One of the dangers of self-publishing is that anyone can do it and that there’s no morality or ethical-barrier of entry for it. In many cases, especially for those that have wide audiences, using one’s blog as a weapon can be a significant danger (and temptation).
I recently had a time last week where I was told that someone was trading my name for services; in other words, someone was claiming work that I’ve done as their own and using it as a leverage point to win clients.
I was upset.
This was someone who I had worked with in the past only once but who was claiming a far-greater collaborative relationship than just that one project.
I instantly thought of ways to “strategically retaliate” and one such idea was to leverage my blog. Thank God I had clarity and some wise counsel beside me; I put it aside, forgave the man, and forgot the incident ever happened.
But I won’t forget that feeling and temptation; it’s one that I’ll remember for a long time.
How have you seen people use their blogs as “weapons?” Is there ever a “good” and “acceptable” time for this?