Dear Outlaw Bloggers, Please Use Common Sense!

Editor’s Note: This is not a computer tip, all views expressed in this post are my personal opinion. The original intention of this post is to foster debate among readers and webmasters.

Suppose you discover a new fish species(let’s name it X) and tell your friend about it. Your friend goes to a group of people and tell them about a new fish called X without stating that it was discovered by you. Will you like it? Is this fair? Does it make a bit of sense? The answers is NO.

Now suppose another situation where you discover a new software and review it on your blog. Now your readers(both Direct visitors and those coming from RSS feeds) which include plenty of bloggers, will read about this new software and write about it in their respective blogs without mentioning that it was discovered by you. Will you like it? Is this fair? Does it make a bit of sense? The answer again is NO.

So what is this all about? It’s about using a bit of common sense. I have always tried to find the reasons why bloggers fail to credit the original discoverer and here is what I found.

Some Reasons Why Bloggers Are Afraid To Give Credit

• The competing blog’s PR might increase
• More outbound links would mean less PR
• Readers might shift to new blog and it would lead to less RSS readers
• Readers might think the blogger is too lazy to find the software himself

Busting the Blogger’s Myths Once and for all

The competing blog’s PR might increase

More outbound links would mean less PR

Yes, but No. The competing blog to which you link will obviously benefit from the PR, but remember that PR does not increase on incoming links only, if you credit a blog that is trustworthy in Google’s eye then yes even your PR can increase(since Google will find you more trustworthy). So in fact linking is a good thing.

Readers might shift to new blog and it would lead to less RSS readers

No, No, and No. Some readers would visit the credited site and might even subscribe to it, but this doesn’t mean that they would dump you. In fact, the readers would thank you because you helped them find more interesting blogs.

Readers might think the blogger is too lazy to find the software himself

Wrong. Most Readers are open-minded and they know what it takes to write a review of a software or service, so they would never think like that. In fact, when you find a new software in any blog and write about it, it’s obviously not laziness. Lazy are those who would sit and dream about taking over the world.

So What Doesn’t Make Sense

• Copying the full post with/without crediting(Mostly Spam Blogs)
• Copying an excerpt without crediting(Happens most of the time)
• Writing about a new software and not giving credit to the original blog where it was discovered(Happens all the time)

What Makes Perfect Sense

There are two ways in which you can give credit, either copy an except from the blog and link to it or write your own review of the software and give credit to the blog where you discovered it.

Ofcourse, there are times when multiple blogs write about the same product, in this case there is a possibility that these blogs share the same source. So it is perfectly normal in such cases.

So what’s the point? Honest bloggers like me try really hard to find and review the software. For others it is quite easy, simply copy the post, add an Adsense code and enjoy free bucks. So the next time some outlaw bloggers feel like stealing my content or not crediting to my little discoveries, all I want them to think is that they are stealing a poor man’s apple.