarized too.

I feel very sad when some unscrupulous persons plagiarize my writings – especially when they copy-paste my blog posts onto their blogs – and try to pass off my creative writing as their own.

To such persons I can only say: Please create your own original writing, especially fiction, and please do not plagiarize the creative works of others.

You must create your own merit and not piggyback on others.

Copying and Plagiarizing is sacrilege – yes – this unethical act is the scourge of the blogosphere and a big nuisance to genuine bloggers.

I earnestly appeal to all fellow bloggers and creative writers to please be original.

Please do not copy – do not imitate – or do not plagiarize under any circumstances.

Have some self respect. 

Please be creative. 

Create your own merit.

Don’t be a copycat.

Nowadays – you can use the Social Media (Facebook and Twitter) to expose such unscrupulous plagiarists and thieves who steal your content.

Many of these plagiarists are cowards and hide behind masks of anonymity.

They Blog under fictitious identities using fancy nom de plumes or fake “handles”. 

You will find such cowards on the Social Media (Twitter/Facebook) as well.

These masqueraders are afraid of revealing their true identity on Twitter and Facebook and use fake anonymous handles and pictures.

In order to drive home the point regarding the dangers of imitation and plagiarism – I would like to tell all copycats this story – a favourite teaching story of mine: GUTEI’S FINGER 

A Story for COPYCATS IMITATORS and PLAGIARISTS

GUTEI’S FINGER

Whenever anyone asked him about Zen – the great master Gutei would quietly raise one finger into the air.

A naughty boy in the village began to imitate this behaviour.

Whenever he heard people talking about Gutei’s teachings – the naughty boy would interrupt the discussion and raise his finger.

Gutei heard about the boy’s mischief.

One day Gutei he saw the mischievous boy in the street.

Gutei apprehended the boy and caught hold of him. 

Then – Gutei pulled out a knife and he cut off the boy’s finger.

Yes – the Zen Master Gutei cut off the boy’s finger.

The stunned and terrified boy cried in agony.

Then the boy got so frightened that he began to run off – horrified by the sight of his profusely bleeding finger – petrified with fear – and trembling with unimaginable pain and unbearable distress.

As the boy was running away – Gutei shouted the boy’s name and called out to him.

When the boy turned to look – Gutei raised his finger into the air.

The naughty boy – whose finger had been cut off by Gutei – looked at Gutei’s Finger.

At that moment – the boy became enlightened.

So – Dear Blog Plagiarists – before you steal my content – remember this story of “Gutei’s Finger” 

I may metaphorically do to you what Gutei actually did to the naughty boy.

Happy “Original” Blogging and Proper Ethical Sharing on Social Media.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

Revised, Updated and Expanded Version of my blog post GUTEI’S FINGER written by me Vikram Karve more than 12 years ago in the year 2005 and posted online earlier in my blogs at urls: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2010/09/teaching-story-guteis-finger.html  and  http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2012/06/copycats-imitators-and-plagiarists-bane.html and  http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2013/02/blog-plagiarism.html and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2015/09/do-you-steal-content-blog-plagiarism.html etc