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The Triviality of Plagiarized Content and its Implicit Downsides

Plagiarized content trivializes a writer’s standing on dimensional scales.

For instance, it could demean their credibility, wane creative compass, and jeopardize their reputation as an authentic writer.

Not only they’d court controversy for having stolen someone else’s creative brainchild, but it also puts a question mark on their integrity as a content writer.

I know what I am talking about is quite a hackneyed narrative discussed several times on countless digital platforms. However, my reason for bringing this matter to your notice through this write-up is that important things like this one should not be held in silence, just because they have been said many times before.

Therefore, even though some people have already said about the counterproductive results of plagiarizing content, I still believe that the virtue of repetition serves as a reminder, that what thieving practice someone does as a writer serves them no good at all.

What makes someone plagiarize someone else content?

While it is difficult to give an exact reason behind people stealing someone else’s content, one thing can be said for certain that most of the content writers who plagiarize do so out of compulsion.

Yes, you heard it right.

In ten years of my experience as a content writer, I have come across countless pieces written by content writers who had plagiarized the original idea from some anonymous writers on the internet.

They dared to get those pieces published under their author badge!

I can understand the repulsion original authors may have gone through after coming to know of such malpractice. However, the naked reality we have today confirms that such malpractice doesn’t seem to get restrained or go out of practice any time soon.

Because there is an absence of strict digital copyright law. Hence, such situation cripples a writer’s effort to stop their content from getting plagiarized.

And if you think that Google or other search engines would penalize the perpetrators by either shutting down their websites from its SERP or flagging it red, you are not wrong but it doesn’t happen overnight.

Why?

Because search engines are machines and like machines, they rely heavily on data to be interpreted algorithmically. It takes search engines sometimes months to finally red-flag a controversial website for stealing content. By that time, the damage is already done.

Another reason as far as I can guess why people steal someone else content is that they are aware of search engines’ weakness of not checking everyone’s content. If you think that Google is the proofreader of every piece of content before being published, you are wrong.

Proofreading is a part executed by a human writer, either by using tools like Grammarly or Plagiarism Detection tool. However, search engines are never part of this practice. Therefore, the chances of your content getting plagiarized by someone are always higher.

Once the plagiarized content is live, all you can do is to tell everyone that a particular writer has stolen your content without even giving you a credit for it or lodge a digital complaint. I don’t think it will result in any progress in your favor.

Well, I may stand corrected in my outlook, but based on what I have seen in these years, I guess most of the writers are not even aware that some kleptomaniac jerks have plagiarized their content and earn well with its monetization.

Why Do Some Writers Follow Plagiarized Content Writing?

  • They think you will NEVER get to know your content has been plagiarized.
  • Since plagiarizing content has never been forbidden in legal expressions, it is getting rampant.
  • Sometimes your content is plagiarized for a vile reason to brainwash search engines into believing you are indulging in malpractice like getting backlinks from unrelated sites (e.g., porn).
  • Most writers have no time and patience to find out the real culprit, as your plagiarized content is live under pseudo names or on those websites looking fake or unauthorized.
  • Most writers don’t want to go for Premium subscriptions for plagiarism detection tools like Grammarly, considering budget constraints. Thus, they remain oblivious to the thieving of their content.
  • A great deal of plagiarized content is SPUN. Hence, you never know if someone has stolen it, even though the underlying meaning bears a close resemblance to your piece.

“Will we never be able to stop plagiarism?”

Well, I can’t say for sure. You can beat the perpetrator black and blue or have him/her arrested if you’ve caught them, or you can complain about it on writer’s forums.

They are some suggested measures you may take, but deep down, I feel that there is no concrete measure you can use to put an end to this menace called plagiarism on the internet.

Interestingly, this malpractice is not fresh. Rather it exists for a very long time.

As far as I can remember, I started working as a content writer in 2009 and was tasked to focus on the cluster of keywords to be placed in the content to be written by me.

Words like content quality, the density of keywords, or originality were are not a diligently maintainable practice in those times. BLACK HAT SEO, as I recall exactly, was on prime in those days. So, no wonder the malpractice of plagiarizing content is a result of having no digital watchdogs to ensure your content is safe from getting stolen away.

How Come Plagiarizing Content Will Trivialize Your Standing As A Writer?

Plagiarized Content Questions Your Credibility As A Writer

For someone to become a credible content writer on the internet, not only it takes a time-consuming practice of writing original and quality content for the target readers, but the writer also has to maintain transparency in terms of what they write is their brainchild, not a copycat material.

Therefore, if some of your readers come to know that what you wrote bears a stark resemblance to a third-party writer’s content published somewhere on a digital platform, can you imagine the instant damage of your reputation as a writer the discovery of the reader will do to you?

Well, I understand that some of you may point out – Pawan, don’t you think you exaggerate the scenario here?”

No, I am not exaggerating any scenario here. All I want to say is your impression in the mind of your target readers should be of trustworthy one. If they discover your treachery (plagiarizing), that trust is waned off, right there. Some readers may vent their ire on forums while some may keep that trust breach in silence. Either way, you are at the receiving end of condemnation for thieving content.

It Is An Ethical Practice

Put yourself in the position of the content writer whose content you have stolen and published under your writer’s badge.

What would you feel when you experience that your content someone stole and published in his name?

Wouldn’t you feel bad? Wouldn’t you stalk the thief on the internet, demanding an explanation for such malpractice? Wouldn’t you feel cheated?

If you analyze these questions, you’d come to know that plagiarizing is quite an ethical practice.

With plagiarized content, The More You Do, The Less Creative You Become

First of all, those who plagiarize content should not call themselves content writers.

Besides, it is my understanding that your creativity as a writer blooms when you work harder on your creative expressions. When you hone your writing skill by reading good books, writing content based on your thoughts, following other writers as to how they develop content, etc.

A self-initiated practice of writing transcends your creative compass as a content writer, trust me.

On the contrary, if you plagiarize, you don’t push your creative compass. As a result, it wanes and loses its sharpness.

In A GAME OF THRONES series, Tyrion Lannister says “A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.”

Therefore, if you plagiarize someone else content, it means you receive something without exercising any mental efforts on your own. It’s like getting something free of cost. Plagiarizing blunts your mental acuity, thereby waning its creative compass to write something uniquely.

Conclusion of Plagiarized Content Writing

Whether you plagiarize someone else content out of compulsion or unwittingly, you end up damaging your credibility as a writer. In a worst-case scenario, you may also end up facing litigation. Besides, plagiarizing content is deemed an unethical practice. Because this malpractice steals not only the content of an original writer but his/her boundless efforts they put into content creation.

Creating good content is not an easy task today. Writers have to wade through mountainous research, brainstorming, writing, proofreading, and publication, aside from minding keywords placement and managing social media shares. Besides, even if someone wrote good content, it takes many days or sometimes months when the content garners relevant traffic.

Under such circumstances, if plagiarizing remains rampant, you can imagine the loss that the original writers would have to go through. Besides, the perpetrator writer is also on a suicide mission of damaging his/her reputation by plagiarizing the content of other writers.

Hence, the triviality of plagiarized content writing is that it amplifies a writer’s unethicality. To my subjective comprehension as a content writer, the mere admissibility of plagiarizing to your writing endorses an omission of respect, reverence, and professional attitude toward this noble profession called writing.

What are your thoughts on my thoughts?

What do you think about plagiarized content and its implicit downsides for a writer? What actions do you suggest writers must follow to avoid having their content plagiarized?

Please share your feedback in the comment section below.

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