Plagiarism? Hmmmmm....
I was thinking about Xialanxue's post on people plagiarizing her site, and suddenly it struck me - there is vaguely nothing to plagiarize on her site. If you take a look at it, most of her posts are 'reports', where she quotes others, puts up links, or displays photos/screenshots. Her opinions/views in these posts are mainly limited to the title, scattered sentences over the post, or maybe a provocative ending statement (perhaps in the style of a rhetorical question, or a general open ended 'What do you think?' style question). And of course, as the title of her blog suggests, she does flame people from time to time on her blog (mainly of course that person whose name appears in the title). But it appears to me that her opinions about things she blogs about appears mainly in her 'flames', and that she seldom, if ever, makes long comments about issues she 'reports', unless she personally wants to flame the person.
So basically her accusation of other bloggers plagiarizing her over the Wee Shu Min incident was baffling. Up till the point of time where she put up that post, all her posts on Wee Shu Min were basically reports, on what Shu Min said (which incidentally did appear word for word on many many other websites) I guess Shu Min would be the one yelling plagiarism, not XLX? But ohhhh they are all in quote form. And since XLX quoted Shu Min, and others quoted Shu Min too, is that plagiarism? Hmmmm.... Yes, many other webpages I've surfed to do quote Shu Min in a similar fashion to XLX, but then again, it would be normal to put her original post up, and then her 'apology'. And none of them quote Derek Wee simply because his post is still where it was when the saga started. Perhaps the sites she refers to also puts up Shu Min's photos in the same style, but hey, as she herself knows, a blog isn't a private affair (at least not on blogspot), and who's to say they didn't manage to stumble across the pictures themselves?
What also puzzled me was her lack of evidence of actual plagiarism. The reason I actually read her blog to start with was because when she flammed Xiaxue, she actually put up proof. It was intriguing to see someone actually provide some hard facts as to why Xiaxue isn't all that great, as compared to people who just simply commented on her blog, on their blogs and on forums. And usually when she complains about someone/something, she'd put up tons of evidence supporting her claim. However, she has neglected to do so in her post on plagiarism. The obvious answer to the why she didn't do that was that she didn't want to help publicise these blogs. But wouldn't screen shots with the webpage censored (by photoshop or whatever) serve well as proof? Yes, she can always say she can't be bothered. Hmmm... But is that really the case here?
Let me try something amusing. Here's a screenshot of XLX's post put up after her plagiarism post.
And here's a link to my post. I will not be putting up screenshots of my post because it will definitely still be there for you to see, unless someone else (not one of the contributors to this blog that is) hacks into the site and yanks it down for me. As you can see from the last 2 paragraphs of my post, what I have circled in XLX's post is indeed, very similar to what I have written.
The Comparison
1. Her post:
I have read some forums (definitely not the majority of forums I have to admit), and while most people keep harping on the point that blogs are not private, they usually do not mention that blogspot does not have a private post function. I mentioned only Live Journal as a blog that allows for private posts simply because I know from Shu Min's class page that she knows of the existence of such a blog host. Xanga also allows for this. But XLX also chooses to use Live Journal as an example. Coincidence? I don't see why not.
2. Her post:
Wow, amazing! Someone actually came to the same conclusion as me. I am not that weird after all >.<. There looks like there is a slight difference in viewpoint though. XLX may actually be implying that Shu Min's 'friends' may not be true friends after all, leaking out her post on purpose in order to bring in bad publicity to Shu Min. I wouldn't know, I'm not XLX. All I can say is that it's very easy for anyone to understand how I came to believe that one of Shu Min's friends was actually responsible for the leak. I'm a Rafflesian, and I don't agree with Shu Min's viewpoint, or her post. In RJC, it's highly likely that you'd be connected to any of your schoolmates by at most 3 degrees. With blogs becoming ever so popular, you'd probably be able to find almost any other schoolmate's blog just by clicking on links. Hence, if you're a Rafflesian who doesn't agree with Shu Min's post, you randomly chance on it by blog surfing, and you decide to share your opinions with others - Viola! a Rafflesian has 'made public' Shu Min's private blog.
As to how XLX could come to this conclusion too, well, why not? You definitely don't need to come from Raffles to think of something like that.
But let's say I want to accuse Xialanxue of plagiarizing my post. Do I have hard evidence? Obviously not. She probably hasn't even heard of this blog. But I have more screenshots to support my 'claim'.
Same date as my post.
o.O. Approximately 1 hour later than my post. And this 1 hour difference doesn't take into account the fact that Puffy set this blog to Chicago time, so basically after my post went up, XLX actually had 1/2 a day to go read it and plagiarize it *gigglez*. Thank you, Ruixian, for pointing out the similarities in the date and time of the posts.
Mere coincidences? Let me list a couple more.
1. Xialanxue says that she is angry that a blog operated by 4 people plagiarized her blog; and these 4 people have been doing it since September.
Wow. This IS a blog with 4 contributors. Yes, it's been pointed out to me that there are many many blogs out there with 4 contributors. Not very sure what the September thing means. Plagiarizing her since September? Or operating since September. But if it's the latter, there are still plenty of blogs with 4 contributors that started in September this year. However, if you take into account the fact that these bloggers are very likely to come from Singapore (unless the whole world is actually interested in Ms Wee and her dad), the field is narrowed down alot. Thank you, Licai, for pointing this out to me. But this still doesn't mean that it's this blog XLX is referring to. After all, I have already pointed out in my previous post why my post can't be the post XLX is referring to.
2. XLX suddenly comes up with 2 paragraphs worth of opinions just after her post on plagiarism, when she usually comments in one-liners on issues she is 'reporting'. As shown above, the opinions in those 2 paragraphs are strikingly similar to those in my post.
Coincidence + coincidence + coincidence + coincidence = Not coincidence after all?
Seriously, I really can't be bothered to even ask XLX if this blog is the one she was referring to. (Read: so stop asking me to!) If it isn't, she'd obviously tell me no. And if it is, her reply would probably be something along the lines of 'why should I be bothered to read your blog, who are you compared to me, you are not worth my time.' Actually, come to think of it, even if it wasn't she could still answer in that manner. Of course there is the idea that she did plagiarize me, then covered up first by saying that I plagiarized her, which would be the reason for the lack of any plagiarizing evidence on her site. After all, who would ever find out she's the one who did the plagiarizing. This blog has like a readership of 20-30/day, nothing compared to hers.
But the real reason I'm not even going to bother to ask if this is the site she's accusing of plagiarism is that this IS the internet, and this blog, like hers, and like so many others, is not private. Who's to say who came up with the idea first? And even if you can claim you came up with the idea before someone else did, he/she may have copied that idea from someone who came up with it before you, not from you. Believe me, if I truly wanted to plagiarize XLX's blog, she'd find it really hard to prove; come to think of it, she probably wouldn't even notice.
However, given her style of posting, I seriously have no idea what XLX is so pissed about in her plagiarism post.
So basically her accusation of other bloggers plagiarizing her over the Wee Shu Min incident was baffling. Up till the point of time where she put up that post, all her posts on Wee Shu Min were basically reports, on what Shu Min said (which incidentally did appear word for word on many many other websites) I guess Shu Min would be the one yelling plagiarism, not XLX? But ohhhh they are all in quote form. And since XLX quoted Shu Min, and others quoted Shu Min too, is that plagiarism? Hmmmm.... Yes, many other webpages I've surfed to do quote Shu Min in a similar fashion to XLX, but then again, it would be normal to put her original post up, and then her 'apology'. And none of them quote Derek Wee simply because his post is still where it was when the saga started. Perhaps the sites she refers to also puts up Shu Min's photos in the same style, but hey, as she herself knows, a blog isn't a private affair (at least not on blogspot), and who's to say they didn't manage to stumble across the pictures themselves?
What also puzzled me was her lack of evidence of actual plagiarism. The reason I actually read her blog to start with was because when she flammed Xiaxue, she actually put up proof. It was intriguing to see someone actually provide some hard facts as to why Xiaxue isn't all that great, as compared to people who just simply commented on her blog, on their blogs and on forums. And usually when she complains about someone/something, she'd put up tons of evidence supporting her claim. However, she has neglected to do so in her post on plagiarism. The obvious answer to the why she didn't do that was that she didn't want to help publicise these blogs. But wouldn't screen shots with the webpage censored (by photoshop or whatever) serve well as proof? Yes, she can always say she can't be bothered. Hmmm... But is that really the case here?
Let me try something amusing. Here's a screenshot of XLX's post put up after her plagiarism post.
And here's a link to my post. I will not be putting up screenshots of my post because it will definitely still be there for you to see, unless someone else (not one of the contributors to this blog that is) hacks into the site and yanks it down for me. As you can see from the last 2 paragraphs of my post, what I have circled in XLX's post is indeed, very similar to what I have written.The Comparison
1. Her post:
With regards to the term "private blog", blogspot, unlike livejournal, does not have a feature to restrict access to "friends only". It is widely understood that postings on blogspot can be read and seen by anyone on the internet.My post:
In response to his daughter's comments on her 'private' blog (I didn't know blogspot blogs had a private function)... (1st paragraph)My comments:
From one of Shu Min's posts on her class website (link not going to be provided because people will always find something to say about RJC students and I don't feel like adding to this by providing fodder), she obviously knows of Live Journal, which allows for locked posts that only selected people can view. (2nd last paragraph)
I have read some forums (definitely not the majority of forums I have to admit), and while most people keep harping on the point that blogs are not private, they usually do not mention that blogspot does not have a private post function. I mentioned only Live Journal as a blog that allows for private posts simply because I know from Shu Min's class page that she knows of the existence of such a blog host. Xanga also allows for this. But XLX also chooses to use Live Journal as an example. Coincidence? I don't see why not.
2. Her post:
Another point to note is that if Ms Wee's blog was only read by her "friends", that also means that the entry was "made public" by her "friends" as well.My post:
And while it is understandable that previously, only her friends knew of the website, all it takes is for one person to share it with an outsider who doesn't agree with her opinions and the whole of Singapore (well, at least those with an internet connection...) will be invited to view the post of an uncaring elitist who is incapable of feeling sympathy for someone less fortunate than herself. (2nd last paragraph)My comments:
o.O. Doesn't that mean that it is highly likely that a fellow Rafflesian actually leaked out Shu Min's post? (last paragraph)
Wow, amazing! Someone actually came to the same conclusion as me. I am not that weird after all >.<. There looks like there is a slight difference in viewpoint though. XLX may actually be implying that Shu Min's 'friends' may not be true friends after all, leaking out her post on purpose in order to bring in bad publicity to Shu Min. I wouldn't know, I'm not XLX. All I can say is that it's very easy for anyone to understand how I came to believe that one of Shu Min's friends was actually responsible for the leak. I'm a Rafflesian, and I don't agree with Shu Min's viewpoint, or her post. In RJC, it's highly likely that you'd be connected to any of your schoolmates by at most 3 degrees. With blogs becoming ever so popular, you'd probably be able to find almost any other schoolmate's blog just by clicking on links. Hence, if you're a Rafflesian who doesn't agree with Shu Min's post, you randomly chance on it by blog surfing, and you decide to share your opinions with others - Viola! a Rafflesian has 'made public' Shu Min's private blog.
As to how XLX could come to this conclusion too, well, why not? You definitely don't need to come from Raffles to think of something like that.
But let's say I want to accuse Xialanxue of plagiarizing my post. Do I have hard evidence? Obviously not. She probably hasn't even heard of this blog. But I have more screenshots to support my 'claim'.
Same date as my post.
o.O. Approximately 1 hour later than my post. And this 1 hour difference doesn't take into account the fact that Puffy set this blog to Chicago time, so basically after my post went up, XLX actually had 1/2 a day to go read it and plagiarize it *gigglez*. Thank you, Ruixian, for pointing out the similarities in the date and time of the posts.Mere coincidences? Let me list a couple more.
1. Xialanxue says that she is angry that a blog operated by 4 people plagiarized her blog; and these 4 people have been doing it since September.
Wow. This IS a blog with 4 contributors. Yes, it's been pointed out to me that there are many many blogs out there with 4 contributors. Not very sure what the September thing means. Plagiarizing her since September? Or operating since September. But if it's the latter, there are still plenty of blogs with 4 contributors that started in September this year. However, if you take into account the fact that these bloggers are very likely to come from Singapore (unless the whole world is actually interested in Ms Wee and her dad), the field is narrowed down alot. Thank you, Licai, for pointing this out to me. But this still doesn't mean that it's this blog XLX is referring to. After all, I have already pointed out in my previous post why my post can't be the post XLX is referring to.
2. XLX suddenly comes up with 2 paragraphs worth of opinions just after her post on plagiarism, when she usually comments in one-liners on issues she is 'reporting'. As shown above, the opinions in those 2 paragraphs are strikingly similar to those in my post.
Coincidence + coincidence + coincidence + coincidence = Not coincidence after all?
Seriously, I really can't be bothered to even ask XLX if this blog is the one she was referring to. (Read: so stop asking me to!) If it isn't, she'd obviously tell me no. And if it is, her reply would probably be something along the lines of 'why should I be bothered to read your blog, who are you compared to me, you are not worth my time.' Actually, come to think of it, even if it wasn't she could still answer in that manner. Of course there is the idea that she did plagiarize me, then covered up first by saying that I plagiarized her, which would be the reason for the lack of any plagiarizing evidence on her site. After all, who would ever find out she's the one who did the plagiarizing. This blog has like a readership of 20-30/day, nothing compared to hers.
But the real reason I'm not even going to bother to ask if this is the site she's accusing of plagiarism is that this IS the internet, and this blog, like hers, and like so many others, is not private. Who's to say who came up with the idea first? And even if you can claim you came up with the idea before someone else did, he/she may have copied that idea from someone who came up with it before you, not from you. Believe me, if I truly wanted to plagiarize XLX's blog, she'd find it really hard to prove; come to think of it, she probably wouldn't even notice.
However, given her style of posting, I seriously have no idea what XLX is so pissed about in her plagiarism post.
posted by Shelly at 11:58 PM
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