Blogging Etiquette, is it even a thing, does it really exist?
Yes, it does.
There are rules to blogging, do’s and don’ts, mistakes to avoid and lessons to learn.
You’re going to find posts on all these topics.
What to do, what not to do, how to do it, how not to do it, mentioning this and mentioning that, but I’m about to sum it up for you with the number one ultimate rule to blogging.
Table of Contents
The Ultimate Rule of Blogging Etiquette
DO NOT STEAL!!
Call it what you want:
- The right thing to do
- Being moral
- Being considerate
- Not ticking off fellow bloggers
- Not being labeled
Call it whatever you want.
Just Do Not Steal/Take/Borrow or Use Without Permission!
- Photos
- Recipes
- Posts
- Articles
- eBooks
- Paragraph’s
- Whatever is not yours or was not created by you! Plain and simple!!!
Read that again – whatever is not yours or was not created by you!!!
It’s called copyright infringement, plagiarism, content theft, content scraping, and stealing.
Just don’t do it!
Bloggers are very serious about this kind of stuff, very serious!
What Is Etiquette?
It means to know how to act, being polite in a group, it’s manners, rules, code and then some!
So, I would say the polite thing to do is to follow the rules and not steal someone else’s content.
How to Not Steal Another Bloggers Content?
Be original.
You have to be original, you have to say things in your own words.
That means to Not copy, paste, or retype, what another blogger wrote word for word.
And to Not use someone else’s pictures, media, videos, logos, that they took and created for themselves, that they did NOT give you permission to use, sell to you, or that you did not purchase.
If you want to use something from another blogger that was specifically created by them, then you need to contact them and ask. PERIOD!
If it’s something on their site and you want to use it and have any doubts about being able to, you need to contact them and ask. PERIOD!
If you want to use a post or image off of a company’s website, you still need to contact them and ask. Period!
It’s just proper manners, it’s etiquette, it’s unwritten rules, it’s known rules, and it’s in the terms and services page on every site.
You need to ask!
The Outcome of Stealing Someone’s Work
If you do this intentionally or not, there is a big possibility this will happen:
You will be contacted by the original owner of the content – this may be a nice email and it may not.
Your Host may receive a DMCA Takedown Notice – this is a legal letter to remove the content.
Most of the time the original content owner will contact you directly, but if they don’t receive a response or the material isn’t taken down, they will file a DMCA Takedown Notice.
This notice goes to your hosting company and finding out who your hosting company is, is very easy, because it’s public information.
If your hosting company receives this notice, they will demand you take it down or they will take it down for you.
This is not something you want to happen, because if your hosting company chooses to, they can suspend or delete your hosting account.
It can and/or will be reported to your social network – and they can do whatever they have to, to take it off, your account could be suspended or deleted.
Payment – it is possible a request or demand of payment would be sent to you for the use of content from someone else’s site.
It’s possible you will be publicly called out – and everyone will start searching your site for their stuff, don’t make enemies. Being called out by one blogger is bad enough, but when a group come together, it is not a pretty thing.
Legal Action – you know what this means.
Some of the above may happen and some of the above may not, it depends on the steps the blogger chooses to take.
But trust me, something will happen!
And there is no particular order that this can or will happen in.
A blogger or company can choose to start off slow and gently or they can decide to go straight for the wallet.
Please do not think that you have figured out a way to use someone else’s content or media if you have intentionally copied it.
Because I’m going to tell you, it’s not happening!
You will be caught.
There are a lot of ways that bloggers can track their content.
And they are tracking it!
Blogging Etiquette for Beginners
Let’s not forget the real reason we’re here.
It’s to learn all things blogging.
So, yes, there are going to be very new bloggers who don’t know this.
Some might even think that using other people’s content is how it works or because they saw someone else do it or they think they’re helping another blogger out in some kind of way, but they’re not.
So, for those of us, that do know, now is the time to teach the newer newbies.
And there’s a certain way to do it, you got it!
With bloggers etiquette.
“I don’t know if you’re aware”, or “here is a post about”, or “I just wanted to tell you in case you didn’t know”.
And most newbie bloggers will appreciate that someone has taken the time to help them out and teach them the right way.
Don’t Listen to Etiquette Breaker’s
Don’t get caught up in bad advice, there is going to be someone out there that says “it’s okay, you can do it, half the internet is copied”.
And it’s probably someone trying to justify what they do.
Well, it’s not okay and those people who do know and that do copy, don’t have enough creativity to come up with their own work, so they want to piggyback off someone else’s time and energy put into creating content.
Not Cool!
Recap on Bloggers Etiquette
- Create your own content, take your own photos, shoot your own videos, pay for stock photos, contact the original owner and just ask.
- Pay, Ask or be Original, those are your options.