I love the fact that more and more Bahamians are getting into blogging and meeting the world on the social media playground. Yes, I see all of you and love the work you’re doing. Let the world know that we too have a presence not just in sports, music and movies, but that we are media bosses! Share your links, hashtag your posts and create content daily.

But I have a little problem with all of this and it dates back to Journalism 101 and the lessons on ethics.

Rule #1 be respectful of each other’s work, especially as it regards to plagiarism.

Dictionary.com says plagiarism is “an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author’s work as one’s own, as by not crediting the original author” or “a piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation.”

As simple, and tempting as it could be (for some people), copying a story from someone’s website and pasting it to your own, doesn’t make you a blogger and definitely not a writer. Swapping around sentences and flipping paragraphs wont get you more views…and certainly not respect!

Plagiarism comes with more weight than you can imagine, and it is something that you can face legal action for. As a journalist with more than 13 years in the game, I encourage and welcome newcomers to this amazing field. But as they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

Writers don’t slave away at a story for days, sometimes weeks and even months to have their work picked a part, rearranged and uploaded to someone’s else site, passing off as “authentic.” If you do use someone else’s work give full credit to the author complete with links to the original story and their social media accounts.

So yes, write and blog away but make sure your content is original, authentic and YOURS!

Live. Love. Write It Down.