Be The Best "Online" You

We all know the horrific moment in elementary school when you showed up for picture day confident in your pink tee from Limited Too only to find Little Miss from homeroom wearing the exact same top. Is this a complete coincidence or did she hear you plotting your outfit with your BFF in art class last week? Either way, you shoot her a stink eye and complain to your teacher until she lets you call your mom for a change of clothes.

Ok, so maybe this didn't happen to you, but we've all had a similar experience. Maybe it was something more serious like someone copying your big history essay or your math test. Either way, it's relevant today. Imitation is not flattery.

This is the age of social media and if you repost, write essays, blog, and share statuses, these do's and don'ts will apply to you. And beyond that, some things in life just aren't nice of you to copy. So what constitutes these things?

It's not ok...

To use someone else's pictures without credit

Finding a picture on Pinterest and then posting it to your Instagram and pretending it's yours is not cool. Simply reposting someone's picture and not crediting them is not ok. Always tag the person you got it from and say "pic cred" or "repost"! 

To rip off someone's idea

Story time: I know a blogger who worked really hard to come up with her own product. She finally curated something that was a hot commodity on the blog market. To her dismay, she found that someone copied her idea after she launched! I mean, it wasn't just a similar product, it looked pretty dang identical. This was her baby, her creative project, and her business and it took someone a couple phone calls and a PayPal account to copy it. She was devastated.

It's pretty easy to follow the crowd or just copy someone. To be on the safe side, contact the person. All of us bloggers have a contact page on our site or in our social media bios. Let them know you liked their idea (whether it be for a product, photo shoot, or post) and would like to put your own spin on it.

To try to prove you're better, instead of just knowing you're awesome already!***
***This is like, so important
Do you know what I mean? Celebrate other people's accomplishments without having to talk about your own.

I'm in a really great group message with my two best blogging friends Cathleen and Rachel. We text about random stuff most of the time (like how cute Target's mugs are), but we also love to share our accomplishments with each other. It's so great because as soon as anyone shares their good news, everyone else replies with encouraging words and heart-eye emojis. We need more of this in the world!

No one likes feeling like their accomplishments are small or insignificant because someone else keeps putting them down or trying to "one-up" them. #1 Be happy for each other. #2 If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. 

It's ok...

To use popular hashtags and captions to generate an online presence

I'm sure you see a lot of us bloggers using the same hashtags on our pictures and that is totally intentional. This is our mating call to one another. When we search the hashtag we can connect with one another and network. This is how I've found a lot of the bloggers I work with today! 

To join in on the popular posts

Bloggers: It's ok if you make a "Holiday Gift Guide" even if you can name at least five other bloggers who have in the last week. It's gift guide season! Obviously, don't copy all of the things they listed on theirs, but if you happen to have some of the same, it's understandable. I mean, everyone really wants a pair of bean boots right? 

Non-bloggers: It's totally a-ok to re-blog or retweet as I'm sure you know. Literally will never get tired of the video of the girl with the bird flying around her room. 

To be in on the trends

So if you bought a poncho right now, I'm sure no one would try to accuse you of copying. It's just the latest trend! Maybe don't buy the exact one that your gal pal bought a week ago, but you know - enjoy what's in style and participate if you'd like!

What are your thoughts on what's ok and what's not ok in the realm of copying? Have a great rest of the week! 

X,

Cristina