( CNN ) -- Sad but true : Much of what we do online , we do for vainglorious reasons . We tweet a joke not only to make others laugh , but also to watch the sweet RTs come rolling in . We post a link not just to start a discussion or expand our Facebook friends ' minds , but also to rack up the comments and likes . So when someone lifts our content without credit -- even just a link or gem we found in the morass of the interwebs -- we are rightfully angered . Look , one of the Web 's greatest powers is its sheer volume , the seemingly infinite library of well-argued political views , vivid picture galleries , real-time citizen journalism and `` Tron '' fan trailers . And what our social networks bring to the table are reapers and curators who help point us to the best content . Finding ( or coming up with ) cool or hilarious stuff and sharing it with others is a skill , one that should be appropriately lauded with that sweet ego-building nectar we call credit . We 're not about to delve into the ins and outs of intellectual property law and copyright infringement and all that jazz . Nay , we 're here to talk about the much milder offense of sharing content without a nod to the ahead-of-the-curve person who shined a spotlight on it in the first place . Now , this can get a bit tricky , since it 's not always necessary , or even worthwhile , to give a citation . So let 's review a few truths about reposting . 1 . Some platforms make it effortless . On those platforms , you look especially jerkish for not giving credit . Twitter is a prime example -- the retweet function lets you share another person 's quip or link with almost zero effort . So nabbing that Onion article or whatever and putting it in your feed as your own is just a bastardization of how the site 's supposed to work . Forced citations are actually a big part of Tumblr 's design , as founder David Karp explained last weekend at the Mashable Connect conference in Orlando , Florida . Some people decry the blog site 's lack of a built-in comment function -- users wishing to add their commentary must `` reblog '' another Tumblr 's post so that it shows up in their own blog , where they can add their biting remarks . The idea , Karp said , was to ask people to own up to their takes on others ' work -- no anonymous flaming or trolling . 2 . Viva la `` via . '' Socially adept social networkers use `` via '' like mad . Just tweet or post or blog about the cool thing you stumbled upon and drop in `` via [ the name or handle of the friend who shared it first , with a link to their relevant social network profile ] . '' A couple of exceptions : . A ) If you heard about the link directly from the source , e.g . if you follow @ cnntech and are excited about one of their stories , well , duh , the link itself will be giving the source proper snaps . B ) If your friend gave credit to a tipster whom you do n't know , no need to do serial citations ( `` AMAZING PUPPY VIDEO via @ myfriend via @ herfriend via @ anotherrando . '' ) It 's a waste of space and those tertiary connections will never know . 3 . Do n't bother giving credit if the item is blowing up on the Web . Most recently , the share du jour was that unspeakably annoying Rebecca Black `` Friday '' video . If you posted such a thing after it 'd bubbled up into a frenzy , you 'd probably have eight different friends you could credit , all of whom just heard about it from someone else . Actually , if something is already reaching epic viral heights , do n't add to the boring cacophony . Doing so only makes you look hopelessly out of the loop . Stand out by reposting something clever and relatively obscure . Or , you know , skip the ctrl-Ving altogether and say something original .
When someone lifts our content or reposts a gem we found without credit , we 're mad . If your friend gave credit to a tipster whom you do n't know , no need to do serial citations . Skip the ctrl-Ving altogether and say something original .