1/13 I’d like to discuss the issue of plagiarism on here.
The reason plagiarism on Twitter baffles me, is because there is not another field of writing in the world where it’s acceptable. You’d be fired, often blacklisted, and rightfully so.
But when it happens here you have a
The reason plagiarism on Twitter baffles me, is because there is not another field of writing in the world where it’s acceptable. You’d be fired, often blacklisted, and rightfully so.
But when it happens here you have a
2/13 common response of “calm down, it’s just Twitter.” Or even claiming it isn’t creative content so there’s nothing to steal. Which is demonstrably false by any standard, I truly don’t understand what that argument is.
And I think this issue arises because those saying it’s
And I think this issue arises because those saying it’s
3/13 “just Twitter” can also tweet, and don’t understand that this is not tweeting as they do it. This is work for many of us.
This is how I make money, I freelance write, I sell products with my jokes on them. The success of my tweets and my ability to run an account is
This is how I make money, I freelance write, I sell products with my jokes on them. The success of my tweets and my ability to run an account is
4/13 prominent on my resume.
You get to do whatever you want with your account, and that’s great. And there are plenty of jokes I wrote just for fun. There are also jokes I have in my drafts over a year old because I love the idea and haven’t gotten them perfect yet.
You get to do whatever you want with your account, and that’s great. And there are plenty of jokes I wrote just for fun. There are also jokes I have in my drafts over a year old because I love the idea and haven’t gotten them perfect yet.
5/13 There are jokes I’ve written where I spent hours researching and editing.
And there are jokes I now have to PROVE I wrote first because they were stolen. Jokes that have made others money on meme accounts when they’ve done nothing but copy and paste my work.
And there are jokes I now have to PROVE I wrote first because they were stolen. Jokes that have made others money on meme accounts when they’ve done nothing but copy and paste my work.
6/13 There’s a reason why fantastically successful comics and writers use this platform. To someone that does just use this for fun, who doesn’t write jokes, or isn’t looking to pursue this field, perhaps they don’t understand the distinction. But this IS our business.
7/13 Others using it to talk about their day or post pictures of food doesn’t negate those of us whose content is part of their livelihood. The same way people can post stick figures they drew in class while professional artists can post sketches they’re trying to sell.
8/13 Except because it’s all done in the same place, people doodling a stick figure are telling professional artists others should be allowed to steal their work.
I hope this conveys WHY this is a significant issue for comics, writers, and content creators.
I hope this conveys WHY this is a significant issue for comics, writers, and content creators.
9/13 But even in the most basic sense, it’s not unreasonable to want credit for something you made.
If I told these jokes on stage, which I have done, or included them as a line in a book, no one would fault me for claiming ownership. So why is it different for this medium?
If I told these jokes on stage, which I have done, or included them as a line in a book, no one would fault me for claiming ownership. So why is it different for this medium?
10/13 My 20th most successful tweet has been seen by more people than everything creative I’ve done off twitter combined. That’s incredible to me. This medium has given me a chance to reach so many people. And it is a great feeling to know something I’ve worked on is making
11/13 people laugh.
It is SO reasonable to just want something you’ve made to be known as yours. Especially when we opt to share something for free, like we mostly do here. The reward is knowing that WE made something good. That it’s ours. It will always hurt to have someone
It is SO reasonable to just want something you’ve made to be known as yours. Especially when we opt to share something for free, like we mostly do here. The reward is knowing that WE made something good. That it’s ours. It will always hurt to have someone
12/13 steal that from us. The fact that I post it on Twitter is irrelevant. I wrote it in real life. I cared about it and put effort into it and it was something I created. I would think that’s a feeling which absolutely everyone could understand.
13/13 Thanks for reading, to all my friends, and everyone working here, I appreciate you. Please keep writing!
PS, for the tl;dr crowd, here’s the fantastic @PhilJamesson with a far more succinct and funnier conveyance of the issue. It’s also very accurate.
