It's funny how many of you I heard from today wondering if I was referring to you in my "low-down poachers who steal content" comment. No, sillies. Consider it this way: If you are on my blogroll or someone with whom I communicate,it's probably safe to assume youaren't a low-down poacher. 🙂

I'm talking about websites that stealPostpartum Progress'or other blogs' content verbatim — often an entire post. For instance, I have actually had people steal my feed and use it as their own. Makes my head explode.

Since lots ofyou are bloggers whohave only started blogging in the last 2 years or so, let me share some info. For blogging etiquette reference, it's perfectly acceptable to quote from someone else's post,pastinga paragraph or two of their work into your own post within quotation marks,with alink back to their original piece so someone canclick overto their blog and read the whole thing. Most of you do that.

On the other hand, it's not acceptable to copy someone's style, ideas or entire posts and just take them on as your own. That's bad form. The cool thing about blogging is that it is a very individual medium. People will respect you and follow you if you are true to yourself and original in your own way. They eventually learn not to follow writers who don't have anything original to say, or who say things that don't have any basis in reality,or who try to be like someone else, or who steal other people's stuff. Thankfully, those people are eventually "found out". But in the meantime, you have to protect your work.

In my own experience, Ido receive requests to use entire posts or reprints of "Six Things" articles, often from hospitals or support groups or healthcare providers who want to distribute them to patients or support groups. They kindly ask, and almost always receive permission from me unless it's for some weird purpose or I feel uncomfortable about it for some reason. I simplyrequire that they use a certain format and a short "bio" paragraph on PP. I really appreciate all the people who are respectful of the Postpartum Progress copyright and ask. Most people are really good apples. You shouldconsider the same policy for your own site or blog.

And one otherbit of advice from someone who has been doing this for nearly 6 years: be careful of people who want to use your content for free or want free reciprocal links. If you really need the traffic or exposure, or they are a friend, or you like what they are doing, then that's cool. Just don't forget that what you write is valuable and people shouldn't be using you. Don't give out free links to or blogroll sitesor blogs that you don't know well or trust. And don't accept someone offering you $10 a post to write for their site. That's insulting, especially if it's a website owned by a corporation that has advertising on the site and makes money off of your content while paying you a paltry fee. You are worth more than that.

And that's the end ofblogging101 for today …:-}