Plagiarism and The Story Siren

Copy Cats AheadIn a series of links that dropped my jaw, made me shake my head, and feel a boatload of “Oh, No,” here's an eyeopening series on how to catch someone stealing your content online, which was posted today by CuddleBuggery  after Katiebabs saw an anonymous link on this older post on plagarism.

The follow posts are from January 2012, and I'm not sure why the book blogging community wasn't aware of it until now. 

Kristi Diehm, better known as The Story Siren, was allegedly caught lifting articles about blogging and making minimal changes to them for her site. Bloggers B from Beautifully Invisible and Vahni from Grit and Glamour found the evidence and confronted her about it. Their entire story is like a master tutorial on how to use analytics to identify who is reading a website, and when – and in this case, possibly why.

Part the first: Beautifully Invisible is plagiarized, and figures out who it is, where they came from, and what they looked at.

Part the second: Grit & Glamour explains options for dealing with similar circumstances, and explains the steps they took to address the theft of their content in this instance.

According to the write up of the process at Grit and Glamour, Kristi responded by saying:

“In all honestly, I have never been to your blog or any of the blogs mentioned in this email until tonight when I cross referenced the posts that you had listed. I rarely if ever read blogs beyond the book blog community. But I could not agree more with your assessments of the posts. And I am sorry to say that I have no viable explanation. I even searched my web history to see if perhaps I had read the posts and had recalled them as I was writing my own.”

The statement that she'd never visited their sites despite the ample IP evidence to the contrary led to a request that she delete the content, which she did. 

Then she responded in part by saying,  “I've tried to be as obliging as possible and in turn I'm hoping that you will allow this to stay private.”

Folks on Twitter who weren't part of this request for anonymity about the accused plagiarist, looked the images online, both of photos and geographic location, and helped identify Kristi Diehm from The Story Siren.

Photo from the writeup: 

http://www.gritandglamour.com/2012/01/31/bitch-stole-my-content-plagiarism/

Photo from LinkedIn: 

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kristi-diehm/39/163/701

 

When stuff like that happens, it damages more than just the accused and the accuser. It undermines the efforts of all of us who review books online. Still no word from Diehm about this matter, but as Jane pointed out via Twitter, I look at her site and wonder if any of it is hers, or if the other content was lifted from elsewhere. And since we who discuss books online work so hard on our content, it's galling to see someone who has been outspoken about plagiarism and who has worked to build a community online despite being plagiarised revealed as an accused plagiarist.

In the book blogging community, we may not always get along, but I absolutely do believe that most of us respect one another's content, and we don't steal words from one another. For one thing, it's wrong, and for another, good golly, have we not figured out that there's very few ways to hide it? 

What I don't understand is how this is coming to light now – these posts were written in January 2012. Did you know about this? Has there been any additional signs of plagiarism? 


Updated 7:53pm ET: Kristi Diehm has posted what she calls an explanation and apology at her site, where comments are closed:

I owe you an explanation and an apology.

 

Please don’t take my silence on this issue until now as an admission to anything.

I made a mistake. I freely admit that. I am disappointed in myself and I’m embarrassed. I’m deeply saddened and distraught that I have broken your trust. I don’t want to give you any excuses. In a way I feel as though it won’t matter what I say at this point. It seems that the verdict has been decided. I was accused of doing something that I am vehemently against, and intentionally or not, I know that there will be consequences.

 

You may be wondering why I didn’t address this issue earlier. The fact is, I thought it was taken care of privately. After the issue was brought to my attention I was appalled. I would never do something like that. That is NOT me. I thought that I did everything that I could do, to make the situation right.

I’ve struggled immensely internally with this, because this is not the type of person that I am. I felt like the fraud I was accused of being.

 

I didn’t want to keep it private for the reasons that you are thinking. I’m not worried about what people will think of me. I’m not saying that it doesn’t hurt, it does. I’m not immune, but that wasn’t my biggest concern. My biggest worry was the authors and publishers that I host.

I offer them something. A viewership. I offer them the chance to have their book seen. I didn’t want to deny them something that I had promised. I now fear that is the case.

I don’t expect your forgiveness. I don’t even expect you to understand. I can’t ask that you continue reading The Story Siren as a result, and I respect your decision to not do so. The only thing I ask of you is that you take this apology as a sincere one.

Four months of silence is not an admission of anything, and nowhere in this “apology” does she actually acknowledge her actions. “Intentionally or not?” How do you unintentionally lift four articles from another site? Where is the apology, exactly? 

And her explanation: she only did it for authors and publishers that she hosts. She did it for you! *headdesk*

To quote Moira Rogers Bree, “Dear plagiarists: please retire, “I didn't realize I'd done it” as an excuse ASAP. It is A RIDICULOUS excuse & now you're ridiculous too.”

That was one of the most flaccid apologies I've seen, filled with double-speak and not much meaning or significance, or even addressing the situation. What a disappointment. And of course I have that Rhianna song stuck in my head again, because this “apology” and “explanation” indicates to me that she's only sorry she got caught. 


Updated 10:00 pm ET: I received a more sincere apology via email from Kristi, as did Jane at DearAuthor: 

I am very sorry for the trouble that all of this has caused the book blogging community. I also apologize for my actions and will work harder to be a better and stronger blogger. I have answered on my on blog as well and am sorry that I was unavailable due to work during the day and seemed unresponsive.

I wish that had been what was on her site. 


Updated 24 April 11:00 am ET: Another explanation and more robust apology has been posted on the Story Siren's site, though comments remain closed, which means other threads on Kristi's site have hosted comments for this topic, which have been deleted, it seems. The apology reads:  

Let’s try this again. I owe all of you, the blogging community and my readers a much better explanation and apology. My first apology was written out of emotion. I should have given myself the time to reflect before responding. I didn’t do that and I tend to let my emotions rule.

I am truly sorry for all the trouble that this has caused the book blogging community. That’s my biggest regret. You gave me your respect and I let you down. I took a role as a leader and I didn’t take my actions into account as it would reflect on the community as a whole. For that I am truly sorry.

When I first received the allegations of plagiarism, I was presented with the information and could not deny the facts. While the content was not identical the subject matter was. It was a confusion of inspiration and plagiarism on my part. I am not denying my actions. I was in the wrong.

While I did not recognize the blogs in question initially after continued correspondence I discovered I was incorrect in that. I worked with the bloggers first linking to their initial posts and then in the complete deletion of the posts in question.

Was I feeling pressure to do something new and engaging? Something helpful and interesting? I was. Had I only paid more attention to where my inspiration was coming at the time, I should have handled the situation much differently. A simple email asking for permission or a link back should have happened. And I didn’t do it. I’ve preached that thousands of times. I lacked in taking my own advice.

I know that I have disappointed many of you. That is heartbreaking to me. I am still the same person that you have come to know through the years. I just really screwed up.

I am sorry for the strain that I have put on the blogger/author/publisher relationship. I for one have worked hard to lessen that strain, and it seems that all of that work may have been lost in this mistake.

I can assure you that my remaining content is my own. Although I know there is no reason for you to believe me. And I don’t blame you for being skeptical.

To Grit and Glamour and Beautifully Invisible, I extend my deepest apologies. Please do not judge the book blogging community by my mistakes.

In the end, I hope that something positive comes away from this. Don’t make the same mistakes that I did. Learn from them. I know that I have. I apologize for my actions and will work harder to be a better blogger. I only hope that you will give me a chance to do so.

 

Categorized:

Ranty McRant

Comments are Closed

  1. snarkhunter says:

    ::sigh::

    Does anyone have a Plagiarism Bingo card? B/c I’m pretty sure I hit bingo just from reading this. We have the offender’s Heidipology, we have “there are bigger things in this world to worry about,” we have “she made a mistake,” we have “why are you guys so meeeeeeeean,” we have “we still love you”…

    I do love a good round of Plagiarism Bingo. (Bonus square is misspellings of “plagiarism.”)

    (This comment is not a critique of the post or the reveal of the plagiarism. I’ve never heard of TheStorySiren. I am just amused by the predictability of the pattern. Happens every time. Now, we just need the offender to bust out with “you’re just jealous of my success.”)

  2. SB Sarah says:

    Yup – and don’t forget “She apologized, so move on haters.” I’ll have to have a playing card made up.

  3. azteclady1 says:

    You forgot the “it’s so sad this happened to (insert plagiarist’s name)”

    ‘cause, you know, it happened (like shit) s/he didn’t bring it on him/herself by deliberately stealing. Nope, no siree

  4. azteclady1 says:

    Crud, and *I* forgot the whole “it’s between the plagiarist and his/her victims”

    Because it’s not like all the people who have been lied to have any rights in this situation, right?

  5. SB Sarah says:

    This will be one hell of a giant BINGO card. Huge. Dripping with false sympathy, too.

  6. Susan says:

    “There are more important things in the world to worry about.”  That’s just a cheap way to try to shut down conversations.  Anything shy of starving children in Africa can’t qualify for attention.  No dice.  “Hey, sorry I just ran over your cat, but at least it wasn’t a starving child in Africa, so we’re all good, right?”

    “Now you’re just being mean and acting like a bully.”  Accusing someone of bullying is another trendy way of shutting down conversations that are uncomfortable for you.  It’s like pulling out the Hitler card.  So extreme it’s ridiculous.

    “Well r just a nice ray of sunshine. My point is that yes coping she an issue but all this roasting is so immature. She should b held accountable, but no roasted.” Sorry, but it’s hard to take you seriously when you write like this.  This isn’t the Hello Kitty blog. 

    “You’re just jealous.”  (Right up there with, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”)  Another faux argument.  Just because you’re successful (popular, beautiful, rich, talented, whatever) doesn’t mean you can do no wrong, or grant you immunity from being called to account when you do something wrong.  No free passes for the famous.

    “We should cut her some slack because one minor mistake shouldn’t overshadow all of the good work she’s done in the past.”  Welcome to the real world.  It happens every day, in every walk of life.  Just look at the news.  You don’t pay your hooker the going rate, you lose your security clearance and your job.  Most jobs don’t allow for second chances.  And the more high profile, the less forgiveness.  And, to beat the apologists to the punch, this blogger is in the public eye and is a professional for all intents and purposes.  She knows the rules and the penalties.  And it wasn’t minor, and it wasn’t a mistake.

    I do believe that everyone (well, most people) deserves a second chance.  But if someone screws up and wants redemption, they need to take ownership of what they did.  Apologies of the “mistakes were made” and “sorry if you were offended” kind aren’t true apologies, but continue to place distance between the person and their actions.  If this blogger wants to make things right, she needs to do the equivalent of a 12-step program and put some real conviction behind her words and actions.

    (I hope I didn’t mistakenly plagiarize any of that.)

  7. Susan says:

    Why do people at this level plagiarize?  I don’t know.  Why did Winona Ryder shoplift in such a brazen manner?  There was no economic need.  There wasn’t even a very competent effort made to hide the shoplifting.  Why did John Edwards have an affair (and all the rest of it) when he was actively seeking the presidential nomination?  It clearly wasn’t just about the desire for sex.  Why DO things like this when there is a high risk of exposure, and the consequences of getting caught are so high, much higher, in fact, than could rationally be justified by the gratification derived from the acts themselves?  Are they cries for help?  Do these people have such inflated egos that they think they’re invincible, that rules don’t apply to them in the way they apply to others, that they’re above getting caught out?  Is it the ultimate in thrill-seeking, risk-taking so you can “feel more alive”?  It really is inexplicable to most of us.  And I think the mystery of what makes people implode so publicly and dramatically is part of what makes it such a puzzle.  We try to understand, but it eludes us.

  8. You are very kind to label those apologies. I certainly didn’t see a real apology there.

  9. I’m asking this as a serious question, not as a snark. How do you think that she has been punished and that this will deter future plagiarism?

    So far, the only “punishment” that I’ve seen is about 2 days worth of people talking about her and saying that a blogger plagiarizing is not a good idea. Other than that, I know of no other repercussions from her actions.

    Heck, after that first (non)apology, defenders were saying that she apologized and everyone should leave her alone now.

    So again, in a totally non-snarky way, I ask you how is this going to deflect future plagiarism?

  10. So according to Kristi and her defenders, plagiarism just happens and I wouldn’t know I plagiarized anything. It’s darn magical, that plagiarism stuff.

    So when my next book reads suspiciously like a Kresley Cole novel, I’m telling you now peoples, I never meant it to happen. It really just appeared in a Word Document that way. What else could I do but assume it was mine and publish it?

    And hell, plagiarism isn’t that bad anyway. So take this as my apology, and I’ll go see what Larissa Ione has written recently…

  11. Anita says:

    I don’t think this would be as big of an issue as it is if she would have come clean in January. But no, she lied multiple times, she only made a half-assed apology after as I saw one person say (I don’t recall who or where) but as they said “She was forced to apologize after being backed into a corner.”

    What a perfect way to put it. That’s all it was. I know I do NOT support Kristi and will not be going to her site again. She stole SIX articles. SIX. Once I can forgive and move past but SIX? If she did it that many times, I have a hard time believing it’s not going to happen again.

    She needs to make a real apology to BI and G&G. Those women have been unfairly demonized and that HAS to STOP. I support them 100%.

    The whole thing makes me sick and I am ashamed to be a book blogger right now.

  12. “You forgot the “it’s so sad this happened to (insert plagiarist’s name)”“

    Point of order. This is the second time you’ve sniped at Has’s comment – or your version of it. But Has didn’t say “this happened to” – she said “this happened by”. Which is a completely different statement, and not remotely supportive of the plagiariser. (And no, the comment hasn’t been edited.)

    Has said “I am sorry this has happened especially by someone like Kristi “

    So could you give it a rest, AL? There are plenty of legitimate apologists to attack – no need to invent one based on a misreading.

    OT – Sarah, my beloved snarkmistress, for the love of all that’s holy, can you please ask your web developer to take *off* the 40 comment pagination on your comments? Supersites like Boing Boing use Disqus and don’t restrict page loading this way. It makes following discussions a royal pain, especially since subbing to comments by email is now nigh impossible.

    Pretty please? With ground up Fabio on top?

  13. azteclady1 says:

    And since we know how freaky people are, I’m putting a footnote to this:

    sarcasm, people, Danielle’s comment is sarcastic

  14. “I ask you how is this going to deflect future plagiarism?”

    Name and shame is pretty much all a community can do in these cases, unless the victim chooses to sue. Much as I hate people who steal, I think this is all that *should* be done. After all, the thief has stolen to boost their reputation – hitting them in the reputation is a proportionate response.

  15. azteclady1 says:

    Well, Ann, since I wasn’t attacking Has there, but adding yet another piece of bullshit to the bingo card, perhaps you could give it a rest?

    Oh and not that I think it matters to you, but I am convinced that if Has feels I’m attacking her in any way, she’s a big enough girl to defend herself. In other words, what would your beef here be again?

  16. “In other words, what would your beef here be again?’

    That you are being unfair, and dishonest.

    Isn’t dishonesty wrong, regardless of who does it?

    You don’t mind attacking people who are nothing to do with you, so why shouldn’t I defend someone who is nothing to do with me?

    But, please continue erecting and setting fire to straw men. I’m sure the pretty flames amuse you, as they usually do.

  17. UghUghUghUghUghUghUgh says:

    “but we outed her, we shared the links, but I don’t think there should be a HASH TAG attacking her. That is bullying in my eyes. We named her, we RT’d links, good. We made people aware, but a HASH TAG is really not needed.”

    Really? After you and umpteen people did ALL of the above umpteen times, you dare wonder why someone was motivated to create a mean hashtag? Really? A campfire was fed with gasoline, admittedly so, and you DARE wonder why it became a forest fire?
    Just sayin is all.

     

  18. Laura McCarthy says:

    I am disheartened by all the loving responses she gets for apologizing.  But I’m also disheartened that the fashion bloggers are being vilified as well.  It’s a sad story all in all.

  19. SB Sarah says:

    Time out whistle! *TWEEEEEEET*

    Ann: I am on the 40 comment limit tomorrow AM. Working on it. Ground Fabio not necessary. (Also: I am very scared of what that would look like).

    I think Danielle did raise some interesting questions – and I’m still pondering how to answer her. What tools do we have? Big comment threads, Google search results and public discussion and shame? Those are big tools (heh).

  20. SB Sarah says:

    WORD. Fixed the 40-comment load. Give me a heads up if anyone has problems with the thread length loading on their browser, ok? Thanks.

  21. WellReadWife says:

    This is heartbreaking.

    I have linked to Kristi’s posts about blogging lots of times on my site and in an article that was syndicated on another site. I really looked up to her as an exemplary blogger. Now I have a few links to remove.

    I feel terrible for the bloggers that were plagiarized. I know how it feels to have your content stolen. It’s demoralizing. Especially when it’s a big name blogger doing the stealing. They were very brave to come forward publicly.

    With that said I hope the book blogging community will show Kristi compassion, and not flame her continuously on Twitter, on her site, etc. She made a mistake. You don’t have to visit her site if you don’t want to.

    Let’s hold ourselves up to the professional standards the publishing industry expects from us and cut out the name calling.

    (I know the professionalism part is a bit much coming from me. *clears throat* As I tend to curse like a drunk sailor and dress up in weird costumes on my site on occasion.)

     

  22. WellReadWife says:

    To clarify I’m not referring to Sarah’s post as name calling at all. This post gets a big “true dat” from this Southern girl.

    I’m just worried that Twitter will become a feeding frenzy.

  23. ” Fixed the 40-comment load.”

    Wow! The site loaded so fast I thought you’d disabled comments!

    So much better, thank you, thank you.

    [I have no idea what ground up Fabio would look like but is it wrong of me to want to know? 🙂 ]

  24. Irish says:

    Kristi has edited her clarification post a little it now reads:

    “When I first received the allegations of plagiarism, I was presented with the information and could not deny the facts. While the content was not identical the subject matter was. I thought only content could be plagiarized. Changing a few a words around with a thesaurus, or simple copying and pasting content. It seems as though taking a general topic and rewriting it is plagiarism. That is simply my own ignorance on the matter, and I should have known better. It was a confusion of inspiration and plagiarism on my part. I am not denying my actions. I was in the wrong. I read a post, I thought it was interesting and wanted to make it into something that would be relevant for book blogging.”

     

  25. *perks up*

    Wait, something I said was thought-provoking? I KNEW this day would come… high fives all around.

  26. Laura McCarthy says:

    She’s being accused of plagiarizing six times, not once.  This is a hole you cannot dig yourself out of.  No amount of excuses should make her not accountable.  I don’t think she’s really thought through the ramifications of this. 

    BTW, how can I change my name to Laura Benson?  McCarthy is my maiden name:)

  27. Cervenka says:

    I would have a lot more respect for her were this “clarification” not essentially a copy of her own blog post about plagiarism:

    There is no excuse… “I didn’t know…. I didn’t mean to… I did it subconsciously.” No, you didn’t. You did know and you did mean to.

    Plagiarism isn’t just copying and pasting word for word and passing it off as your own. It can be taking someones work and changing around the sentence structure, getting out your thesaurus and changing a few words here and there… basically taking the central idea tweaking it and passing it off as your own work.

    I wish this blogger would take her own advice: Before you decide to take the “easy” way out and use another persons work as your own. Think about the person you are really hurting…. yourself.

  28. azteclady1 says:

    Dammit! *shakes fist at Cervenka* Now when my post making this comparison goes live, it’s going to look like I got my inspiration from your comment.

    *off to add link to her comment to scheduled post*

  29. SB Sarah says:

    Hey Laura: you should be able to go the Disqus menu at the top of the comment thread (waaaaay up there) and change your name in your profile. If you’re having trouble, please feel free to email me.

  30. Word to your moms, we were born to drop bombs.

  31. Alison Murfitt says:

    I just can’t believe this.  I thought Kristi was someone to look up to.  I am a book blogger but have only been doing it for about a year and I must admit, sometimes I really struggle to write reviews.  Sometimes they are really rubbish and I feel like I have not done the book justice in what I have written but now I will take pride in the fact that even if they ARE rubbish, at least they are my own words..

  32. Lalaine@ Ficbookreviews says:

    I loved this comment. its brief but it hits the bulls eye.

    and yeah probably like me im kind of scared to really tweet her name and tell it to her face that she is a stealer, because shes popular and my blog isnt and that would really suck if readers wont visit my blog anymore because of me against her. *sighs* the politics lol.

  33. Sky_sam84 says:

    Sadly, it happens more often that good sense would suggests- popularity of the perpetrator seems to be all the excuse some people need to turn away from the reality .
    Some weeks ago a fanfiction of mine was plagiarized by a pretty ‘popular’ fanfiction author – said person even admitted at ‘editing’ my story (aka copying and pasting parts of it) as a chapter of hers so she could adapt my fic to fit as closing chapter of story. Guess what, when I and few intelligent readers called her out on it, she used the same excuses Kirsti here has used, asked me to keep the thing private if she removed my story from hers, and then she proceeded to call me ‘mean and unfair’ for calling her a plagiarist. And some of her readers actually gave her right – one even accused me of not behaving like an adult because i was complainning about her theft.
    I guess human stupidity will never cease to surprise.

    My support goes to all those who were stolen from the story siren and i won’t certainly read a word of her blog ever again.

  34. Sky says:

    it kinda comes across like you are naming yourself ‘above this’ because you know you have not any valid arguments to counter.

    Standing to your oh-so-deep argument tjhat people should quit lamenting plagiarism because -discovery of all discoveries- the world has serious problems- makes it hard to take you seriously.

    By this same standard people should not concern themselves with quite a long list of things.

    But in the end, it’s exactly because the world has serious problem that we should do ourselves the favor to stand up for what we believe in and to right the wrongs we actually can.

  35. Haya says:

    Is it wrong that I feel total indifference towards the matter?
    yes, yes, it is. But I cannot find it in me to be mad. Everyone screws up at one point; it doesn’t mean we should give them the cold shoulder. But I guess that’s just me.

  36. D.D.S says:

    Goodness!! I have been blogging for about 3 months now and have looking up her blog every now and then – specially her IMM. I am not afraid to admit that I have been insanely jealous about the number of print copies she receives every week and wonder when I will reach the status to be receiving at least half of it!! Even this week I have done the IMM even though I heard a few ‘rumours’. Now that I know the full thing, I’m wondering whether to continue with IMM or not!!

  37. sandra says:

    Great! But I don’t know from where to start it and where to end this.

  38. Marie Burton says:

    You could always do the Mailbox Monday…  http://mailboxmonday.wordpress…

    I am just hearing about this now, and wonder why she is still getting all the review books etc. as mentioned above.

    There should be a block list, but I guess publishers don’t have one.

  39. I DON’T agree with what she did at “ALL”, but, isn’t a Twitter hashtag getting carried away a little to far? It is SO hateful. It’s like being back in High School – mean girls, as someone else mentioned here in these replies.
    Back in High School it would be RELENTLESS until they beat someone up physically, or tied the girl to a tree and left her out in the elements open to prey (seriously this happened where I went to school), or the girl they HATED left or graduated and everyone went their separate ways until the hatefulness stopped. Is this what we want to do to her?
    This worries me for ALL parties involved, NOT just for her.
    With this Twitter hashtag, it is now a form of bullying. Isn’t this what we are trying to STOP in schools across America? My own son was a target for bullies, and we had to remove him from the school. Is this what we are after for her with this Twitter Hashtag? To get her to remove her Blog or to spread MORE hatefulness through bullying?
    There are even television commercials spreading the AWARENESS OF BULLYING. Bullying is a HORRID thing to do to ANYONE. Also, when ANYONE BULLIES SOMEONE, IT’S GOING TO COME RIGHT BACK AT THE PEOPLE WHO STARTED IT, OR WHO ARE A PART OF IT. I don’t think that is what the affected parties want?
    Do the rest of us Book Bloggers want to be known for “bullying” other bloggers?
    I hate to see this happen to ANYONE for ANY reason!
    I am NOT standing up for her plagerism, NOR do I “EVER” endorse ANY TYPES of plagerism, but . . . 
    What I am getting at about this type of bullying is this:  “the parties who were plagerized.” I don’t want to see this sling-shot back on ‘them’, and have people dislike THEM for continuing to bring this issue up NOR do I want to see other people bring this up over and over again and drive it into the ground, thus having it further reflect on the people who were plagerized in the first place, again. I fear this WILL happen, thus, again, bringing negativity to THEM! The WRONG parties!!!
    A LOT of respect ‘can be lost’ even to the ones who were plagerized by approaching this issue in this hateful bullying manner. People will start to turn on the parties involved the more they see things like this hateful Twitter Hashtag, or other things that may be being repeated over and over by OTHER PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE PARTIES WHO WERE PLAGERIZED! It will be viewed as a form of bullying and eventually reflect WRONGLY parties that were plagerized!
    I don’t want THEIR RESPECT TO BE LOST by hateful hashtags or other things I may not know about that is going on to ‘get at’ the plagerist.
    This is my major concern.
    See what I mean?
    This entire issue is VERY public already, ESPECIALLY ON GOOGLE SEARCH!!! WOW!!! ALL ANYONE HAS TO DO IS ‘just start to type’ in the Internet Address and below that website name Google pops up suggestions, and in this case it literally states: “The Story Siren Plagerism”
    So this is why I say what I said. The MORE these types of hatefulness go on, it can be turned around and affect the very people it affected in the first place as being mean and hateful people, if not more. If other people are doing this ‘to endorse the affected parties’, then it is PURELY WRONG!
    I am 45, probably about double the age of a lot you! I’ve seen a LOT in my day, and this is what I am seeing when I think about these hashtags right now. I look to the future and think about what the consequences will be.
    Keep the future in mind, EVERYONE! The Internet does NOT FORGET! Once put out there, it NEVER goes away. What seems like ‘today’ can be good, tomorrow can be taken the WRONG WAY.
    Again, DON’T allow this to come back to the people it affected in a bad way!!! The ONLY way to NOT allow this to happen is to stop the hateful hashtags NOW.
    If everyone agrees with the parties affected, PLEASE talk about it among yourselves, blog about it, etc., but PLEASE don’t start the hatefulness via bullying. Even the parties involved, to my knowledge, did NOT start the hatefulness by bullying. They were ONLY after what is RIGHT. They are NOT out to crucifying people. They don’t want a reputation of being bullies or being hateful.
    What would your OWN CHILDREN THINK OF “YOU” by setting the EXAMPLE that bullying is a good thing to do? When our own children see the TV commercials begging them NOT to bully people . . . when schools have assemblies geared exactly to NOT bullying other kids, or have Speakers in their classrooms teaching them that bullying is NOT a good thing to do. WHY would we show our children WE are committing bullying and giving them the OPPOSITE MESSAGE THAN THAT OF WHAT THEY ARE BEING TAUGHT?
    Sorry for the LONG comment, this just concerns me VERY much, again.I’ll repeat this another time, I don’t want to see this turned around and have this BE turned against the parties that were affected by plagerism.
    We ARE adults. We MUST act like it. Heck, we don’t NEED to DO anything MORE about it! It’s been addressed by the Google Search Engine! Even has IT has this LISTED FIRST AND FOREMOST when you type in her website’s address!!! GOOGLE has this taken care of! WE need not do any more! By adding Hashtags, WE ARE feeding into this.
    “We, as individuals”, don’t need to make this hateful. It’s a fact and facts do NOT contain emotion.
    Hate is an emotion. Emotions CAN and DO run HIGH. It will take a LONG TIME for these emotions to settle down. Until ‘human emotions’ are removed from the situation, it is at that point when you can write what are the facts. After the human emotion is GONE, then we will see if we USE the bullied tags, we are only lowering ourselves into disrespectful people about anything and anyone. NOT just her. These emotions will NOT EVER go away, either. I would just like to see the people affected to BE RESPECTED for what they did by standing up for themselves and calling her out on it, but NOT to be looked at LATER and thought of as hateful people because other people have made up bullied hashtags. Their writing was SOOOOO GREAT, that someone stole it! Focus on the positive of the people involved! They are pretty awesome writers!!! Let’s KEEP them HIGHLY RESPECTED and DON’T turn them into hateful bullies!!! 🙂
    Think about ALL the Children’s Books out there that teach NOT TO BULLY other kids! We ARE Book Bloggers! Let’s stand by the books!
    I hope this helps to put perspective and future perspective into this issue????
    If it does not, then PLEASE delete this comment because what I am saying will just be falling on deaf ears. Again, I AM STANDING UP for the parties affected and looking out for THEIR FUTURE!!! I KNOW they do NOT want to be known for such negativity NOR be examples to our children that hatefullness is a GOOD thing!
    I am also AGAINST ANY FORM OF BULLYING NO MATTER WHAT THE INCIDENCE. We ARE ADULTS, so let US SET the “much NEEDED” EXAMPLE OF “NOT BULLYING”! Please, I DO beg this of you.
    Don’t be a bully.
    Laurie

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