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pla·gia·rism: the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work, as by not crediting the author (from Dictionary.com).

A frustrating thing happened to me not so long ago. I posted an original tweet and Facebook status and within minutes saw it copied by another person. However, there was no “RT” leading the tweet, no “Share” that led to the posting, no quotation marks around the words, nor credit within the post. This person had copied my exact original words and posted them as his/her own. When I asked this person why he/she did so, I received an, “It’s no big deal” type of response void of any apology and void of any effort to give proper credit.

While that incident bothered me, soon I saw it happen again and again and again, not just with me, but with many others as well.

When I think about those incidents, they still bother me because someone was willing to take my original words and claim them as their own.

But should it bother me?

With the advancement of social media, we’ve made it easy to post our thoughts, quotes, and happenings with the click of a mouse and push of a button. This also allows us to take the words of others and do anything with them that we wish.

So is this plagiarism or just social sharing?

According to its definition, it definitely seems like stealing i.e. plagiarism (or “poaching” as Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch would call it). When we take someone’s exact words and thoughts and claim them as our own, we become part of this unethical landslide. It probably won’t land anyone in jail, but the severity of the consequences should never be our motivation for doing what is right.

Twitter provides ways to retweet (RT) someone. Facebook allows you to “Share” things or even tag others. And there’s always the good ‘ole quotation marks as well.

There is no reason to steal (or “borrow” or “copy and paste”) someone’s status/tweet and claim it as your own, no matter if that person is a celebrity with 24 million followers or a friend from high school who has 347 friends. It’s unethical and in very poor taste.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

[Photo source: http://bit.ly/v38JpC]

Have you ever wished Facebook would add a “Nobody Cares” or “Stop Whining” button for statuses? I think we all have. At least once a day we see one of “those” statuses that just makes us shake our head, roll our eyes, and utter something like “not again.” Although everyone is entitled to their own opinions and freedom of speech, there are 8 Facebook statuses that need to disappear:

1. The Passive-Aggressive Status
This is one of the most popular and most annoying statuses on Facebook, and I’ve seen people from 13 to 50 use this. It’s always directed at a certain unnamed person, and apparently that person knows who he or she is, because the status says so. It usually reads something like this:

So u wanna talk junk about me huh. Well u will get whats comin to you. You think u can hurt me but you’ll never be happy without me. You know who u are!

I apologize if my grammar was too proper.

2. The TMI Status
There are certain things the rest of the world just doesn’t need to know. If you’ve got a nasty infection, don’t tell us about the blood and pus. By no means should you post a picture of it. If you have a prayer request, it’s okay to be vague about disgusting specifics. If you’re about to have a baby or just had a baby and feel like sharing details that many of us are still ignorant about, please don’t. Protect our sanity and our stomachs and keep some things to yourself.

3. The “Are Those Song Lyrics?” Status
There is nothing wrong with someone posting song lyrics as a status. It doesn’t take a lot of creativity, but it’s not too much different from posting a quote. But it seems a lot of people forget 3 important aspects of quotations: 1) Quotation marks; 2) A reference; 3) Proper grammar and spelling. If you want to quote OneRepublic, fine. Go for it. But when you give us a status like…

me and my gang
out ridin on a saturday night
ain’t comin home til the rooster crows

…we’re not sure if you’re (poorly) quoting a Kenny Chesney song or out riding ATVs on in your parents’ backyard. (FYI…for all you Kenny Chesney fans, ATV’s are what you call 4-wheelers.)

4. The “I’m Connected to Twitter but Don’t Know How to Use Twitter” Status
Unless your status is really supposed to say “Haha, I know right? lol” then you’ve probably got a problem you need to fix. Quick tip: don’t multitask with technology if you don’t understand technology.

5. The Constant FourSquare Status
You’re at a hockey game? Cool. You’re seeing a great band in concert? Awesome. You’re sitting on your couch or in the Taco Bell drive-thru? Put the phone away, shut the laptop, and realize…we really don’t care.

6. The “Can’t Sleep” Status
I’ll admit, I’m guilty of this. I’ve infected Twitter and Facebook with 3 AM statements of “Ugh. Can’t sleep.” But have you noticed how the “Can’t sleep” statuses always get the least amount of “likes” or comments? Wanna know why? Because the rest of world is asleep and will never see the status. Here’s a bit of logic I’ve learned over the past few years: If you’re posting on Facebook that you can’t sleep, you probably can’t sleep because you’re on Facebook.

7. The Misspelled Status
We’re all guilty of clicking “Share” before we’ve proofread our statuses. It happens. It’s no big deal, right? That depends. When it happens occasionally, it’s understandable. When it happens every time you post a status, there’s a problem. Sure, you can blame your phone’s Auto Correct feature, but when there’s no mobile icon next to your status, we’ll probably think you’re lying. And by the way, if you have the fortitude to call out foreigners in our country who don’t speak English, you look really foolish when your status shows you don’t know how to speak it or write it either .

8. The Acronym Status
By now, most of the population is familiar with LOL, BRB, TTYL, and CYA. But a status full of acronyms is just plain annoying. It also doesn’t take long to type out the acronym you made up. Sorry if we don’t know that “WIRTTWUWY” actually means “Wow, I’m really tired today. What’s up with you?” Keep it simple…just not that simple.

[Photo source: facebook.com]

Recently I’ve had some interesting conversations with friends concerning a topic that is relatively fresh in the Christian community: posting prayers on Facebook and Twitter.

I do not mean prayer requests, but actual prayers. I’ve seen this done in two different ways:

1) The near-sarcastic prayer. i.e. “Lord, help my coworker keep her comments to herself today, because if she doesn’t I might hit her.”

2) The more traditional prayer. i.e. “Lord, help me grow in knowledge and wisdom and to treat others as you would treat them.”

From discussing this issue with friends, I’ve heard two schools of thought.

Some people approach this issue with great hesitation, citing Matthew 6:5-6 as a reason to avoid it: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (ESV).”

The argument is that prayer is private matter between you and God. Social media is unnecessary. Since we have direct communication with the Father, posting prayers on Twitter and Facebook has no point. If we’re not careful, we fall into the same trap as the hypocrites, hoping that people will hear us and think highly of us because of our prayers.

There’s also a second perspective that I’ve come across. When you look at the book of Psalms, the entire book seems to be a collection of prayers that have been written down. As part of the Holy Scriptures, they provide us with encouragement, edification, and an insight into the life of David and others. While the prayers of people today are not considered Scripture, they might offer us encouragement as well. Also, our written prayers could be a conversation starter with an unbeliever.

I’ve listened to both sides and have been wrestling with the issue in my head. What are your thoughts? Should we post our prayers on Facebook and Twitter?

[Photo source: http://bit.ly/fp6L3x]

The evidence seems to be growing but now it’s hit a very weird point. Several months ago, reports came out from divorce lawyers that said Facebook was to blame for failed marriages. In a nutshell, spouses were reuniting with old flames, becoming too acquainted with friends of the opposite sex, or meeting new potential partners through Facebook. According to an article in USA Today, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 81% of its members have used or faced evidence from Facebook, MySpace,Twitter and other social networking sites, including YouTube and LinkedIn, over the last five years.

As sad as that is, it’s probably not too shocking. However, the news has continued to get weird. According to an article from Lindsay Robertson of Yahoo! Movies, some women have nearly destroyed their marriages by neglecting their spouses in favor of Twilight-related activities.

It gets weirder. As if that wasn’t enough, apparently FarmVille and World of Warcraft are now to blame for ruined marriages. Men and women are neglecting their spouse and their children in favor of taking care of a virtual farm of fake animals and crops, or fighting mythological creatures in quests on the computer.

While it’s easy to point the finger at Facebook, Twilight, FarmVille, and World of Warcraft, I think we would be pointing the finger in the wrong direction if we passed the blame off on them. While all of those things take up our time and attention, ultimately WE are the ones who choose to spend time on those things. WE choose to get on Facebook. WE choose who we talk to, flirt with, meet up with, and pursue a relationship with. WE choose to spend all day on Twilight message boards. WE choose to give lunch to a virtual cow rather than make lunch for our own children.

When we pass the blame onto a web site or book or game, we’re ultimately removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on some “thing.”

The truth of the matter is divorce happens because a person or both people fail to live up to their responsibility as a husband or wife. It’s not the fault of Facebook or FarmVille. Those things can be vehicles which help get us off track, but ultimately the responsibility falls on us.

That is why it is so important to have a marriage that is grounded in Christ. If anything else is the basis of our relationship or marriage, we’re building it on a weak foundation.

A few days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported a story that, unfortunately, is not very surprising. However, for many parents it might be. According to the story, in many ways parents are clueless as to what their teens are doing on social networks. The survey polled 1,013 teens and 1,002 parents. Here’s some of the results they found:

• 37% of teens said they used social networks to make fun of other students, but only 18% of parents believe their own angels do so.
• 13% of teens said they posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves. Only 2% of parents said their kids have done that.
• 24% of teens said they signed on to someone else’s account without permission, while only 4% of parents said their kids have done that.
• 28% of teens posted personal information that they normally would not have revealed in public, but 16% of parents said their kids did that.

It’s very important that parents understand what their teens are doing online. Many parents don’t want to invade the “privacy” of their teen, but it’s also important that parents keep their teen safe and away from illegal or potentially dangerous actions. It’s one thing for a teen to take Facebook quiz called “What Twilight star am I?” It’s another for a teen to post naked or sexually suggestive pictures and/or personal information such as a cell phone number or home address.

Many parents will want to see these stats and think, “That’s disturbing. But my kid isn’t involved in that.” Seems like the majority of the 1,002 parents said the same thing. Look how many of them were wrong.

To read the full story, click here: What Parents Think Teens Are Doing on Social Networks and What the Teens Are Actually Doing

Here’s something a little different.

Today, Jacob Riggs and I recorded a podcast for The Brink. The Brink podcast is the audio arm of The Brink devotional magazine and small group studies for twentysomethings.

Today’s topics included The Bachelorette, steroids in baseball, a Christian’s view of torture, and your mom on Facebook.

If you’d like to listen, visit thebrinkonline.com or visit the direct link to the podcast by clicking here.

Also, you can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes. We’d really love you if you did that!

Enjoy!

This morning when I opened Facebook, I had an interesting message from one of my friends. Here’s a sample of what he said (he gave me permission to use this):

David, you are my conduit into the social network world. What do you/your friends do about “messaging” or talking with married women? Women who were friends but are no longer as close. I…include them on “group” messages but never make it seem special. Hmmm. . .those are my thoughts. I bet TONS OF GUYS flirt with married women on here. And some of these women have some crazy pictures!…thanks for being my conduit.

That seems to be a topic that we don’t talk about too often. Our parents never told us “Don’t talk with someone who is married of the opposite sex on Facebook” because that wasn’t an issue 10 years ago. That wasn’t an issue 5 years. In many ways, that has only become an issue in the last year.

Where do we draw the line when communicating with a married individual of the opposite sex through social networking? Should it be off limits completely? Should it be for professional/work-related use only? Is it completely harmless?

Is there a clear line, and how do we know if we have crossed it?

Did the title make you curious? Hopefully not from personal experience.

On Tuesday, Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports reported a story that really made me turn my head and question, “Can they do that?” Here’s the opening of Robinson’s article”

The woman in the Facebook picture is attractive, with auburn hair and icy blue eyes. She is flanked by several other women, each armed with an inviting smile and curvy features. Along with the photo is a hopeful note from the female “fan” asking to be added to a player’s personal networking profile.

The twist? These women don’t actually exist, at least not in the way that some unsuspecting NFL prospects are led to believe. Indeed, they are a figment of one NFL team’s imagination – a phony Facebook profile, used as a tool by one franchise in the pre-draft vetting process. A Trojan horse that, when used effectively, unlocks a door to a world of Internet pictures and information which most NFL teams are now consistently compiling to help polish their dossiers on draft picks.

“It works like magic,” said a personnel source that was familiar with his team’s tactic of using counterfeit profiles to link to Facebook and Myspace pages of potential draft picks. The source directed Yahoo! Sports to one of the team’s “ghost profiles” – a term he coined because “once the draft is over, they disappear. It’s like they were never there.”

For those of you who are confused, let me break it down a little bit. The NFL Draft is coming up and NFL teams are about to invest millions of dollars in collegiate athletes. Before players get drafted, athletes are evaluated in every single way. They get asked questions that can range from their favorite type of dance to how dealt with their parents’ divorce when they were 7. Every answer, action, and movement is analyzed, reanalyzed, and overanalyzed.

Now, an NFL team has decided to take things a step further. They are created fake Facebook profiles of women and trying to entice these former college players to accept the bait and accept the friend request. Once they do, the people behind the fake profile go in and analyze every bit of information and picture on the player’s profile. 

It’s not a secret that many colleges do something similar. While I am not aware of universities creating “fake” profiles, I do know colleges go in and look at the profiles of potential college students. For some, all it takes is 1 glimpse of underage drinking or illegal activity for them to dismiss a student’s application.

I am even aware that before I was hired at my current job, there is a great possibility that my Facebook and MySpace profiles were analyzed. However, if they were, I’m confident they weren’t done through deceitful measures. 

It seems like this unnamed NFL team has taken things a step further. They’re pretending to be someone they are not, and are purposely trying to lure a prospective NFL player into a trap.

I understand teams want to know everything they can about a person before they invest millions of dollars in them, but is this taking things too far?

What are you thoughts about this? Is the NFL taking things too far? Does college and universities take things too far?

Read Charles Robinson’s entire article by clicking here.

First of all, let me say congratulations to Senator Barack Obama on becoming the 44th President of the United States. Last night was a tremendous day in history, and January 20 will be another historic day when you are sworn into office.

Now that I’ve said that, let me get into a discussion on something I believe needs to be addressed: The whiny attitudes of some Christians the day after the election.

Yes, John McCain did not win the election. There are many evangelicals disappointed today. Disappointment is fine. There is nothing wrong with it. But sour and hateful attitudes? Yes, there is definitely something wrong with that.

I do not agree with Senator Obama on many issues. If you know me at all, you know that is true. There are policies he will put into place that I will not agree with. However, I do NOT have a right to slander him because of those things.

In Romans 13:1-2, Paul wrote, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” 

I am not arguing you have to agree with everything the president says or does. But, you must be willing to submit to his authority. He is the leader of the United States. He is our leader. 

Consider this: Does it make you angry when the liberal media takes cruel shots at President Bush or John McCain or Sarah Palin? What gives you the right to do the same thing to a president you didn’t vote for?

Our country does need “change,” but we can’t expect change to happen if we sit by idly and do nothing. If you really want to see change, do something about it!!! First of all, vote! If you didn’t vote in this election, then close your mouth! Read more…

The social networking sites of Facebook and MySpace need no introduction. Even if you’ve been living in a cave for the last 80 years with no electricity, you probably have at least 1 social networking page, and you’ve probably SuperPoked someone in the last 24 hours as well.

MySpace launched August, 2003. Facebook come along about a half-year after in February, 2004.

At the start of the social networking wars, MySpace took a dominant lead with users. It was the most publicized and talked-about SN site on the net. However, over the past year, things have started to change…

In July 2008, 132 million people visited Facebook as opposed to 117 million for MySpace. From looking at many different statistics, it seems Facebook is beginning to win the SN battle. Some analysts have no idea why this change in trend has occurred, but I have several suggestions as to why Facebook has become more popular than MySpace:

1. Security/Privacy
Let’s be honest: The name “MySpace” carries the connotation of perverts, pedophiles, and sexual predators in many circles. We’ve all seen it in the news–men posing as young boys to lure teenage girls. MySpace does not do much to police itself. Even though there are security checks, they are easy to bypass and it is very easy to pose as someone you are not. Read more…