Bad: Something Seen

As this blog starts to get under way, I really become torn when I consider posting a “bad” blog. The term “bad” is rather loaded, and it’s quite reasonable to assume that whatever blog I post under that category has nothing redeemable about it. This isn’t true; the exercise of Good Blog bad Blog is to highlight issues of blogs that should be avoided. As in the case of Something Seen, the content is fine—another blog that posts things visually inspiring. However, the issue with this blog is its lack of citation.

Something Seen pools a lot of common buzz-images floating around the blogosphere and rarely ever gives credit to their source. It’s frustrating—I have seen posts from my other blog, 95total, get posted on her site with no credit.

I see this time and time again on blogs. People find stuff from a few different sources, post it on their blog, and act as if they found it on their own. While to a degree this is true, you should always credit the person who found it before you. This creates good karma for your blog and will insure people link to you in return. As a result your blog will get more hits! Another importance of citing is just offering your reader more places to find good content.

Remember that bloggers work very hard to find their information and most are proud of what they give to their readers. If you find their content to be good enough to post on your own blog, give them credit. It’s only fair.