And then I told mom

Dear Reader-

While it is nothing compared to Aunt Lou’s story, a week ago I woke up to every blogger’s nightmare…

I found one of my popular posts had been copied word for word and photo for photo onto another blog… crediting me as the site it was “reblogged” from, but leaving no reason for anyone to click over…

My heart sank.

Years of hard work to build up this site and someone just took my stuff… my words– my thoughts of what would make a good post– without asking… and put it on their site for their gain.

It was a popular post that introduced new readers everyday to my site.

Instantly I wondered… What if people started finding my post there instead of my site?

What if this was just the tip of the iceberg?

What if the site owner was a jerk  and refused to remove my content?

It made me ill.

What if it had been a picture of Miss Add?!?

After emailing the site and scrambling to figure out HOW on earth to get my stuff back, I did what any kid in the blogsphere would do…

I told mom…

Type A Mom to be exact.

@crisgoode @parenterest how frustrating! I see they describe one post as being “re-blogged.” Umm, you can’t reblog someone’s post.

— Kelby aka Type-A Mom (@typeamom) September 13, 2012

Now before you jump on @parenterest, please know she was a newbie and was mistaken on the rules of the blogosphere road and has since apologized, removed content and made amends. 

My point of telling this story is to explain how frustrating and helpless something like this can make you feel.

And Kelby (Type A Mom)– along with many others– stood up for me.

Turns out I was lucky.

The site owner talked with me and quickly learned from her mistake and removed my content.

But as it turns out…

Kelby is having her own bout with internet thieves.

As are many other bloggers… and yes, some of their kids photos are being used…

So who is the theif?

A novice in the blogosphere? A black hat creep?

Nope…

None other than Sponge Bob…

Well, not exactly Sponge Bob,  but Nickelodeon’s NickMom… which shares the same parent company.

Read details of their theft here and how one of their writers quit over the whole thing here.

Truth be told, I usually don’t post on stuff like this… but after going through my own scare, and so many coming to my defense, I felt compelled to return the favor.

I can’t imagine the frustration of all those involved… knowing that a company as big as Nickelodeon is taking such an unprofessional approach to social media and refuses to make it fully right.

The crazy thing is that the very group of folks they are ticking off are the people that could help make them wildly successful with their new programming.

Not sure of the strategy there…

Why not hire one of those hard working bloggers you stole from to get you out of this mess… I mean you clearly like their work, just sayin’.

On another note: If you are a blogger and have your work stolen, check out my friend Jackie’s post on what steps to follow.