Armchair BEA: Ethics and blogging.

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

Today we are discussing Ethics and blogging.  What exactly does that mean? 

In the blogging world, there are no specifically written laws as to what we are supposed to do or not supposed to do.  Yes, there are lists of things that are recommended that we do, but there is no way to enforce it.  There is a difference between illegal and unethical.   Many professions have their own set of rules to follow when it comes to ethics.  Lawyers, physicians and nurses all are governed by a licensing board. I, as a nurse, have a set of specific rules that I must follow in order to keep my license safe, both personally and professionally.  For example, I can have my license revoked by my state for being arrested while driving under the influence, just as quickly as it could be revoked by harming a patient. 

We as bloggers don’t have a license that is in jeopardy, but we can lose credibility with our readers if we don’t follow certain guidelines. 

• ·         Always give credit where it is due.  If you use a photograph that you didn’t take, give credit to where you obtained it. If you use the words of another blogger, give them credit.
• ·         Always be truthful. If you receive compensation for your reviews, tell your readers.
• ·         Never plagiarize.  We all work hard on our blogs, don’t steal others work.  If you have to steal others work, then don’t blog.
• ·         If you make a mistake, admit it. We are all human and humans make mistakes.
• ·         Be courteous and fair.  We all have different opinions on things, just because you may not agree with someone, that’s ok. BE NICE! You can express your opinion, but BE NICE.

I have never had my content plagiarized, but I am well aware of what it is.  In graduate school, EVERY paper I wrote had to be submitted to a site that checked just for that.  If it came back to us at or above 10% we had to re-write it.  The 10% showed that at least 10% of our paper was identical to another paper.  Do you realize how hard it is to write a 50+ page paper to begin with? Much less re-write it?  Yeah, I’m very cautious. 

What are your thoughts??