Wordslayer - Ethics, Trust and an Ugly 'P' Word

I started to write an article called “The Internet of Things” which turned out to be my article “Got Smart – Social Media”

In the world of writing we are governed by a word called plagiarism. In fact when you study for professional certificates, diplomas, degrees and the like, your words have to go through this system which checks for plagiarism.

I can recall writing and my number was somewhere around 36% similarity and I was cold sweating as I was sure I did not copy anyone’s work.  The mark you cannot go over is around 40%, and I was always between 6 % and 18% similarity. I was actually at 0% many times, and I'm not a distinguished and published author and had to quote from 'others'.  It’s just I read so much, like most of us do, and a catchy phrase will stay lurking in the subconscious waiting to come out. The catch is, we had to read and include approved authors ideas to support our work. Of course you had to clearly give credit to the author’s and to this day, I will do so automatically – even in a text!

It is not mine / Its mine - The dilemma of the pen

Some things do not belong to us. We have the freedom to write, and to do so in a way which shows respect for our fellow writers / authors. I’m a newbie, and this is all part of my healing, and trying to regain the motor skills and functionality of my fingers in my right hand and arm, etc. I have some crazy thing called post traumatic stress disorder, and some other physical injuries from a car accident last November 29th. You may have never known me or my words, and sadly I would have missed writing on the ethics of writing!

My words are all mine. I trust that everyone will write with the same ethical code. If at any time I write something which is reminiscent of another, I will be sure to take it down and edit. If it’s very close in content and name, then I will not publish. There is no dilemma for me. It’s literally “all in black and white!”

The pen is mightier than the sword

In school, they made us use a thesaurus. We had to learn it, at least most of it. This subheading fell into the context of a direct metaphor. According to Wikipedia and Google, it’s the translation of a proverb, which is “writing is more effective than military power or violence”

LinkedIn Publishing and Pulse are the keepers of my words on that platform. It is their social media platform designed for us as the custodians of our words. I trust that they have a ‘wordslayer’, an army of them, because there are so many of us, members. My words are my treasure and the only thing to protect them are the ‘Knights of Conduct’ aka LinkedIn editors ( I prefer the distinctive way my titles sound). Kindly ensure my treasures are protected from those on the outside and anyone who may inadvertently try some ‘insider trading’ accidentally or otherwise. You are my bank account for these words. I may have little else but this, and it’s my treasure.

Plagiarism

I like to call plagiarism the ‘P’ word. Just as I will not write and avoid saying the ‘F’ word because it’s so despicable, I should not utter, to avoid contamination. If I don’t speak it, does it mean it’s not there? It sure doesn’t. When I turn on my radio it’s on fully described in many songs. When I read, it can crawl into the most beautiful pieces of literary genius unexpectedly. At the movies its like a prison of them walking freely! It slithers in and is now acceptable, beyond swearing! The ‘P’ word is like that, even with its controls. The legal jargon  for the 'F' word is obscenity, for 'words' its ' Plagiarism' or ‘Forgery’.

* Copyright  infringement can lead to prosecution when it can be proven, someone has used 'protected works' without permission and release! 

Photographs and other things published, all require permission of the owner, or at least the credit for the work, borrowed for a specific purpose. It may be available publicly for  personal use, but its not okay to use without extending the professional courtesy of acknowledgement. 

Accidents happen, and there are words all humble, to express sorry and contriteness. The most familiar is 'apology'.

Who will stand for my words?

I am inspired to share my thoughts on this topic, because I feel passionately about it. If my 'wordslayer' misses something I hope one of my fellow readers / writers will remember me, and speak up. I’m inspired by The Unfluencers group in LinkedIn community, and their camaraderie, and support. Deb Helfrich and quite a few others know my style and words. I write on LinkedIn based on trust.

Phil Friedman, inspires the sunsets out of me, as he will stand up and will not lay down if something does not impact on him directly. He will not sit on the sidelines, he will take that bullet ( words) for what is right . I’m in the presence of the honorable knights of the words and slayers of the ‘P’ word. 

If this article resonates with you, engage with me, and like, comment, share. Lets spread the value we feel! Thank you for reading!

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