Cyber Theft

That title gets one's attention, right? 

I will tell you from the get-go that this post is gonna' be long-winded, so to keep you interested I will intersperse some random pictures of my quilts into the text. *wink* 

Picnic at Daybreak.

Since 2009, I have occupied this small space in the interwebs, recording my quilt-making journey since retiring from full-time teaching. I'd spent a significant portion of the previous 30 years journaling the old-fashioned way with my high school students. With hushed classical music playing in the background, we spent a few minutes each class period writing in journals; I was 'modeling' the behavior of daily writing, and whether or not they were earnest in their efforts, at least they were seeing me faithfully scribbling away each day.

Knowing myself as a slacker, I knew I would not be so devoted in my writing once I left the classroom, and for this reason I opted to try blogging. With others potentially waiting to read what I wrote, I would have to be accountable for regular posting. I chose to focus on one of my favorite topics - quilting. For years, I'd stressed to students that the best writing comes when it's about the topics for which one has a passion. Since I intended to do a lot of quilting in my retirement, I would also be accountable to myself - I couldn't write about quilting regularly if I weren't making quilts regularly.

And that is what I have done since the first post on August 19, 2009, a whopping 13 years ago, almost to the day. Last Friday was my blogging anniversary. Hooray!!

Charm About You.

So what all has happened in the last 13 years? First, I have learned that keeping this blog has come to serve additional purposes. It helps me remember what all I have made and when I made it. One bonus is that faithful, regular posting provides me with a complete record of all my work. Plus, I can sometimes glean other details about the past 13 years, like when we went to a certain place, or who of my quilting friends made this or that. More than once I've had a friend tell me they used my blog to look up when we worked on a specific project. 

These are the very pleasing benefits to sharing my little quilt-making journey with the world. Oh, there are more - I connect with other quilters from all around the globe; I actually email and message some; I have learned some techie skills that I would never have learned had I not been blogging; I have expanded my quilting community through Pinterest and Instagram; and I have gained so much inspiration! My quilting plans continue to expand as I see more and more gorgeous quilts I want to make. All good things.

Lady of the Lakes.

And with the good, we also have some bad. Initially, what we think might be bad, actually isn't. For a long time I have been aware of people posting pictures from my blog on Pinterest. Let me tell you, that is a very weird experience to be casually scrolling through Pinterest and suddenly see one of your own pictures pop up there! 

When I click the picture and it takes me to my own blog, then I know that someone liked my quilt well enough that they wanted to save it to their Pinterest boards. This is legit. After all, I am the one who shared my picture with cyberspace. I certainly love looking at the quilts of others, so it seems a fair trade-off. Heck, I probably have gained a few readers/followers because of Pinterest.

English Elegance.

The truly negative part is when clicking on the picture does NOT take me to my blog. On several occasions, twice very recently, I have learned of someone claiming my pictures as his/her own. This is dishonest. This is theft. And sadly, this is common.

When the hijacker has a name, it is probably a fake one; more often he/she is using a generic group name to hide behind. In either case, anyone who comments to say that the picture isn't theirs soon finds themselves blocked from further interaction on the site. 

The two pictures most frequently hijacked from my blog are one of my late grandmother standing beside one of her quilts (click here to see), and one of my scrappy Long Road Home (click here to see). Both were posted on my blog before I began adding my watermark blog name on top of the picture (they are so marked now). I learned that doing this limits (but does not halt) the likelihood of photos being swiped. 

My most-often reposted picture; Grandma standing with one of her quilts.

I share all this with you to make you aware - in case you aren't - that not all you see on the internet can be believed. Shocking, right? If you see something you like on a blog or on any of the numerous social media sites, go ahead and save it or share it, and give credit to the creator of the item when possible. 

Another oft-reposted picture; Long Road Home.

If you see something that seems suspicious, it is probably healthy to be skeptical. If someone is taking one of my pictures and claiming it as their own, then you can be sure that it is happening elsewhere. I hope they aren't using my pictures for some nefarious purpose, but who knows? In the least, they are misrepresenting themselves and souring my blogging journey.

I have no take away from this. I will continue to blog. I will continue to watermark photos. I am going back to those old posts to replace pictures with watermarked ones. 

If you have stayed with me through all of this, thank you. I knew from the start that it would be long. Hopefully it has also been informative. I would be glad to learn of ways others have combated similar theft, but I accept that I cannot prevent it, nor do I care to devote valuable time to curbing it. 

I just hope that at some point karma steps in on those dishonest sorts.

Happy Quilting, Friends!