As most of you know by now, there is massive drama going on in the YA blogging community once again. This time it concerns one of the biggest bloggers: Kristi from The Story Siren. Long story short: she has been accused of plagiarism, tried to sweep it under the rug, it came out anyway, she half-apologised, everyone got very angry, she apologised again, this time better. If you want more information about what happened and the evidence of plagiarism, there are a lot of blogs that have this information and are easy to find by searching for "The Story Siren" + "plagiarism".
I'm not joining the "did she do it or did she not" discussion here, this post is only meant to explain why I personally decided not to participate in the In My Mailbox meme any more. Everyone can decide for themselves where they stand on this.
The worst offence here for me isn't the plagiarism itself. No, she shouldn't have done it and she should have known better. But if she had just said "Oops! I'm so sorry! I'm adding your name as an inspiration to these posts right now!" that would have been fine with me. The fact that she tried to hide it made it worse for me. She consciously lied about it to thousands of her readers. I do not accept this, and refuse to support her blog. She has tons of ads on there, and I don't want her to make money off me after all this. I'm not going as far as some bloggers, who are not only boycotting The Story Siren but all products and publishers that are associated with her (for example - they're not buying Insurgent). I'm just not considering myself one of her readers and will not act like one.
There are tons of alternatives to show of your mailbox springing up, including memes hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea and Tynga at Tynga's Reviews, and I'm sure more will follow later today. I hope over time these memes can be united to one again (:
Update: Another substitute is hosted by Kimberly over at Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
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It is all such a shame isn't it. So many bloggers especially newbies looked up to her. I agree it wasn't necessarily the plagiarism but the lies that followed.
I saw that Kimberly has a new meme today as well--
http://kimbathecaffeinatedbookreviewer.blogspot.fr/
It is.. I feel a bit sad for all the people that looked up to her - they must be very hurt. She makes the whole blogging community look bad.
I decided not to participate anymore as well, instead I made a new post for my blog for fun :) It was the lying that did it for me too, but I'm glad that people are starting their own things now!
Yeah, Kimba has a new one as well. :) It's such a shame but I'm the same as you - I hate plagiarism but what shocked me the most was the fact that she lied about it. That definitely put me off so I'm not even following her, not even on Twitter. I do hope these memes can be united to one again but even if it's not going to happen, I'm happy with all of these alternatives. :)
I'm now participating in the Showcase Sunday meme by Vicky. I honestly haven't had a clue what has been going on so checked it out. I just don't understand it really. Plagiarism is such a big no no and its been drummed into me especially being a uni student. I think the backtracking and stuff was worse though. I just won't be participating in the IMM meme but wouldn't take it as far as some with not reading books associated with her.
Thanks for pointing it out Beth, I added it to the post!
Me too (: I've felt that TSS was dominating the meme a bit too much for a while, it's nice to see that other people have a chance to make a meme too.
I added Kimba's to the list as well now ^^. Good thing that you remind me, I unfollowed her from Twitter too. I really shouldn't be visiting her site any more (unsubscribed from RSS and everything), but I keep on spying on her to see how many people still do IMM.
It's fun to see all these other new memes. If I get something in my mailbox the upcoming week I'll probably just enter in a big bunch of them xD
I know, I can't even phantom doing something like that. Stealing someone else's work is something you don't do, ever, and if it's inspired by someone else's work you give them proper credit in your post. It's not like people get angry about that.
Oh well, I just hope everything calms down soon, I'm not liking all the name-calling and mean comments. (:
HAHAHAHAHA me too! I keep spying on the blog to see how many people still do IMM :D We're so cruel.
I heard about this too and I agree with you, Celine. The plagarizing obviously isn't cool, but if she had properly apologized and given credit where it was due all would've been forgiven. But lying - that is probably the worst thing she could have done in that position. I've also unfollowed her and, while I never participated in IMM, I'm thinking about joining Vicky's new meme.
Thanks for the shout-out and appreciate your opinions ..
Not buying Insurgent, as an example, is one of the things I felt was going way too far and just stirring the pot..
You're welcome Kimba (:
Yeah, that went too far for me too. It feels like you're just hurting the author then, which is something you wouldn't want
Yeah, exactly. It's so sad really, this didn't have to be such a drama. If it would have just been dealt with immediately the damage would be a LOT less drastic.
Looks like a lot of people are joining Vicky's in this one, I'll probably join that one too (:
Hahaha, we're way too similar! And a teeny tiny bit awful xD
Also, YOU want to read it so why shouldn't you enjoy something just because somebody else who is barely connected to the book screwed up.
I agree with you. I don't want to support it anymore and I don't want to be part of that. Not buying books and stuff like that goes too far for me. I just stopped following her blog and participate in her memes and giveaways :)
So I'm now with Vicky!
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