…. has made me rethink book reviewing, blogging, and humanity.
There are many wonderful things about blogging book reviews and I was happily starting to get settled back into reviewing when I was alerted this morning to the fact that one of my 2010 reviews had been plagiarized. I do not know the person who alerted me to this act of intellectual theft (but I do thank her) nor was I aware of the book review website which took my review as their own. I suppose I should be angry at learning my review (which honestly was not my best) was plagiarized, but I am left confused and I have no idea why this person chose that review to use; yet it has brought my faith in humanity down a notch (however, the owner took prompt action-there are good people in the world!) After a 10-month break I had forgotten about the ugliness that can lie just under the blogging world and honestly I do not have the time or inclination to play these sorts of games.
I want to believe people are honest, trustworthy, and decent and do not want to become paranoid about whether or not someone has used a review of mine as their own. I believe in karma, and I do not plan to waste another moment on this because the earth continues to rotate, the sun continues to rise, and life is good. What I will do is give deeper thought into my return to reviewing and whether or not it is good for me. When I began blogging it was neither for fame nor fortune, rather my passion for books and sharing great books with others. My mission is still the same as it was when I began blogging years ago, however times have changed and there are many aspects of the changing times for which I am too old to want to deal with and frankly should not have to deal with.
As for the immediate future (aka now), I plan to finish my coffee, practice yoga, meditate and go about my day away from the computer.
I am sorry it happened to you Jennifer. I hope you continue to share your passion and love of reading with us.
Thanks Nise’, I was fortunate the owner of the site took it down as soon as she was informed about it. I will continue to bore people with my reviews as I am able to not share my views of books with others.
I’m sorry to hear that that happened to you. I know what you mean about having to deal with issues you’d rather not have to be bothered with, when all you ever wanted to do was share your passion for books. I love your blog, but I think you gained some valuable perspective with your time away from the computer screen. Life is more than just blogging, right?
Oh yes, there is so much more than blogging and being online. I did gain a lot of perspective and I think it will serve me quite well.
I shall continue to share books with readers, how can I not?
This sucks. I’m sorry someone did this to you. I’ve been noticing a lot of issues coming up lately: plagiarism, authors insulting reviewers, reviewers insulting authors, paid reviews… It’s unfortunate that a few bad eggs can ruin what is truly an amazing community of book lovers. The good thing about this community is that we will stand up for what is right. Someone does something they shouldn’t, they get called to the carpet and people stop following them because they honor original content and do not condone plagiarism. Hang in there!
Hi Jessica! This is just another one of life’s lessons, proof that one is never to old to learn. I feel sad for those who think they need to take what is not theirs. The other things you sited is a main reason I no longer pay much attention to social media sites. I know there can be really wonderful social media, however before my break I was noticing a trend toward negativity and stopped reading the numerous postings, updates, tweets, etc. because life is short for all that “drama” and life is meant to be enjoyed.
Jennifer, I’m sorry you were subjected to this – it’s happened to me too and it’s so irritating! I truly hope this won’t stop you from blogging – I have so missed your reviews.
There’s a balance between our ‘real’ lives and our online lives that’s hard to get right sometimes – but it should tip to family & friends. It sounds like you’re on the right track!
Thank you Debbie for your kind words. I will keep sharing my reviews of books, but yes balance is very important to me. This is the last year before I will be an empty nester and I do not want to look back and wish I could have been available more. This year will go by all too quickly. On the upside, being ill and not being near a computer showed me what life was like before and it was not bad at all.
Getting your review swiped is seriously sad. It’s pretty pathetic that someone couldn’t take the time and effort to write their own review. I am completely with your solution: yoga and an away day from a computer screen!
I agree Judith. Yoga, meditation, and time away is always a good combination in my book.
Oh that’s so disheartening! Writing about it helps and also it will help other people to be aware of it.
Natalie :0)
It was very kind of someone to alert me to it.