{"id":3206,"date":"2013-10-19T10:49:28","date_gmt":"2013-10-19T15:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/?p=3206"},"modified":"2013-10-19T10:49:28","modified_gmt":"2013-10-19T15:49:28","slug":"generositys-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/general\/generositys-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Generosity’s Tax."},"content":{"rendered":"

In Twitter I\u2019ve seen innumerable people saying a \u201cproper retweet<\/em>\u201d is done by prepending \u201cRT\u201d to whatever the person you\u2019re retweeting said.<\/p>\n

No.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps that was true before the advent of Twitter\u2019s embedded \u201cRetweet\u201d links, but no longer.\u00a0 A proper retweet is performed by clicking Retweet.\u00a0 Including \u201cRT\u201d in the words you\u2019ve just ripped from someone else\u2019s timeline is not proper at all.\u00a0 Indeed, it\u2019s like placing a use tax on your generosity.<\/p>\n

Taxed generosity isn\u2019t generosity at all.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps if manually RT\u2019ing took less effort than clicking \u201cRetweet\u201d\u2026?\u00a0 The point is moot, since manually RT\u2019ing takes significantly more effort than clicking the retweet link.\u00a0 Worse, manually RT\u2019ing corrupts the words \u2013 they never remain exactly same as they were when said. \u00a0Even if you keep every word and every piece of punctuation, a manual RT never looks precisely the same as the original \u2013 and most manual RT\u2019ers don\u2019t bother because it takes too much effort.\u00a0 To me this proves they\u2019re only interested in forcefully injecting their name into the conversation.<\/p>\n

Recently Twitter added a great feature.\u00a0 On the \u201cInteractions\u201d page of your profile you now get informed every time someone favorites or retweets something you\u2019ve retweeted.\u00a0 Twitter does that when you retweet the \u201creal proper\u201d way \u2013 with \u201cFavorite\u201d or \u201cRetweet\u201d.\u00a0 What an awesome feature \u2013 now you know just how far your charity {and your influence} goes.\u00a0 And best of all, it really is charity \u2013 because only you know of the good deed you\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also seen it said that using \u201cRT\u201d allows you to add a comment to the thread {which is truly bizarre since there is a link called \u201cReply\u201d specifically for that purpose}. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t add content, it hijacks the conversation by forcibly inserting something completely superfluous into it, namely your \u201clook at me, look at me\u201d @handle. \u00a0What if you add your \u201cRT\u201d in a legitimate reply to the thread?\u00a0 Read what I\u2019ve already said about taxing your generosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cRT\u201d is not a stamp of approval on a Tweet, it is a stamp of \u201cI was here!<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u00a0A manual \u201cRT\u201d has become another form of obnoxious graffiti in the virtual world.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong.\u00a0 When graffiti is art, I approve. \u00a0In fact, my Twitter timeline is covered with that type of unadulterated virtual art \u2013 they\u2019re called Tweets.<\/p>\n

So am I saying I never use \u201cRT\u201d?\u00a0 No, that\u2019s not what I\u2019m saying at all.\u00a0 I manually \u201cRT\u201d, but only under two circumstances I\u2019ve found so far.<\/p>\n

The first is when I want to repeat something a private account holder said.\u00a0 Tweets from locked, or private, accounts don\u2019t have a retweet link.\u00a0 In order to grant attribution I have no option but to place my \u201cI was here!\u201d stamp on their words.<\/p>\n

The second circumstance is when they never actually tweeted the words, but they did say them.\u00a0 For example, words from their Twitter profile.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the issue of plagiarism.\u00a0 Perhaps people think stealing another person\u2019s words is a \u201cno injury\u201d crime.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t.\u00a0 Regardless of monetary value, authors, writers, and everyday people should receive credit for their contributions to the written word.<\/p>\n

To me, the written word is the highest form of art.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Words can make us laugh, or cry.\u00a0 Words can fill our mind with images of things that cannot be. \u00a0Words can make our heart feel light, or they can crush it in a vice.\u00a0 Words are the foundation upon which deeds are built.\u00a0 More than any other art, words literally change the world.<\/p>\n

No decent person would ever steal a piece of music and claim they composed it.\u00a0 No decent person would duplicate a picture and claim they painted it.\u00a0 No decent person would make a mold of a sculpture, recast it, and claim they chiseled it from their heart.\u00a0 No decent person would tear a page from the most sacred texts and claim they wrote it.<\/p>\n

No decent person steals another person\u2019s words and claims them as their own inspired thoughts, penned to paper of a real or virtual nature.\u00a0 Call this by a fancy word like \u201cplagiarism\u201d if you like \u2013 I call it exactly what it is.<\/p>\n

Theft<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Decent people don\u2019t steal.\u00a0 {Well, certain circumstances might force decent people to steal.\u00a0 However, the operative word in that sentence is \u201cforce\u201d.}<\/p>\n

Look at the example below, and tell me if this is an accident.\u00a0 Perhaps a rare wind of inspiration blew on two people at almost the same time.\u00a0 Before you decide, peer close at the thumbnails in the upper part of the image.\u00a0 In order to spare them embarrassment, I\u2019ve blocked the person\u2019s name from the image.\u00a0 If they have a conscience, it should goad them to change their ways. \u00a0If not, well I might remove the blocks and see if that plants the seeds of conscience.<\/p>\n

\"Is<\/a>
Is imitation the most sincere form of flattery, or is it just stealing?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t misunderstand me.\u00a0 Inspiration is quite literally everywhere, and I would deny it to no one.\u00a0 Do I never re-frame another person\u2019s thoughts?\u00a0 Of course I do.\u00a0 However, the words I use are my own, and they are often contrary to the inspiring thought.\u00a0 {Such is my nature, for which I am not sorry.}\u00a0 If my words inspire you to creativity then go for it, and more power to you \u2013 I am truly delighted when I see signs of this.\u00a0 However if my words touch you in some way, and you wish to share them, then please grant me that which I grant every borrowed sentence I use \u2013 attribution.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Twitter I\u2019ve seen innumerable people saying a \u201cproper retweet\u201d is done by prepending \u201cRT\u201d to whatever the person you\u2019re retweeting said. No. Perhaps that was true before the advent of Twitter\u2019s embedded \u201cRetweet\u201d links, but no longer.\u00a0 A proper retweet is performed by clicking Retweet.\u00a0 Including \u201cRT\u201d in the words you\u2019ve just ripped from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[92,153,317,355,412],"class_list":["post-3206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-copyright","tag-favorite","tag-plagiarism","tag-retweet","tag-tax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}