I’ve been sitting on this blog post since January.
Over the years of blogging, I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing you can do with a blog post idea isn’t to write it, but to think about it, mull it over, and refine it in your mind – especially content that feels sensitive and volatile.
It is my hope that this post has matured enough in my mind that it’s on point and causes us to think twice between sharing posts on social media.
Syndication vs Scrapping
I’ve clicked on countless blog post links shared on social media that lands me on websites that create very little original content, but simply takes content from other websites and blogs and republishes it.
Sometimes it’s been scrapped – which is illegal – and other times it is “syndicated.”
It’s a fine line.
The difference is that scrapping is done without the author’s (or content owner’s) knowledge, whereby “syndication” is done with permission.
As Editor of a blog that does not publish posts that are previously published elsewhere, it can be a little unnerving when some of our original content is syndicated elsewhere and receives more traffic to the syndication website than our own. It’s the nature of the beast and is the cost to exposing our content to a different audience in hopes it will lead them to our platform.
Whose Blog Post Did You Share?
Understanding the process of syndication, I have become sorely sensitive to whose content I am sharing. If I find a blog post via social media to a blog that syndicates, I always make sure to search for the original source.
I know how the game is played, I know who’s in it for the quick buck, and I want to drive traffic to the real author.
I’ve ran into several syndication snafus doing this. Take this blog post from last January:
I wanted to share this post, but knew they didn’t actually write it.
TO THE GOOGLE!
Wait.
Didn’t it say the post was written by Thom Rainer?
So much for exposure… ?
Can you guess which link I shared?
(Note: The error was corrected months later.)
Here’s another lovely post:
I think you can see where I am headed with this?
This post wasn’t written by Ekklesia 360, it was sponsored by them.
Big difference.
I obviously shared the Church Relevance link.
(Note: The syndication website removed the post the same day upon the author’s request. Good thing I didn’t share that link!)
Who Do You Want to Support?
The next time you find an article worth sharing, please do a little research. It wont’ take long to find the original source and you’ll learn the difference between the content creators and curators, and those who are here for quick hits and big bucks. There are some sites I visit that I immediately know it isn’t the original source – and you can learn too.
Even if an author doesn’t sell advertising, a product, or a service, they should at least have the joy of seeing their pageviews jump a little higher when you’ve read their post and found it awesome enough to share with your friends.
Who do you want to support?
[Mouse and coffee image via Pexels]
Blessing Mpofu says
Thanks for articulating something I haven’t been able to. This is very hard-hitting Eric, and rightly so. Perhaps one of the things websites and blogs, rather, people managing them should curate. Then can share why it is / they found it helpful, share a quote or snippet with a link to the original post.
People who spend time and other resources creating content need to be honoured. I feel this is also a matter of integrity. Again, thanks for starting a conversation I think needs to be ongoing.
Eric Dye says
Thank you Blessing.
Michael Lukaszewski says
I’ve had several of my articles syndicated and picked up by various sites. At first, it was nice to see a topic got traction. But then I realized these sites were simply building traffic to their brand using my content. It gets clicks and sells advertising, but I’m not really a fan.
Eric Dye says
Exactly. Piggybacking on other peoples content is wrong. Theft? A little stiff I suppose. And I understand that images, infographics, and other bits of content are shared on blog posts, too. But these are often (and should be) accompanied with an author who adds their own spin. It’s building on something else. That’s an element of blogging. Copy and pasting someone’s exact words? That’s not blogging. And selling ads on the backs of others hard work is pretty gross IMO.
Chris says
The other aspect of infographics or similar “link bait” is they are designed to be linked to and there are conventions on proper attribution (so giving the author a link and not pretending it is your own content) some syndication can end up like this when it is done with permission of the author, but using someone’s photo without their consent is copyright theft, in the same way using the whole of someone’s words without their consent should be copyright theft too.
There are plenty of ways to “reblog” a post or add your own reaction post which draws more attention to the original without just copying and pasting…then again that requires work.
Eric Dye says
It does require work.