I’m fairly new to blogging, under a year, and have been spending time reading lots of great posts in WordPress . Under the advisement of a seasoned blogger, I started following the people who follow me, figuring we’d have similar interests. For the most part that has proven true. Then, from those blogs, I read other’s comments and if I liked the comment, I’d check out their blog too! So far so good, I’m having fun!
This isn’t a post about getting followers though
The blogging world offers a great platform for expression. I love commenting on posts and engaging with the writer, the expert. If I don’t agree with another’s view after reading about 5 of their posts, I am free to unfollow them. Easy!
The reason I am writing this post is because I came across something that really bothered me. I’d been reading this certain blog for several months now and was impressed with the caliber of writing. I was thinking – Wow, to post so many posts in a week and written in such a professional way – I could only hope to attain such a thing. I looked up to this blogger and admired him. (I am assuming the writer is male.) His blog also has thousands of followers.
I began to notice something strange though. My tendrils raised! I was commenting on the subject of his posts as usual, but noticed his replies back never matched the professionalism his posts were written with. It felt like two different people – one writing and one commenting! It started to bother me, my discernment with this sort of thing is usually good.
So I did some digging. I copied a paragraph from his post and put it into a Google search. There was a match from another web-site – practically word for word. Plagiarism! It made sense what I was feeling. I did the same thing with more of his posts – and, the same thing showed up on Google. He has been copying material from web-sites and posting them as his own – no citations, no credits.
I felt really disheartened and sad. I looked up to this guy as a great writer and he wasn’t even the one doing the writing. Crushed, I UNFOLLOWED him. I’m not sure why I invited this experience into my life, perhaps it was just about discernment, or perhaps it was to show me that I don’t need to give my power away by comparing my expression to someone else’s. I know what I write is truth and from my heart, same for the blogger who gave me the advice.
I really enjoying reading posts from the heart of bloggers so I guess that’s why I blog after all! No more comparisons, and lots of credit to those bloggers with integrity!!
The Path to My Heart 
Please share your thoughts…