Note: I wrote this post a week ago now. I’ve been sitting on it unsure of whether to actually press publish. The one thing I think that’s worrying me is it looks like I’m angrily venting. That’s the last thing I want. I never write anything angry – not an email or a text and especially not a post. I like to have an open mind and the clear view that what I’m writing is fair and a true representation of how I feel. Not a representation of how I felt for those angry 10 minutes. I know this to some people might make it seem… well blah, and as a side-note here I don’t think there is anything wrong with an angry post now and then. In fact they can make hilarious reading, but personally it’s just not what I want to put out there.
Mostly I wrote this post to work through a few things in my head. I’m really posting it because in the process I realised a few things I knew, but didn’t really know – you get me? I understood it but I had no outlet. Anyway… rather than discuss the inner workings of my thoughts let’s get to the post and you can judge for yourself.
Totally not sure if I’m going to actually post this but it’s all I can think about this morning so I thought I’d write this cathartically. If you’re reading I’ve hopefully managed to write my more incoherent thoughts down into something understandable.
The thing is I’ve spend the morning reading comments. I know, I know! Rookie mistake! But I got sucked in and I can’t seem to get them all back out of my head now.
The account in question is a VERY popular Instagram account – we’re talking half a million followers (Say what?!) and a teenage owner who has unknowingly got herself into the middle of a huge.. well battle. I want to start by saying I have no animosity to the owner of the account. She has been posting a photo of a DIY tutorial (none of mine to my knowledge) with the page URL (that on Instagram doesn’t link back) and the whole tutorial. From what I could gather I huge blogging group found out and has most likely bombarded her with requests to take the tutorials down and credit a little better.
Which is the right thing to do, but probably a little scary for someone not old enough to know better in the first place. Now I don’t know what is being said behind the scenes but from the blogger comments on latest post I think most people have tried to explain why it’s wrong and thanked her for putting things right in a mostly professional manner. What has scared me about all of this is the non-blogger comments.
Reading through these this morning has sent me spiralling back to awkward haircuts and rolled up skirts. All of a sudden I’m in an all girl secondary school worrying if I’m pretty enough for the cool kids to like me and wondering what kissing boys is like.
But once that’s all over you grow up. You work hard, pay your bills, you unlearn everything you were taught at school and you completely forget how mean kids can be! Like, I did laugh out loud at the term salty ass blogger for sure, but as I kept scrolling back to find the bloggers who were causing these outrageously defensive comments, all I would see were more attacks on the bloggers. Sure there is one who has probably not dealt with it in the most professional manner but mostly the comments from bloggers are kind and reassuring – that by crediting and taking down the full tutorial she is doing the right thing.
And now I totally get people wanting to comment and let the owner of the account know that they love it and support her. Sure, that’s cool, but calling bloggers greedy and selfish for wanting the credit for something they worked hard on is a little bit… well, unfair right? Why don’t we all just do it for the love? If you need money to live then go and get a real job.
I know saying this here is preaching to the choir (all of you are massively supportive and get this blogging thing) but guys, after a year of doing this full time I can safely say this is a real job. It’s not all Instagramming doughnuts and knitting unicorns. A lot more goes into it. You can get paid for every different aspect of my job – creating content, photography and editing, marketing, accounting, admin etc. And I could probably earn a much better living doing just one of them for someone else. But I’ve chosen to start a business. I knew that going into this. I wanted to work hard growing something for myself. I pay my taxes and I hope to someday employ people. The problem is this is a new media. It’s a new way of earning a living at that comes with it’s own hurdles to hop over. Most significantly, intellectual property.
How to behave online is something I really do believe should be taught in schools. This is a huge area that will probably be relevant in all young peoples lives, so learning online etiquette is important. While that’s a murky pool of freedom of speech in itself, when it comes sharing to a blog post it’s helpful if you think about each post as a product. Imagine it’s a necklace in Topshop. If I took that necklace because it was just there for the taking and I thought it was awesome, that is stealing, even if I do have a lot of friends to show. But if I asked Topshop for the necklace in exchange for a feature and link then they might just go for it and give it to me.
Of course there are some differences and a whole other set of rules when it comes to replicating the necklace but we could be here all day with that analogy. And we need to move on to the issue of whether bloggers should earn money or not.
A lot of people have tried to explain the Instagram situation in terms of a school paper or something on that level but I look at it a different way. It’s like telling a football player they should play for the love of the game. Don’t earn a wage. Go out and get a real job. Yeah, your training will take a hit and the game as a whole will probably suffer but why are you making money doing something you love huh? What’s up with that?
Someone else quotes Jaden Smith “if we ain’t using other people’s ideas then why are we even on the same planet” to condone using the posts (I actually quite like that quote, even though it comes from a tiny human child who I had to Google) and I think it has probably been taken out of context, but every time someone plays a song of his on the radio (yeah, I’m old) they pay him. Every time you watch a music video he earns money and you can bet that if they didn’t pay up his lawyers would be suing in seconds. I know I’m probably reading too far into the comments of people literally half my age. (That doesn’t mean I don’t respect their opinions (we’ll get to that in a moment) but they are (hopefully) yet to experience having to earn a living to put a roof over their heads.) Even so their comments are still very interesting to me and make me ask the question; why don’t people see the work bloggers create on the same level as any other creative?
And I think I figured it out. Our work is automatically undervalued because we give it all away for free. The easiest way to put a valueation on something is to slap on a price tag. But how to you give something worth when it doesn’t cost a penny. In our case it’s YOU creating the value. More than any other industry I can think of right now (feel free to correct me in the comments). I know no other job that relies so heavily on consumer power. If you don’t like something you won’t look at it. Full stop. And if you like it, you look at it – very simple.
Bloggers need you to value what we do. We need the person who says it’s much easier to have all the tutorials rounded up on one instagram account, to understand why that would mean most tutorials would stop getting made. We need people to realise we’re not this comical idea of a soccer mom (not sure what this exactly means.. football mom? Is this the UK equivalent? What!?) lounging around big houses and hours to while away crafting with nothing better to do. We’re trying to make a living and do it doing something we love.
So reading through these comments scared me because the exact people enjoying the tutorials were the one’s who didn’t see any value in them. They didn’t think it was even worth 2-3 taps of a finger to find the original source. Comments stating nothing was original and everything could be found elsewhere were littered throughout the feed. But what they didn’t seem to understand is behind those alternative tutorials are bloggers as well. Bloggers who do this for the love and for the money. To create something useful in the world and to support themselves and/or a family.
So from this salty ass, old lady blogger know that your role as a reader in this blogging world is what gives this site and so many others any value at all. If you didn’t think it was worth coming here to see my tutorials or read my ramblings then there would be no point in posting them. We need you! And if you’re reading this wondering if you can share one of my tutorials on your Instagram (or anywhere else) be my guest! Like all bloggers I love to have my work shared. Usual rules are post one image clearly tagged with the creator in the comments without replicating or copying all of the post or tutorial steps.*
So those are my thoughts on sharing but what do you think? I’d love to hear your opinions both if you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said. I know everyone who reads this blog has a heart of gold but in the spirit of creating a nicer world to live in, be cool guys. Be friendly and considered. Things are easily taken out of context online so be careful with your comments here and while we’re at it, everywhere else as well.
*You can usually find sharing rules in a bloggers sidebar if you are unsure and if you like sharing a lot then even writing an email template asking permission. You’ll find more friends that way too!
I am so grateful that you decided to post this article. I am completely unaware of the instagram post that you are referring too but I really appreciate you expressing your views. Bloggers put their heart and soul into blogs. I love sharing with my readers DIY tutorials that have inspired me but would always try to give proper credit and never duplicate text. I would hope that others would give me credit if I created something that inspired them. It is just about respect and being kind to each other. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Hey Christina!
That’s certainly the way I think most people look at things. I’m lucky because I mostly only ever see people like yourself who understand and are fair. And to be fair I think most people are happy to credit and give fair dues to the person behind any creative endeavour. The best part of this blog post is that people like you remind me it’s not everyone who feels this way – just a vocal few ;) Thank you!
Beautifully said, Fran. I too am not aware of the post, but fully appreciate your need to share your thoughts on this. It brings awareness to readers and bloggers alike. Thank you xo
Thanks Maritza!
I think it’s hard. All of this is a learning process for everyone. I want to explain how I personally feel and also why without coming across as bitter or judgemental… not easy! I’m glad you enjoyed the post xx
As someone who loves reading DIY blogs on a daily basis, I just want you to know that I find so much value in your work, and the work of all DIY bloggers. I can’t even fathom the amount of time and knowledge that it takes to run a blog and business like yours. It’s not a lot, but I will do all I can to help with giving creatives the credit they deserve. :)
Hey Annalynne,
Thank you so much for your comment! And it totally is a lot. I know it probably gets boring to hear but I really think blogger do have so much love for their readers and I don’t think readers realise how much we learn to know you guys too. I totally know the people who comment or like posts and those I see sharing our DIY’s on social media. It’s crazy how much you can get a feeling for someone’s personality from a few sentences. So it really is genuine joy when you show appreciation for it. All the words you’ve said mean a lot to me. Thank you!
Love your thoughts on this matter! Sharing it :)
YES namesake!! ;D Thank you!
I love sharing other people’s work. However usually just with a short sentence and then a link to their blog. I don’t like to link to anything on IG as a general rule, exactly because you can’t click the links. I’m glad I didn’t see the IG drama unfold this time; there’s plenty others that I’ve seen though.
I will be sharing a link to this post on my blog at the end of the week, because it really is something everyone should know!
Oh you’re so right Myrthe! There’s so much drama on social media it’s definitely a good thing to miss it most of the time!
Sharing is definitely something I love to do too! And love when others share my work as well! So thank you for sharing this post!
I love your honesty and straightforwardness, the kind of work that I see here and at other DIY bloggers site’s shows clearly how much of an effort has been put. Now, that I am a creative blogger myself ( a rookie though ) I know how much brain goes behind each DIY idea and shoot. For an instance, at least 100 shots have to be taken before you can choose the best 4-6. And that it is only one aspect that we are talking about. DIY tutorials are not something that can be found just about anywhere, especially when some of them mirror the mind of the creator.
Sorry that this went quite long.
Thanks a lot for writing this and giving your readers a piece of what goes behind. I have much respect for you and all the DIY bloggers out there who are doing a fantastic job!!
Hey Marwa!
I love long messages :D
I know you know how much time and effort goes into each blog post so you can empathise. Your respect means a lot to me! I know so many people really do appreciate what we do and that’s what keeps me going on the difficult days :D
Thanks for taking the time to such a lovely comment!
Fran
Great post and thanks for keeping in mind that many people don’t know the rules.
Hey Angie! Absolutely. I really don’t blame people who might get it wrong accidentally. How are you to know when the rules are so unclear. I think I really just want more people to respect each other online. It can be such a wonderful place yet also so negative too. Let’s just share the love :)
Thanks for this post. I was following that thread for a couple hours the other night. Just taking it all in, and I was really surprised by the “get a real job” and “these aren’t original ideas anyway” comments. I think they bothered me so much because as you said, the commenters followed this account and enjoyed the photos and tutorials but put no value on the people and the work that went into making them.
Oh, you saw it too Alexis – it really was quite depressing huh!? But I definitely think there are more people that truly do see the value. Hopefully as these accounts begin to share fairly the negative commenters might actually visit one or two of the blogs and learn a little about the person behind the content. Fingers crossed!
My daughter has a blog so I totally support your point of view. That said, I am sure you did not mean to offend stay-at-home moms (soccer moms). We were the originators of homemaking is not a “real” job because we chose to raise our children ourselves. Believe me the monetary pay is nonexistent and the work is steady and at times overwhelming. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Not to defend the poorly raised thieves but you can see how easy it is to just hit send before you edit, edit, edit.
Hey LoisAnn!
Thank you so much for commenting. Firstly I TOTALLY respect all moms! Working, stay at home, half and half. Looking after children is HARD. I am so tired after half a day with my nieces. Definitely not trying to make anyone feel bad there. It was something that was said in the comments of the Instagram post and I was more poking fun at the idea of the leisurely woman who doesn’t have any responsibilities. This idea that there’s just nothing better to do. I know a lot of bloggers who are moms and they work so hard. I have no idea how they do it sometimes! But reading that back I can definitely see how it comes off differently. Sometimes you just can’t see the woods for the trees right? Thanks for highlighting it though! And yes, you’re also right – In most cases the comments were just opinions and that’s cool, but it’s when they were aggressive and just quite nasty that it got me a little. Maybe it’s because I just can’t relate to the way young people voice themselves online perhaps? I don’t know. Definitely lots to think about though :)
Thanks for a well written and thoughtful post. I don’t use Instagram regularly so never saw the drama unfold. Bloggers should write their own original content and just post links if they want to point out inspiring work written by others.
Thank you! I totally agree. We should be sharing the things we love and crediting to help each other out for sure <3
I’m glad you wrote about this and got it off your chest! I also wasn’t aware of the instagram thread you’re talking about (that’s probably a good thing), but I would have reacted the same way as you did… as in, it would also eat me up for hours and I would have that internal struggle of “ugh, are there really such negative / ignorant / crazy people out there???” You were also spot on about the core of the issue – the fact that yeah, it’s probably easy for some undermine the work of creative bloggers because we offer content for free. That’s not going to change, so what is there to do?
I don’t know that a good conclusion can come out of this whole mess regarding that particular instagram account and it’s followers, or any other person / account that has the same viewpoint, but I do know that the world is BIG and there’ll always be those that don’t “get us”. It’s not up to us to prove anything to them. Keep doing your thing, girl! I value your work!
Hey Linda! Haha! That is exactly how I reacted and why I usually try to avoid these unfolding dramas! :D I always try to focus on good people when get sucked into this kind of thing and it actually really helps just to read comments right here – it reminds me that most people are kind and thoughtful or just not really angry at the world all the time! And that gives me faith in the world again!
I think the best thing to come out of the situation is that this account and hopefully others will change their ways now and credit bloggers and hopefully then some of these negative commenters might take a look and get to see know the people behind them a little better… Well, fingers crossed anyway!
Thanks for you comment! x
Bravo friend.
Thanks Amy xx
An interesting read Fran. I wasn’t aware of the Instagram drama. I think one of the huge problems with online behaviour these days is that the online world is growing too quickly for educators to communicate correct behaviour to some young people. I have recently ventured into creating on You Tube and the comments section there has given me a fresh perspective on behaviours of people online. It is quite different to blogging. Touching on your value point for bloggers, I think you are right, creating content for free does make it harder for people to see this as a real job. I see so many bloggers being attacked for ‘selling out’ when deciding to venture into paid content, but on You Tube it appears to be more accepted that creators can make a living. It’s an interesting dynamic to observe but one that is complicated by sharing content. I think consumers and creators of content have to keep an open mind as the industry is so young.
Oh yeah! I’m slightly terrified of Youtube for that reason. I really feel for some of the fashion and beauty bloggers over there – they get some terrible comments! Enough to stop them from posting on some occasions. How sad is that!?
But then on the flip side, like you say it is much more acceptable to make a living from your work on Youtube. What a strange dynamic. My hopes are that it’s just going to become more and more acceptable to work in these online industries – especially female focused (as I don’t think men have these kinds of problems most of the time) and for that to happen we have to support each other. It’s what I love most about our little blogging niche :D
I really appreciate your honesty and your perspective. As a new blogger, it’s scary for me to share people’s work on my blog because sometimes image sharing and crediting can get tricky. I’ve researched a lot and always source and link back and tag and do everything to cover my bases – but it’s still scary! Thank you for writing this!
http://www.kelseymarie.co
I am touched by what you have expressed as I was thinking of starting blogging, yet I feel fear of jumping into the unknown territory. I have read some messages others have wrote about other people’s diy projects….yet they get raked over he coals for bad spelling or wrong punctuation, etc. Wow Fearsome, and like vulnerable too be publicly judged. Sorry for rambling but I wanted to tell you I appreciate your point of view and I will take note too give credit where it belongs.ty kareing4.
Hey Karen!
Please do start blogging. It is scary at first but you’ll soon learn that for every negative comment there are hundreds of positive. The world is full of people who want to tell you you’re wrong – just don’t worry about them and do your thing!
Fran x
Thank-you for this post! I’m a soap maker, and often people get all upset because I (and others like me) won’t share my recipes. I’m not about to share my hard work (it took me over 6 months to get the recipes just how I want them) with someone who won’t even do 10 minutes of research to find a free recipe. Its like the story of the little red hen. Nobody would help her plant or harvest, but when her bread was made everyone wanted a piece.
So many people nowadays are becoming lazy. They’re not willing to do any of their own work and just want to mooch off the hard work of others (I know not everyone is like this, but there are a lot out there). People who spend a lot of time and work hard to create ANYTHING deserve at least full credit for it, and if they can make money doing it then I say, Right On!
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