776 - How do you feel about plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a serious issue.

Plagiarism, as defined by Wikipedia is, the representation of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work. In educational contexts, there are differing definitions of plagiarism depending on the institution. Plagiarism is considered a violation of academic integrity and a breach of journalistic ethics.

According to an article by Bill Murphy Jr. in Inc.com - "LinkedIn is an incredibly useful social network, but it can also be a breeding ground for bad behavior... spammy networkers and over-sharers for example--but also full-fledged plagiarism and copying. Yet these kinds of practices destroy people's reputations and even lead to their losing their LinkedIn accounts".

Notice, I copied and pasted that material giving credit to the writer.

Plagiarism occurs when you use someone's content without crediting that person.

There is too much of it going on all over social media, including LinkedIn.

If you want to use some content you didn't write say, "According to..." and state the source, or "As so-and-so once said..." to give credit to a quote.

It's not only simple to do, it's the right thing to do.

Now people are using AI in the same way. They ask a question and then use the AI-generated answers as their own content.

There are many questions on intellectual property and copyright laws.

Would you want your content to be used without your knowledge and with no recognition?

Most people will say NO and with good reason.

If you think the content you're reading is not original, copy and paste a few lines of content into a Google search. One or more sources may come up.

I once questioned the By-Laws of a non-profit startup by someone I know. The person insisted he had created the By-Laws himself.

I copied and pasted a section of his By-Laws into a Google search. The By-Laws from a similar non-profit in the UK came up in the search. He had copied them word for word.

Nothing in my acquaintance's documents was original.

Sharing posts of others is a good way to avoid plagiarism because you are sharing the content directly from the person who wrote it. They will appreciate that you shared their content.

Otherwise, write your own content. People do want to hear what you have to say.

How do you feel about plagiarism?