Squidlog.net

AJ is Musing about the people who give so much time to help run the Community of Squidoo and make it such a great place to publish and network

I had planned a post about the new Squidoo Angels who took to the Squidoo skies at the beginning of April and I still plan an article about them, but today I have decided to pay tribute to all the Squidoo “volunteers”.

When I joined Squidoo in July 2008, I think there were about 750,000 lenses. This has gone up to around 1.3 million!! I don’t have a clue how many Lensmasters are registered….

When you look at those numbers and the number of people actually on the paid HQ Team, (is it eight?) then it’s obvious the only way the site can run is with the help of volunteers. During my time on Squidoo there’s been Squidoo Angels, Mentors, Citizens, Greeters and Giant Squid Challenge Teamleaders (who could ever forget Joan’s Cheerleader Avatar!) plus a whole host of Lensmasters without a title, but who have also given their time to help people find their way on Squidoo. They critique lenses, they answer calls for help, they organise networks and support groups and they share Squidoo tips and ideas. They do it without a badge or a title because they are community minded.

Every one of these people, the Volunteers with and without titles, is a Lensmaster like you and me. They have their own lenses to manage and nurture and I know from my own personal experience that often your own lenses suffer while you are helping others with theirs.

But not only are these volunteers Lensmasters like you and me, they are human too. They have their own view of the world about what appeals to them in other people’s lenses, what they think is OK and what is not. Everyone is different and their view may be different to your’s.

The Volunteers who have been selected by HQ to fulfill specific roles have been chosen because HQ believes that, whichever way they decide to do their job, they will do it with honesty and integrity. And I would say that 99% of the time, this is exactly what happens.

Now I am not here to speculate or discuss what happens 1% of the time, because I want us to stop and think about the 99% and pay tribute to what the volunteers do, for the benefit of everyone who cares about the Community of Squidoo.

It is so easy, particularly when we have no responsibility, to start questioning how others with responsibility conduct themselves and to start shouting “foul”, the minute we believe they have got something wrong. It also seems to be human nature to find it easier to complain when we think something is wrong but forget to smile and say “great work”, when it goes right.

So, all I want to say here is thank you to all these Squidoo Volunteers and can the rest of us please redress the balance?

Whenever you want to raise a concern or suggest something is not going right, can you also  mention something you like or something that IS going right? Because to be honest I think that there is more going right on Squidoo than is not going right and we all need to stop and remember that sometimes.

On a similar note...

• AJ is Musing about the Squidoo Community (4)
• When being nice in Squidoo Guestbooks doesn’t necessarily help anyone! (4)
• Recipe lenses on Squidoo – what are the copyright and potential TOS issues? (11)
• The Community is the Thing (2)
• Seeing Some Squidoo Change Lately (1)

Visit the Squidoo Top 100 and you will always see some recipe lenses. Do a search for a specific recipe on Squidoo and I bet you will nearly always find it. Recipes are popular on Squidoo but are they always what they seem?

There seems to be some confusion among Squidoo Lensmasters about what does and not constitute plagiarism and copyright violations as far as recipes are concerned. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I am sure that “someone” told me once that there is no copyright on a list of ingredients but you cannot legally copy a method on to a website or Squidoo lens and it is best to write it all in your own words.

Clearly, not all Lensmasters re-write the methods, as I have seen many a recipe lens where I have copied and pasted content  into a Google search box and the ingredients and method appear all over the internet. This may lead some Lensmasters to believe that because a recipe IS all over the internet, then no one owns the rights to it and they can reproduce it word for word on a lens.

Hmmm….I would be VERY careful if the sites owned by Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver are listing those recipes!

So what DOES the law say?

In an attempt to clarify the situation, I did what I always do when some serious Squidoo research is required and I posted a question at the SquidU forum. I asked what people thought and had some very interesting responses.

Leanne Chesser did some digging around (thanks Leanne) at the US  Copyright Office Website (on recipes), where she found:

“Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, when a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection.

Protection under the copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code, section 102) extends only to ‘original works of authorship’ that are fixed in a tangible form (a copy). ‘Original’ means merely that the author produced the work by his own intellectual effort, as distinguished from copying an existing work. Copyright protection may extend to a description, explanation, or illustration, assuming that the requirements of the copyright law are met.”

So we are taking that to mean that what I said earlier is the case. Re-write “the substantial literary expression” (the method) in your own words.

BUT…

I think what upsets people more than anything is if no acknowledgment of the source is cited on the Lens. By not acknowledging the source, the impression is given that it is your own original recipe and that is where accusations of deceit and *gasp* even plagiarism could be made.

As far as the Squidoo TOS are concerned, breaches of copyright remain the responsibility of the individual Lensmasters as they retain ownership of the content of their lenses. However, Plagiarism is a clear Squidoo TOS violation, can be reported and can result in your lens being locked. (For a great lens about Plagiarism, visit Susanna Duffy’s lens: What is Plagiarism?)

And what about those recipes that are handed down through the generations?

My Bread Sauce recipe, is a very old traditional recipe, which my Father uses and which my Grandmother taught him. I think the first time it was written down was when I made the lens on which it is featured.

My Dad also taught me the art of making perfect gravy but it was Delia Smith, a well known English TV Chef, who gave me the idea to add red wine to it. (Dad hates red wine, so he would never have thought of that!) So I make sure that Delia is credited on the Lens and of course that provides me with some material for an Amazon module!

Lensmaster Lou16 makes a very interesting contribution to the discussion, when she says:

“Some people who publish recipes don’t even realize that they were originally in printed form……I have a recipe that I was going to publish, but hadn’t got around to. It was written down on a piece of paper by my hubby’s great aunt and she was ‘famous’ in his hometown for it, I had planned to put in a little anecdote about her and include the recipe – lucky I didn’t because earlier this year I was looking through an old recipe book and there it was – word for word! Who knows if someone else took Loma’s recipe or if she copied it off of them?”

I am thinking though that Lou can still make the lens. She should scan the ingredients list from the recipe and use it as an illustration on the lens and tell the story she told us. Lou should link to or credit the original recipe book and make sure she describes the method differently.

For me the best recipe lenses are ones that tell a personal story. They say who taught the cook to make the dish. Was it passed down from Grandmothers and Mothers or Dads like mine was? We really do want to know!

Kate Phizackerly makes a cautionary comment:

“People might wish to reflect on the fact that copyright works both ways. If recipes cannot be copyrighted, then recipes in a lens aren’t copyright either so it’s OK for people to lift those recipes for their own lens. It means the success of recipe lenses comes down very much to the SEO ability of lensmasters.”

Kate has a good point, but I actually think it is not just good SEO that makes Squidoo recipe lenses successful. The difference between the best Squidoo recipe lenses and the ones you find on sites all over the internet, is that many tell a story. There’s also some very active Squidoo Recipe Groups and Blogs, that help promote high standards of recipe lenses on Squidoo. Giant Squid Organiser Robin (Lensmaster rms) runs Cabaret Squidoo, Correen (Lensamster Clouda9) has started up a Squidlog Blog:  Squidoo Chefmasters and of course the most well known Chef of all on Squidoo is Chef Keem who invented the famous Sea Salt Caramel Truffles.

Good recipe lens etiquette

Recipe lenses can contribute to your family history, like many lenses you publish, you are leaving what could turn out to be quite a legacy. So surely it is far better to be honest rather than create the impression that you are coming up with original recipes?

And do remember, just a quick “ctrl + C” (copy) and a quick “ctrl + V” (paste) into a Google search box could return thousands of websites with that very exact same recipe featured and you are rumbled!

If the recipe was handed down, then say so. If you don’t know the original source, then say that as well. It seems to me that in the interests of openness and transparency, it makes sense to cite your sources on all recipe lenses.

Or should that be cite your sauces

Featured image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License

On a similar note...

• When being nice in Squidoo Guestbooks doesn’t necessarily help anyone! (4)
• Missing old friends on the Squidoo SquidU Forum and a new AJ (9)
• AJ is Musing about the Squidoo Community (4)
• Thankful for the Volunteers on Squidoo (7)
• Feedback on Squidoo is sooooo important! (10)

AJ is musing about giving honest feedback to our fellow Lensmasters. Is it me? Or has there been an increase in comments in Guestbooks that are not quite believable?

According to my Squidoo Bio, in the last six months I have rated a good number of lenses. How do I know? I admit it – I have been keeping a tally! Yes, I know I am sad…

Note: RATED. This does not include what I suspect is a similar number of lenses I have visited and left without rating. The lenses where, for whatever reason, I did not feel inclined to leave even 1 star. The lenses that were either Squidoo TOS violations (and guess what happened in those cases – heh heh!) or they were under construction, or they were just so bad, that I got off them as quick as I could click!

I leave comments on every lens I rate 5 stars. I only ever leave positive comments in a Guestbook but I may contact a Lensmaster privately, where contact is enabled, if I think they may appreciate some feedback. Some respond with a thank you. Others I never hear from.

Other times I give feedback in the SquidU Forum, either because the lens has been posted in the Critique Me thread or the Lensmaster has asked for a Blessing. I hope I give feedback tactfully and sensitively in those situations where clearly the Lensmaster has a “long way to go” in Lenscrafting and I generally start off with saying something positive.

When I give feedback I remind myself of my early days on Squidoo, when I was trying to work out how to make a “decent” lens. I don’t remember how many lenses I visited before I felt confident enough to start on my very first lens, but I do remember it was at least a week after I first found Squidoo, before I actually took the plunge and joined.

Incidentally, before we go any further, this article is NOT having a go at people for not making good lenses the minute they join Squidoo, but I would like us Lensmasters to stop and think before we leave comments, that may be intended as being encouraging, but actually could be doing some damage.

It is very difficult to give honest and, what I consider, helpful feedback if everyone who has visited the lens before us has been “dishonestly nice” in their Guestbook comments!

What do I mean by dishonestly nice?

You land on a lens that is clearly in need of work and in the Guestbook there’s comments like “Great lens”, “Awesome lens”, etc etc.  Then there’s the lenses that are pure Spam and you see comments like “Useful information” and I want to scream “Useful to who, buddy?” Certainly not to Squidoo!

Certainly not to Lensmasters whose decent Lenses are appearing alongside this tat that needs vaporising. Certainly not to anyone checking out the quality of Lenses on Squidoo with a view to joining.

Either these Lenses will reassure Spammers that Spamming is OK or the people who want to publish quality lenses will be put off and go publish elsewhere instead.

Perhaps you want to support a new Lensmaster or someone who is a friend of yours on Squidoo?

Let’s be clear about this. If you tell them their lens is great, when actually it is not, you are actually not helping them. You are helping to delude them into thinking that what is a poor standard of Lenscrafting is a good one! You are denying them the opportunity (and the incentive) to produce better lenses.

I can understand if you find giving feedback hard. I can understand if you “don’t like” to be honest but you are making it almost impossible for those of us who DO feel comfortable giving feedback, to help these people.

Just picture it…

My favourite Lensmaster BellyButtonFluffRemovalExpert has produced Lens Number 5, which is yet another variation of the keyword phrase Belly Button Fluff Removal. He has been networking in various places. He seems pleasant enough. He is visiting other people. He is rating lenses, leaving well thought out comments. He hasn’t spammed anyone with links and he is contributing to Forum discussions. An all round decent chap!

Then he posts asking for a Squidoo Angel Blessing. Off I pop to check out the lens. Oh dear!

I am thinking this guy is wasting his talent on a tacky lens. He should be writing other stuff that has not been researched and published according to “advice” he has read in an out of date e-book bought from the latest Squidoo Guru.

In my mind I start formulating my feedback. I want to let him down gently. I want to help him. Then I get to the Guestbook.

“Great lens” *groan*

“Awesome lens” *groan* (again)

“Brilliant information. Thanks for sharing!” *sheesh!*

“Great resource. I gave it 5* and favorited!” WT………Flipping heck!!!!!!!!

So, I have a choice. Do I ignore and think “Ah well, you can’t save them all!”? Or do I think “OK, here goes and I am about to spoil the party…”?

Decisions! Decisions!

Now I am not suggesting that you should rip anyone’s lens to shreds in the Guestbook, remember:

Praise in public, criticise in private!

However, if you feel it is inappropriate to be completely honest or send them a private message, then please, please, just don’t say anything! Or perhaps drop them a line and suggest they post the lens in the Critique Me forum at SquidU to “get help and tips on how to make the lens even better”.

But here’s the controversial bit!

Of course, I suppose there is a different reason that some people leave complimentary comments in Squidoo Guestbooks, no matter what the content of the lens and that is because they are simply doing it to get reciprocal visits and ratings. Fortunately, I don’t think it happens that often, compared to all the genuine comments that are left.

On a similar note...

• Recipe lenses on Squidoo – what are the copyright and potential TOS issues? (11)
• Email Etiquette on Squidoo and the Net (Part 2) (1)
• Thankful for the Volunteers on Squidoo (7)
• Feedback on Squidoo is sooooo important! (10)
• AJ is Musing about the Squidoo Community (4)

Following on from Thanksgiving, AJ is taking a break from discussing Squidoo Etiquette this week as she has something else on her mind. Today AJ is thinking about a few people to be thankful for on Squidoo and the roles they play within the Squidoo Community.

Over the last few days a new lens has been published inviting all Squidoo Lensmasters to vote for the 2009 Giant Squid Awards and it got me thinking about the huge amount of work that the Giant Squid Organisers Bonnie and Robin do for the benefit of the Squidoo Community. Not only are they sharing great Squidoo tips all the time, they are running the Giant Squid Challenge, various blogs and RocketMoms but they are constantly coming up with ideas to keep things fresh on Squidoo and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you.

Other people I constantly give thanks for is my Squidbuddies Chef Keem and Squidster. It is amazing what they have built here on Squidlog and I am so pleased to be part of this Community too.

The Chef is currently very, very busy setting up a new restaurant for a client, so he cannot be as active here on Squidlog and on Squidoo as he would like. Last week I offered to update his Squidlog lens for him. I suggested he transfer it across to me for a couple of days and I would then transfer it back before month end. The Chef was having none of that and insisted that he GIVE me the lens. And that is just typical of Achim’s generosity!

More Lensmasters to be thankful for

Two other Lensmasters who you may not know quite so well are Joan Adams and Mukunda22 (Kate). Both are very involved in the Squidoo Community and have an extremely positive outlook on life and everything it throws at them. If I know Joan she would also be very, very surprised to learn that in The Fluffanutta’s Top 100 Rated Lensmasters lens, she is currently riding very high at #8!

A few months back Joan and Kate started a BlogTalk Radio Show called “Giant Squid Open Mike”, which airs for an hour at 4pm EST (9pm UK) every Monday. The show evolved out of their original (and still running) Radio Show “Moon, Moo and you”, when one Tuesday evening in July they held a celebration for the new Giant Squids.

Recently I have been in an on-going discussion with Joan and Kate plus a few other lensmasters we know pretty well, as there’s plans to revise the format of Giant Squid Open Mike. As with any venture like this, it is hard work planning shows and finding guests for each week, so I suggested we get out into the wider Squidoo Community and ask people what they would like to hear on the show.

• What would help you?
• What guests would you like to hear?
• What topics would you like covered?
• Do you listen to GSOM live or do you catch up on the recording in the days after it is aired?

Another issue that is being looked at is the title of the show. Perhaps calling it “Giant Squid…” may make non-Giants think that the show is not for them? What are your thoughts about this?

There’s lots to think about over the coming weeks and if you have any views or ideas then please share them here or contact Joan or Kate via their Squidoo Bio page.

On a similar note...

• Thankful for the Volunteers on Squidoo (7)
• Recipe lenses on Squidoo – what are the copyright and potential TOS issues? (11)
• When being nice in Squidoo Guestbooks doesn’t necessarily help anyone! (4)
• The Community is the Thing (2)
• Squidster – the Linchpin of Squidlog (9)

Disclaimer: In this article I am not “pointing the finger” at anyone in particular. However, it is a genuine attempt to help people understand that what they think is networking may be interpreted by others as unacceptable and even Spam.

There’s lots of handy little tools to make our lives easier when trying to promote our Squidoo lenses. You can Stumble, post on Facebook, add to MySpace, Tweet, Digg it, submit to Delicious, email, Lensroll and fav – all from the one nifty little tool bar in the top right hand corner of the Lens.

Most of these links are self explanatory but should also be used with care. Not all sites appreciate masses of self promotion by Squidoo Lensmasters and we have already mentioned the utterly impersonal message that gets Tweeted via the Twitter link :

“I just updated my page…….”

But what about that Email this lens link?

I asked a question about how people view the tool to email lens links in the SquidU Forum and unsurprisingly, different Lensmasters placed different interpretations on what the link is for and how it should be used.

Ener-G (Gia) said:

“I’ve used it about 15 times to email friends who are looking for the information that a lens holds. I’d use it more, but I’m too lazy to go hunt down my friend’s email addresses.”

Mysticmama (Bambi) commented:

“I always assumed that button was for our readers to be able to e-mail our lenses to their friends and family….

I think it’s a good tool for those who want to e-mail their newest lens to their siblings, mom or BFF… but to use it to e-mail their own lenses to fellow lensmasters, just seems kind of spammy?…cheesy?”

Bambi has a point here!

Could it be that some people who receive these emails feel that an assumption has been made on the part of the Lensmaster sending them? The assumption that they want to be told about this new lens?

I then contacted our new Squidoo Tools mentor, Jewelsofawe, to ask what she thought of the Email this lens link and she had this to say:

“I have emailed occasionally to lensmasters but lately only to one person I email with any ways and otherwise I use it to email to people outside of Squidoo. I think that it is up to people individually. I guess if we don’t want people emailing their lenses to us we have to let them know.”

Another very good point!

In the UK, we have harassment laws. They deal with all forms of harassment, including sexual. Loosely defined the law says that if someone is behaving towards you in a way that is non-violent but upsets you or makes you feel threatened or intimidated, then you have to make sure they are aware that their actions are affecting you in that way. Once they are told, and if they choose to continue, then that is harassment as defined by the law and can be dealt with by the law.

Looking at the responses on the SquidU Forum, the general consensus seems to be that we should be very careful using this link, so as not to appear to be Spammy. Not many Lensmasters appear to make use of this tool and those who do, tend to use it to send lenses to people outside of Squidoo.

And I guess that is how I view the “Email this lens” link

Personally I don’t use the link to email my lenses to other Squidoo Lensmasters. There’s other methods I prefer to use to promote my lenses. However, I do receive emails with links from some of my closest contacts on Squidoo. The people who I network with in specific places.

And that, in my view, is OK, even though I don’t do it myself. I have voluntarily joined the network, I have made it clear I want to network and it is a great way for my contacts to let me know what they are up to and also for them to email me a lens that they have found, that they know I would be interested in.

However, if I started receiving “Check out this lens” emails from people who I don’t know that well on Squidoo, then I probably would not like it. (However, let’s be clear here – I am not talking about the messages I get letting me know that my lens has been featured on someone else’s lens – I think we all just love getting those notes!)

What would I do, if I thought the link was being abused?

Well, I would take a deep breath and email them back, explaining tactfully and diplomatically that I would like it to stop. The conversation would stay between me and the Lensmaster.

It is so tempting to make a general non-specific post on the SquidU Forum, isn’t it? You could hope that the Lensmaster will see it and get the hint. Or you could blog about it.

But all that does is probably fail to get the message across because the other person may not see the post or blog. And if they DO see it, they could feel you are getting at them….

It’s all about letting someone know tactfully and diplomatically that there is a situation you are not happy with. YES! You have the right to do that! You are also doing the other person a favour (note: in the UK, there is a U in favour!) because you are giving them the chance to remedy the situation. Hopefully, you can then both move on without any hard feelings and your dignity intact.

Of course if the situation becomes difficult there’s another course of action you can take, but I would prefer not to go there!

Thanks also to the following Squidoo Lensmasters who contributed to the discussion: Kab, Pukeko, Flynn the Cat, Prosperity66, GroovyFinds and Spirituality.

On a similar note...

• When being nice in Squidoo Guestbooks doesn’t necessarily help anyone! (4)
• Recipe lenses on Squidoo – what are the copyright and potential TOS issues? (11)
• Feedback on Squidoo is sooooo important! (10)
• Thankful for the Volunteers on Squidoo (7)
• Spreading my wings outside Squidoo (6)