Blogging Etiquette by Agent Lover

♥Photo by none other than Robyn Von Swank♥

Every so often there is some sort of blog drama on the world wide Internets. If you are a blogger, surely you will come across some sort of ANNOY at least once. It’s just the way it is. Recently having been a victim of blog thievery via a post I wrote at The Lipstick Diaries (I’m writing there now btw!) along with blog bff Betsey J, I, along with Betsey’s recommendation, felt it was important to share some of My Golden Rules of Blogging. Imagine me as a cross between Miss Manners and a 6’5 macho drill sergeant (with BIG muscles)…putting you into BLOG BOOT CAMP and setting you STRAIGHT!

Don’t steal boo boo. We bloggers don’t spend our time and brain power putting posts together just so some piece of shit wannabe scene queen can plagiarize it. Blogging isn’t my full-time job (YET). I’m sharing my obsessions and crushes and clever wit (hopefully) with people because I LOVE IT. I want to laugh and cry and freak out witchu. Blogging reminds me that I’m not the only one in the world who wanted to be in The Monster Squad and likes guacamole on pizza. That’s one of the good things on this double-edge sword/ Catch 22 we call The Internet. We can find kindred spirits easily.

Maybe some people start blogging for the sole purpose of possible popularity or to be ~worshipped~ by their Buzznet followers. That same Internet Double Edge Sword has a magic power of creating false gods. Some people are attracted to that stardom. These people are probably not real writers. They don’t get that supreme panty-soaking feeling from writing a legit hilarious and/or informative blog post that people from all over the world might connect with. Theirs is a popularity-induced fake ass boner from the 99 cent store. These doucheballoons may think it’s quite alright to rip off posts and claim them as their own. LISTEN UP ASSHOLE: you gonna get caught sucka!!! The blog gods give yeast infections to those who steal you know. That includes PENIS FYI. Blogging is mostly about current news and events. Most of us get our info from the same sources. It’s not hard to put that info into your own words. Didn’t you do book reports in elementary school?

It’s important to credit where you got the image. Granted, a lot of times it is the same image you see popping up on every page in Google Images and the original source is lost. Or maybe someone sent it to you and you kept it in a folder and forgot where it came from. DON’T FRET. Give props as much as you can. Those talented photogs need love! This includes collages made by other bloggers. I don’t spend my time sneaking on my lunch breaks making a crooked Photoshop collage just to have someone steal it from my blog without crediting me. This b is STILL trying to become a Photoshop master! I take pride in my artwork!

Hotlinking is stealing bandwith. I learned this the hard way when I didn’t know shit about shit regarding computers in 2004 and tried posting something (probably on myspace) and it turned into an image saying something about a meat cannon. On the positive, it did introduce the beautiful term “meat cannon” to my life’s vocabulary. Hotlinking from a person’s flickr account is not cute either. You might find a big DILD in the place of the picture you stole…I have those sorts of images on tap. (SICK!)

The blog world is wild I know. And we are all creatures of the filthy universe called the Internet. Be kind, be yourself, don’t be lazy, or a bitch will go crazy.

LUV EWE ALL. Hope this helps.