Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Story Siren & Plagiarism Post

Thinking about writing this post makes my stomach hurt. The things I found out yesterday morning have me sad and angry, but this is one case where -- drama or not -- I feel like I should talk about what's happening because even though I'm not directly involved, I do feel that as a YA blogger it affects many of us. A quick summary, for those of you who may be out of the loop:

Back in January, a couple of fashion bloggers noticed that a YA book blogger who had been visiting their site had quite a few posts that were remarkably similar to their own. Most of these posts were in the vein of blogging self-help stuff, like the importance of Klout and other helpful-to-bloggers posts. They contacted the blogger (Kristi, from The Story Siren) and the issue was handled privately. They didn't feel, for whatever reason, a need to make it public. Which is fine and was probably the right way to handle it at the time.

But now the blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has gotten the story and they are making it public, which I'm glad about. They have a fantastic post with a round up of relevant posts. READ IT.

Now, I've gone through and read all of the relevant posts from all bloggers involved, and at first I'll admit that I was... wary. Hesitant. One of the posts that was allegedly stolen is a post on the importance of Klout and, to be honest, many of the similarities I found between Kristi's post and the original post are similarities that I could easy imagine in any helpful post on the topic. They're just the topics that would naturally come up.

But I kept reading. I read about how the plagiarism was discovered, read the original posts and the screen shots of the (now deleted, at the request of the fashion bloggers) the screen shots from The Story Siren's posts. And, you guys, the evidence is... well, it's pretty damning actually. Though the posts aren't word-for-word the same, nearly every point that the fashion bloggers made was reiterated in Kristi's posts, so much so that I sat here shaking my head as I read. It was as if she used their posts as a template to "write" her own posts. And the story of how the theft was discovered is pretty amazing.

There's probably some, thought not much, overlap between the fashion blogging community and the book blogging community. The fact that this didn't come to light for months shows that, I think. And the fact that the fashion bloggers didn't make a bigger deal of it reflects, possibly, the fact that they aren't (or weren't, at least) aware of just how huge Kristi and her site are in the YA/book blogging world.

But as you probably know, The Story Siren is one of -- if not the -- most popular and certainly most respected YA blogs. At this point fellow book bloggers seem to be divided between those who (a) either don't believe Kristi plagiarized or are willing to overlook it, or (b) think what she did was very, very wrong.

Personally, I think ignoring the issue or saying that it's okay is a mistake. I'm definitely not advocating any sort of bullying or "mob mentality," but ignoring the issue, thinking that it's okay because it's been resolved between Kristi and the fashion bloggers, is wrong on a couple of different levels. It's a sort of quiet compliance with content-stealing. We're saying it's okay for one of the most respected creative blogs out there to be, at least partially, built on posts that were stolen from others. I think it's a huge conflict of interest for readers and authors to support a blogger who has spoken out against plagiarism while at the same time stealing content from others. I don't like to think that this sort of conduct is okay because the blogger in question is "popular" or "nice" or "has a big following." It breaks all kinds of blogging and writing ethics and honestly, it feels like a betrayal of not only those bloggers who look up to her as an example of what to do, but also (and more importantly) the many readers, authors, and publishers who support her blog in one way or another.

I'm not sure what happens from here. As of now, Kristi has made a statement regarding the entire debacle, but honestly it's so vague and non-commital that it doesn't seem to be much of an apology or an explanation. As a fellow book blogger what I was really hoping for was either an admission or denial, as well as a real explanation of how this came to be. You can read her statement here. As for me, I'm no longer going to be reading her blog or linking to her posts from my own blog as I've done occasionally in the past. In My Mailbox is one of my favorite community memes (hosted by The Story Siren), but I'm going to have to do some thinking on whether or not to even continue taking part in that. I do think everyone concerned or interested in this should look at the posts and decide for themselves whether the content is too similar to just be coincidence. (And once again, a link to the Smart Bitches post that has links to the other relevant posts, and then Kristi's statement.) (If you want the opinion of another blogger, WORD for Teens has a nice post up, and this post from Dear Author is well worth reading.)

ETA: Kristi has since posted a much better apology in which she admits what happened and clarifies her earlier apology -- I now have no problem continuing to participate in IMM though I still don't feel quite right about reading/linking to her blog in the future. It may not be fair, but in my opinion a certain amount of damage has already been done and can't quite be un-done.

31 comments:

  1. I'm still really struggling with this whole thing, too. I read Kristi's "explanation" last night and was completely disappointed by it--and then irritated. It's a flaccid response to something that demanded much more from a blogger who is so prominent in the community. I'm at a point where I can no longer visit her blog.

    Great post, Jordyn.

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    1. Agreed. Her second apology was much stronger/better in my opinion, but as far as I'm concerned so much damage has already been done and her wishy-washy apology the first time around makes me question how sincere she is this time, which is maybe not fair but definitely true.

      Anyway, I won't be reading her blog anymore, or linking to it, but I'll continue to participate in IMM (though I might not put my link up on her blog -- IDK).

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    2. I actually don't think her clarification apology was much better, to be honest. It's still deliberately vague and is incredibly passive. The whole thing feels too much like her trying to scramble to make amends with the book blogging community...it feels more like she's sorry she got called out than anything.

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  2. Great post! May I suggest switching to Mailbox Mondays? I'm on my cell or I would link you, but it's the same and supposedly original concept for IMM

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    1. If I didn't already have a Monday feature I would switch to either that or It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

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  4. I just want to say thank you for writing this post, Jordyn. I don't want to reinvent this wonderful wheel you wrote up, so I'll just say you pretty hit all my thoughts on the head here. Thank you for discussing this with me yesterday on Twitter, and for believing this should be open and public and discussed. I really appreciate everything you've had to say on this subject.

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  5. You might want to check out Mailbox Monday:

    http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/

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    1. If I didn't have a Monday feature I quite like I would probably do that.

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  6. I was also wary of posting anything about this whole subject, but like you said, ignoring it would be a mistake. While I agree that her second apology was better, I still don't fully accept it. She has yet to admit that her actions were done intentionally, which I believe was the case, and instead apologies for "confusing inspiration with plagiarism." I can't believe that someone who spent four hours on a site can honestly say that the stolen content was mistakenly taken.

    In her deleted post about plagiarism, she herself points out that there are no excuses:

    "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."

    I'm still waiting for her to admit that she did it knowingly, and with the intent to plagiarize. Anything else just isn't enough.

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    1. P.s. your blog is gorgeous! I love the background/color scheme :)

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    2. Thank you!!

      And yes, at first I looked at her second apology and it was just SO MUCH better than her first, but in light of just how many posts she plagiarized and rereading the "clarification" post again, I'm still not happy with it. I'm also extremely surprised and a bit saddened by all the readers who are SO EASILY able to defend and overlook her actions. Yes, it was a mistake and she's only human, but it's also a mistake she made over and over again and then kept quiet when it was brought to her attention.

      I'm just really upset by this.

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  7. Excellent post and very well said! I think I'm going to have to find an alternative to the In My Mailbox meme, as I'm too disillusioned with Kristi right now to even consider supporting her in any way, shape, or form.

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  8. I hate book blogger drama so much, but I really appreciate this post. I feel just sort of out of whack right now. Like when someone you think you know and trust, turns out to not be like you thought, I guess. I respect that The Story Siren apologized for her mistakes (and I do however, see how other bloggers could easily slip into the same mistakes that she did). As for In My Mailbox, I really don't want to attract attention to my blog by stopping the meme, but at the same time- eesh, I don't know. This whole "debacle" as you put it- is rather insane, and I am still not sure what I should do in response. Sigh.

    -Meredith

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    1. To add on (sorry!), I do think that people hash tagging The Story Siren on twitter, is downright mean no matter what the situation is. Goodness, now I'm really worried about people's ethics.

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    2. Exactly. I've been thinking so much about IMM the past few days... I've flip-flopped from not wanting to participate anymore to (when I wrote this post) being fine with it, to not quite knowing what I'll end up doing. I really want whatever I do to be well thought out though.

      And yes, the hashtag was definitely going too far. However, I don't think as many bloggers were posting that as people think -- I saw the girl who originally started it and then one other person using it, so hopefully it's not a widespread thing.

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  9. I linked to this article from my blog- hope that is okay. Your's was the first I heard/read of this plagiarism story. I think you have written a fair and considerate take on things.

    Plagiarism pisses me off. This entire situation is disheartening, I must say. I think a lot of people have been left disappointed.

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    1. Yep, I've definitely been disappointed. By pretty much all aspects of it.

      And of course it's fine to link to this post -- thanks!

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  11. As I am a YA book blogger too, I feel that I have to react on this topic, altough I definately want no drama or point my finger to anyone. It is clearly very, very wrong what happened, it is good that she, sort of apologized, in her way then. But I do hope that this case will give a more honest view to publishers and authors too. Yes, I did read The Story Siren too, but overall I think sometimes; hey, where are the book reviews on this blog? I really had to search for one. That also makes me wonder: why is it that people who hardly review any books are getting so much ARC's and stuff by publishers? (state: I am not jealous at this or something, as I truly am very happy with the amount of e-books I get at the moment)but somehow it strikes me as incorrect and unfair for the bloggers who work hard on their blogs and publish many reviews. Maybe Kristi has lost the focus also a bit of her blog, that could happen to anyone of us. I hope just the people involved will just see this as something to learn from and make a turn in a better direction. Thanks for this post!!

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    1. I'm not sure she's lost the focus of her blog, or if it's just shifted. The Story Siren has been going for years... longer than most other YA book blogs, and she's built a great following/viewership in that time, so in a way it makes sense that her blog is more publicity and giveaways than reviews lately. From a publisher/author standpoint, she has the largest audience.

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  12. {new follower here}

    I don't support {the story siren } anymore as a blogger, but I do not see the problem in viewing her content as a means of tracking down other individuals opinions on the information presented within it. I obviously see issues with trusting her content - but think it would or should be safe to trust the content in comments from her readers or any other posts that link to other blogs that are more trustworthy.

    BTW: I love you background. :)

    {http://www.justonemorechapter.net}

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  13. There is also another IMM type theme that's been around just as long called Mailbox Monday: http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/

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    1. Yep, I've heard of that but I'm pretty attached to my "Monday WRiting" feature that I do.

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  14. Great post - I very much agree with you on several points. It's a nice "reality check" when you say to yourself, "I can't be the only one who feels this way, can I?" and then you look around the interwebs, and see, that yes, you are not alone. So, thanks for that.

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    1. You're welcome! And I agree - it's nice to see that some others feel the same way and you're not crazy. At least for me it is. :)

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  15. This is a great post and sums up a lot of how I have been feeling about the whole situation. I have been trying to get back into book-blogging after a lengthy hiatus when I got pregnant and had my daughter. Coming back to this drama made me question if I even wanted to get back into this community, but then I had to remember it is about MY love of reading and sharing my thoughts. It's not about what other bloggers are doing, right or wrong.

    But what makes me feel the worst about it is that just days before this all came to light, I had received an email from someone wanting to start a book blog and I had directed them to TSS, in particular her book blog tips, etc. Then all of this came to light and I felt like such an idiot for doing that.

    It really is a shame that it happened, and I for one will no longer be reading TSS or linking to it. Thanks for taking the time to write about it. A part of me wanted to, but having been "out of it" so long, I didn't feel it was right for me to jump into such a hot and sensitive topic.

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    1. I hope this recent kerfuffle doesn't make you not book blog if that's what you want to do. I typically sort of stay on the "fringes" of the community, because for me my blog really is all about what I want to talk about and the readers who might find it and enjoy my content, so I try not to get sucked into things. But I do enjoy discussing issues and this was just something I felt I couldn't ignore, especially when I saw how people were reacting (both positively & negatively) to it.

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    2. Oh, I quickly realized that this latest bit of drama really shouldn't have any bearing on my desire to book-blog. It's just disappointing and it has been eye-opening to see the reactions on both sides. I definitely don't think it should be ignored and I have appreciated a lot of the thoughtful posts I have seen on the matter, including yours. :-)

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  16. I am a new reader here at your blog and got wind of this topic from my co-owner over at Pure Textuality. I have to say - I'm disappointed. Apology or not, I feel that this coming out has made The Story Siren lose all credibility. She got caught with her hand in the cookie jar - someone else's cookie jar. Not cool. As a book blogger, if you dont have something interesting an original to say, then dont run a book blog. I do occasionally run news stories on my site but I always give credit where credit is due. not only does the artist/author deaserve the credit, but in today's world, we ALL know better than to bogart someone else's material. It's asking for trouble. As for the apology - the only reason she issued one is because she got caught. She wasn't feeling too poorly about her decision prior to getting called out on the carpet. And the second apology was issued because all of her readers tore her APART when she posted the anti-plagarism post, having just been nabbed for it herself. This is a shining example of what not to do as a book blogger.

    On a happier note, I love you blog. Looking for a subscribe link now. :)

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