Blogosphere is the youngest industry with huge media influence. There are almost no formal laws controlling what is right or wrong. In most cases, we are guided by our own personal perspective on the ethics but even what may seem “common sense” to us may not seem as “common” to someone else.
Many ethics mistakes are unintentional, because there is no clearly stated set of rules.
I say it is time we start working on a list of ethics that we can all agree to, starting with the unspoken ones that most of us follow anyway.
Repeat after me….
I Will Never Steal Another Blogger's Work
A more complex issue than it would at first appear, in order to avoid theft we have to define what that actually means. It isn't as obvious as copy/pasting someone's post and claiming it as your own. That is only one form of pilfering.
More insidious and less obvious is the lifting of someone's work in part, rewritten to make it seem as though it came from you. I have seen many freelancers in particular who have just started out making this mistake.
You can use someone's work as an example as something you want to create, like an inspirational starting point to get your creativity flowing. But from there, you have to write something entirely original, that offers something new to the reader. Give them something to think about, not something they could have read somewhere else.
Further reading: How to Quote without Running into a Risk of Stealing
I Will Always Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
Let's say you find something that really is just perfect, and is exactly what you want to say. Can you use it? Well, sure, probably. There is nothing more flattering as a blogger than having your work cited, or something you created shared.
With one important factor included: proper credit. You have to properly credit the person you took the original content from. That should also require a link back to the original, so you are promoting the blogger and their site.
Take a moment to also check their copyright specifications on their blog, as well. Most will have a set of regulations for using their work, such as a link back, or a comment saying you took it and for what purpose. To be truly safe, or if you are using a larger part of content rather than citing a single quote, you may wish to contact them for permission first.
Mind that a credit is not always enough. It's fine if you are quoting a sentence or two, but if you want to re-package the whole article into an infographic or if you want to use someone else's image, follow these two steps:
- Look for license info or terms of service. In many cases, a creative writer or a photographer will just state how she or he prefers you to re-use their work (or overall avoid so).
- Go ahead and ask. In many cases, especially when you are in doubt, it just makes perfect sense to go ahead and ask that person if he/she agrees to giving you the right to use their work. All in all, asking never hurts: Make it a rule to always send an email or a social media message when you have n idea of how some piece of content may be useful for you. The best part is that asking works for relationship building: You never know what kind of partnership you'll end up building based on a friendly “Love what you do… Here's an idea” notice. It's serendipity!
Further reading: Interesting Creative Commons Projects
I Will Always be Open about How I am Related to the Product or a Company
Is anyone else sick of seeing paid promotional posts that are trying to look like they are just casual reviews by satisfied users? You will read through an entire article, which seems genuine. Do you feel weird when you seem to be tricked in clicking that affiliate link?
There is nothing wrong with affiliate programs, or paid promotional content. But in order to remain ethical, it has to be clearly stated from the beginning what is going on here.
Respect your reader and you'll turn them into followers.
A quick disclaimer is a good way to build trust. Plus it's only ethical!
Hey, I am not giving you any legal advice here: I am not a lawyer. It's more of a trust and branding issue to me than anything else.
Further reading: Here are some neat affiliate disclaimers I really like! Web Hosting Hub has lots of resources on how to disclaim your affiliate reviews and links here.
I Will Not Review A Product I Have Not Looked Into First
If you don't know about a product, don't write about it. Many bloggers are contacted by brands looking for a promotional post. Once upon a time, it was automatic that they would give you a sample, or a trial account, or whatever else was needed for you to check out the product or service before agreeing to the post.
Now, these brands are starting to demand you follow a script they provide, and something they don't even offer you a chance to try it first. This is unethical, and a little ridiculous. Refuse to work with brands who attempt this, and keep your reviews honest whether they are paid or not.
Look at trusted communities and how they protect bloggers from these types of one-sides relationships with brands. Tomoson for example is very explicit about the fact that a blogger has all editorial rights and it's not allowed to demand positive reviews or direct links:
Again, it's a matter of trust which is so hard to build and so easy and fast to ruin!
I Will Not Create Content For SEO Purposes Alone
We all know the importance of proper SEO, and the need for keyword inclusion in all content. That hasn't changed, and it isn't likely to anytime soon due to the algorithm used by search engines like Google.
But keeping SEO in mind and enhancing content for it is not the same as creating content purely for the sake of keyword stuffing and search engine ranking. Content is the most stable form of marketing out there, and crucial to any campaign. It doesn't give you a pass to make it the only concern of that content search results.
Create content to be useful, entertaining or educational to your readers. Then sprinkle in the SEO as a secondary tactic. Remember that it isn't all about keywords and phrases. It is also about value and sharing.
Conclusion
This is obviously a work in progress, one that covers only a small number of issues that many of us in the blogging industry face every day. What would you add to it? Let us know in the comments.
Thanks for sharing these. Are you building a list so bloggers can share this on their sites?
Hopefully, yes! Maybe even a downloadable version of it!
I don’t know anyone with any ethics who could argue with any of these… well, maybe that last one regarding SEO, but ethics get tested where money is concerned sometimes. Acknowledgement is always nice and helps build bonds. Reviewing stuff you’ve actually done something with (or read, since I sometimes do book reviews) makes a lot of sense because usually we can tell who’s authentic or not.
Sharing is caring; good stuff here, especially the graphics. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words, Mitch!
Hi, Ann (and Ileane).
That was an innovative and useful topic that you covered.
I agree with all of your points, which are well explained. It’s important to be honest and transparent with blogging, not only because it’s obviously the correct thing to do, but also for the sake of our brands.
What would I add?
– I will always proofread my work (or get somebody to do it for me).
– I will always reply to comments from readers (if my blog has commenting enabled).
– I will always make my post easy to share online.
These are a few that came to mind immediately. But I’m sure your other readers will recall several more. It looks like this will be a good discussion.
Thanks for sharing,
Nathan.
Great additions! thanks, Nathan!
I wish these were actual laws that were punishable by jail-time. Okay maybe not that serious but it would be nice to have some kind of enforcement especially when it comes to content theft/spinning.
I agree! We do need more people to be aware of what’s right and wrong!
I wish there could be a body or organization to really bring up and enforce this suggestions for bloggers and webmasters.
especially those cunny affliate markerters that just write anything for money.
then blogosphere would really be something to be proud of.
I think that most people (probably the majority of people reading this article) have a good set of blogging ethics behind them. They naturally abide by these things because they are ethical.
The problem is that I run into bloggers daily who don’t abide by any ethical practices and actually get upset when you call them out for being unethical.
I have lost count how many times I have had to contact someone about copying my articles and not linking back, and most of them don’t even reply to complaints because they know they can get away with it. To be honest, they are doing pretty darn good with my content, so if they can soak a little more out of it – why not?
I agree with Gertrude – there has to be some kind of enforcement. Unethical bloggers are never going to change unless there is. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done.
Thanks for stopping by, Kari! Hopefully our MyBlogU will grow enough to promote ethical blogging!
Well, directly copying content is already illegal and you can be sued for it. Failing to disclose compensated endorsements will also get you in real legal trouble in many countries.
A lot of these ideas are good general guidelines–which most bloggers, particularly the big ones, already follow. That said, a lot of people on here seem to want to enforce them, which makes me nervous. The internet is a bastion of free speech, and frankly, I’d rather have every single word I ever write stolen, and never be able to trust a single online review, ever, than see some agency created to tell me what I CAN write.
Still, I hope some people take these to heart for their own online activities.
I agree that we don’t need to ask for more restrictions but the free speech is ok unless it hurts someone else… Even legit bloggers copy-past quotes, steal ideas and never credit the source. Is that a lot!
Hello Ann, and welcome to Ilean’s blog as a guest author.
You have laid down some interesting facts about blogging and its ethics… 🙂
There are just so many bloggers around who uses other bloggers content without permission or link back and, to be honest, that’s bad. I wish they know the consequence of “copy and paste” crime … 🙂
Now here’s m addition: Blogging is a hard job, I wonder why some pro bloggers will confuse and convince the newer bloggers that it’s not.
Thanks for the post and have a nice week both of you.
Hii Ann,
Thanks for such kind suggestions. I wish this article to be circulated to all bloggers who are spamming just to earn money with blogging. If every blogger follow these ethics, I’m sure no one will receive wrong information in SERP.
Thanks once again Ann and Ileane.
-Nitin
Copying other’s content is not good for blogger. As a blogger, we have to create or follow some ethics to travel in a right direction. I think, your code of ethics is best to follow by every bloggers and copycats… Thanks for sharing. Keep doing.
I really like this list.
Some really good ideas, advice out there that everyone should be trying to follow.
It can be hard seeing others making these mistakes though. Some are downright cringe worthy, especially when it comes to the big affiliate launches when it seems like everyone and their mother is promoting another influencer’s big product.
I do wonder if those people are getting beta copies or if it really is just a blind promotion.
The list looks great. It has good connections on all the mistakes one can do during his/her blogging career. True that there won’t be any wrong information in SERP after one does this.
This post should be shared as much as it is possible. Many people don’t give credit even after using someone else image and same with the content. Thanks Ann for the wonderful post.
Thanks for stopping by to comment, Dina! That means a lot!
Hi Ann,
first of all I would like to congratulate writing these awesome promises.
Let’s Continue With Post
well, these are the biggest issues of blog-sphere. there is no authority is there to control such things except Google and Google also have some limitations. it can control at some level and not after that. that’s why spammers and especially some affiliate marketers and review makers taking huge advantages of these things.
I think we need to promote this issue in front of general audiences as much as we can so that general audiences can aware of these things and once people start understanding the things then the activities of such spammers will stop automatically.
Cheers…
Gaurav Heera
Hi Ann Smarty,
Love this, I must say you have shared some wonderful points here regarding blogging code ethics. The most important of all is never steal others work/idea, whilst always come with a creative or unique thing.
Thanks
Very nicely written and very impressive. Thanks.
I think there has to be some way to re-blog the original blog with proper linking to the parent article. The truncated re-blog should be okay for most bloggers if the link to the original blog is given.
Great discussion going on here. Transparency & honesty would go a long way in making blogosphere a better place. To add a few more points
– I will not write misleading headlines to only generate clicks
– I will not bombard readers incessantly with pop-ups
These two are my pet peeve with regards to blogs I come across. Headlines that promise the world, only to lead to 500 words generic content that is superfluously related to the headline. Pop-ups make reading a chore, popping up to unsuspecting readers on almost every blog. While I agree they are highly useful, a more judicious usage of them would enable better user experience.
I don’t know anybody with any morals who could contend with any of these… well, perhaps that last one in regards to SEO, however morals get tried where cash is concerned now and again. Affirmation is constantly decent and helps manufacture bonds. Investigating stuff you’ve really done something with (or read, since I once in a while do book audits) bodes well on the grounds that as a rule we can tell who’s valid or not.Sharing is minding; well done here, particularly the design.
yes! this is the correct way of creating content and blogging then after. There Should be some code book which every blogger must read first and then he/she should start blogging. for copying content there should be penalty.
Hi Ann,
So glad to see your valuable content on blogging ethics. Blogging is freedom of speech. As we are freedom to write so we can protect injustice and bad info. It’s our ethics to always tell the truth i mean if it is an for a product then also give honest review.
I always love to give credit where it deserve. It’s an moral code to give credit. I appreciate your blogging code of ethics. Thank you for your valuable content.