Be yourself – instead of – parroting
Can’t help wondering what so many people on social media are doing just parroting others? Or coping and pasting. And what’s worse that seems to account for part of what’s called creativity today.
A copy is never as good as the original. No parroting in the world will turn you into Marilyn Monroe. So be yourself.
What happened to creativity?
Have a section of humanity stopped being creative? Or is it just that too many people are lazy and hence just copy others? Don’t they realize that they will not impress the people they are trying to impress? Only ignorant people will buy what the parrots are doing. If you don’t have anything new to contribute, to say a discussion, don’t just re-write what someone else has already said. What’s wrong with saying that you agree?
Original ideas
If imitating others were just a social media phenomena it would be one thing. But unfortunately you have an abundance of people selling services online that haven’t got any ideas of their own. They just copy what others have done and charge for doing so. But a copy is never as good as the original. No parroting in the world will change that. It may work short term but long term it will work against you. Can’t help wondering if that category of people have really stopped thinking for themselves?
Hard sell on social media
The amount of parroting on social media most likely boils down to people believing they have to sell themselves aggressively online. Can understand that to some degree. But don’t they understand that it’s obvious to others what they are doing? Am active on social media and almost every day someone re-writes what someone has already written to make it appear to be their new idea. One interesting phenomena are the people who are experts on all issues relating to all countries in the world, regardless of the fact that they have never even visited the country in question. But copying and pasting they certainly know how to do. Nobody, including myself, knows everything so what’s the point in pretending you do? People only lose respect for you.
Current buzz words leader, expert, entrepreneurial & innovative
The fact that many people believe they have to portray themselves in what they consider to be the right way is a major reason for all the parroting. Wouldn’t it be much better to have an honest look at yourself and decide what your strengths are? If you are not say, innovative, describing yourself so will work against you since you will be found out. Read in The New York Times that 70% of high school graduates in the US believe they have more than average leadership skills. Only 2% considered themselves below average. Truly wish their assessments were correct, but unfortunately 70% of them are not leaders and will never be leading anything. If this applied to the United States only, i.e. approximately 5% of the world’s population, it wouldn’t be too bad. But unfortunately it applies to the remaining 95% of mankind as well.
Use social media to portray the real you
What’s wrong with having talents that are currently not in fashion? Whatever talents you have you can create a lucrative niche for yourself. Why does everyone feel they have to portray themselves as business tycoons? Looking at profiles on social media today you easily get the impression that the majority of people in this world are on par with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. It’s normal for children to imitate, but grown ups really should give up that habit.
Social media is a wonderful thing and I have met many fantastic people online, mainly thanks to my blog and Linkedin. If the parrots were just themselves and stopped pretending to be what they are not they would also start reaping positive benefits of social media. To start with they would gain respect. We are all unique and can contribute to society in different ways. That’s the beauty of humanity. Imagine how boring it would be if we were all parroting each other.
Photo: mseckington – Flickr
Tags: Bill Gates, blog, copy, creativity, entrepreneur, expert, innovator, leader, Linkedin, Marilyn Monroe, New York Times, original, parroting, social media, United States, Warren Buffett
March 14th, 2011 at 12:14
Hi Catarina,
Well done, excellent article, reminds me of the Hans Christian Andersen's fable "The Emperor’s New Clothes". Where the Emperor’s appearance is more important that the idiotic situation where he is fooled to walk naked in front of his subjects, showing clearly his inability to rule (metaphor for managing) and only one innocent child’s remark that brings the kingdom back down to normality “the Emperor is not wearing any clothes”.
I guess by the slow responses/comments to your article a few people are soul searching like myself, reflecting whether we are victims or perpetrator of falling into the social trap of lacking creativity, we should sit up and be accountable.
Again thanks for this and the others I have read, most enjoyable.
Take care,
Ruadhri Guilfoyle (a person who is creative but has lost his way from time to time!)
March 14th, 2011 at 12:34
Glad you agree with me Ruadhri. Hope you get your creativity back. Have a look at what your strengths are as opposed to parroting others.::))
March 14th, 2011 at 13:17
Hi!
This is an excellent post. It has crept into all areas.
Thanx
Syed
March 14th, 2011 at 13:48
Yes Syed, it has hasn't it.
March 14th, 2011 at 14:19
Hi Catarina,
Thanks for this post.
The problem you describe has in it a singular quality that people tend to “loose” – attribution – If so and so said it; give him/her the credit.
Funny thing is; people can actually tell original content from stuff you get somewhere else, because they can see that the linguistic style changes, specific word selection and other telling signs are pretty obvious.
I re-tweet A LOT but I only re-tweet the things I think is worthy of re-tweeting. That makes my service offering to my followers worth it, as I apply myself to removing the junk (my perception).
Quote that was posted by someone I follow on twitter – "Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." – Abraham Lincoln (@vincentbass)
Hope you have a happy day…
Anton van den Berg
March 14th, 2011 at 14:57
It's an electronic case of "keeping up with the Joneses" – people online trying to boost themselves in the eyes of others, I'm afraid. Sad, but true…
March 14th, 2011 at 16:43
Is it so easy to do something without following others?
Only brilliant persons can do that.
March 14th, 2011 at 16:43
Glad you agree with me Anton.
March 14th, 2011 at 16:48
Emdadul, it's not about following others but for instance pretending that you are someone you are not and taking credit for someone else's idea.. That's going on a lot on social media. Or online, for that matter.
Imagine if your articles are just copied and pasted into another site and someone else taking credit for them? Would you call that following you?
March 14th, 2011 at 16:54
Definitely Guy.
But they are making a mistake because they will not live up to what they claim to be. Would be much better if they were just themselves. People would resptect them and they would get positive results from social media.
March 14th, 2011 at 17:34
Catarina, you hit the nail on the head here. Lack of creativity shows a lack of genuine interest and definitely does not help speak to your credibility. Great post! Will be RTing!
March 14th, 2011 at 18:11
Glad you agree with me Chrissy. The good thing is that the parrots will not succeed in the long run. Glad you are not a parrot and just re-wrote a section of my article and pretended it was a comment, by the way:))
March 15th, 2011 at 00:30
Catarina, you raise excellent points.
I recently saw an interview with Simon Cowell (formally of the reality show American Idol and currently on Britains Got Talent?) He spoke of a young singer. Cowell told the guy that he'd probably "make it big" in about 20 years. Though Cowell was being sincere, the young lad couldn't stomach the answer. Simon commented that the boy was expecting results in about 6 months. Clearly that isn't realistic.
You point out "lazy". That is one reason we have parroting. Another is simply impatience and or blatant unwillingness to put in your dues. Like the young one I mention above, everyone wants overnight success and will go to any length to get it. It is sad.
One area where I might disagree is that some topics are so common (within social media or even my niche in parent coaching) that it is all a blogger can do to re-invent the wheel with some twist. Hopefully that twist comes from inner passion and experience.
great post!
March 15th, 2011 at 10:31
Great comment Keyuri.
Agree with you that some topics are so common you have to come up with a new twist. Not just copy and paste what someone else has already written.
March 15th, 2011 at 20:03
The world is in serious danger of losing creativity and innovation. This is all because the focus now is on instant gratification. How many persons are willing to stand up and put forward their views or ideas and defend them if they are not popular? Trying to blend in and be accepted is not the route to go. Think of inventers of the past who put forward their inventions but did not get instant acclaim. Some of the inventions were ahead of their time, but consider where we would be now if they gave up and tried to blend in, we would not be enjoying many of our modern conveniences. I say to each one, be yourself and let all views contend.
March 15th, 2011 at 20:24
Good comment Charles. At least some of us stand up for our ideas and don't expect instant gratification.
March 16th, 2011 at 05:48
Hi Catarina,
I think part of the problem is that some want to be liked by others and not rock the boat with original thought.
I must admit I do have a bit of a laugh when someone says what others say and call themselves marketing experts without any life or business experience. if you ask them a question they get defensive.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:04
Good comment Susan. The defensive part is another aspect of it that's bad. Wish that people would portray their real selves. Everybody has something good to contribute. To pretend they are something they are not will only work with people who don't know better.
March 16th, 2011 at 18:07
Very good observations Catrina.
I would like to add my impression, that quite a few people try to use social media, blogging in particular, for "quick bucks" only or 15 minutes of fame.
I do not know how blogging works, I have wage idea that has to do with creating traffic, and can only imagine that not so talented and not -have -much-to-say will in that case use every mean possible , copy cat, parroting, you name it, to reach their goal.
We live in instant (soup )world , and writing is taking consequences of it , as well.
March 16th, 2011 at 19:51
Glad you agree with me Mirjana.
The "bloggers" you are referring to I believe are the ones that create posts on social media and get paid for how many people click into their post? As a result you can see several people posting say, "Top Marketing Mistakes" from the same blog after one another.
March 17th, 2011 at 15:03
It seems in these times we hear it is a marketable thing to "mirror, channel, and model" ourselves after successful individuals. Anthony Robbins made millions on his first book telling people to "model" themselves after someone you admire or respect. Oprah gives away a car to all her audience members , now every talk show host gives something away. The sad part about this numbing cookie cutter mentality is that it has created a Stepford Wives complexion that spans all industries. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I disagree with that train of thought when you imitate the current flavour of the month. Good article and observations, C.
March 17th, 2011 at 17:14
Hi Caterina,
Thanks for being upfront! It's a good reminder to everyone. I have never been one to fit in and sometimes this is to my disadvantage. I value being who I am and when I blog, it's important that is expressed. I admit that people online are trying to make money overnight. Blogging is a lot of work and I just started two weeks ago. However, the biggest reward has been the relationship I have with the community and the opportunity to learn from everyone.
March 17th, 2011 at 17:58
Glad you agree with me GWR.
By the way, you can aim to be as good as say, Warren Buffet, at what he's doing. But you can't copy and paste statements he made in an interview and claim they are your ideas.
March 17th, 2011 at 18:03
Good for you Diana. Don't start parotting because it will work against you.
Do google Be yourself – instead of – parroting and you will get several pages of results outlining how the article was syndicated by Forbes, Social Media Today and several other sites the minute I published it. All I did was post it online. That really is an indication of what people think of the parrots. Hopefully it will have an impact on the parrots and make them think before copying and pasting. They probably haven't realized that people are tired of what they are doing.
March 17th, 2011 at 18:26
Hi Catarina,
I agree and have often wondered why that is? I remember responding to a question on LinkedIn about the Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola law suit because of alleged similar packaging adopted by Pepsi- Cola from the Coca Cola brand……….. My initial thought was how a huge organisation can copy another instead of being original and creative with their packaging. But as we all know and may have seen in Super markets nowadays, they use similar packaging as established brands to confuse consumers. Also, everyone seems to be doing the same things and because I tend and like to be unique and different, I veer away from what others are doing or saying except if it is correct and factual. But I have seen so many people, rushing around and doing the same things. Even questions are often repeated and I have brought it to other’s attention. It's boring, smacks of indolence and lack of originality.
March 17th, 2011 at 18:50
Agree with you completely Marian. How many people have for instance posted discussions on Linkedin asking What's your favourite quote?
March 17th, 2011 at 18:58
Exactly. Too many times I read a regurgitation of great minds by those who claim it as their own.
March 17th, 2011 at 20:20
Maybe I should claim Veni, Vidi, Vici?::)) Just joking…
March 17th, 2011 at 21:06
LOL. Very good C. Julius was always a great verb man.
. If you get a moment ,feel free to connect to my LINKEDIN.
March 18th, 2011 at 11:13
Catarina,
I work in education and every so often I receive an assignment that is clearly not the work of the student. After a while it becomes easier to spot the copied sections of a text. I spend some time talking with the student about the importance of being original and how copying the creative work of someone else is neither smart nor the right thing to do, unless of course due credit is given to the source and it is presented as quoted material.
Youthfulness is a fair excuse to not knowing the implications of parroting and many show signs of understanding why it is better to be yourself and express original thoughts. In an online enterprise or corporate situation, copying will be going on for a whole different purpose, some of which you've alluded to above.
I blog about various things including "spicing up your blog" – the theme of my blog and in particular I wrote a post about how many rivets there are in a Boeing 747 http://nine95.com/how-many-rivets-in-a-boeing-747…. In that post I encourage people to stand out from the crowd.
We can't all be rivets if we want to get noticed and, by George, there are so many look-alike and sound-alike blogs and tweets I only wish they'd stumble upon your or my post and make a declaration to either stop their parroting or start creating something original.
I've gone back and edited my post to link to this excellent post of yours
Cheers, Michael
March 18th, 2011 at 12:22
Agree with you completely Michael. Great points. The imitators will one day wake up and realize that they have wasted the opportunites they had. And then it will be more difficult for them to stand out from the crowd because search engines remember everything for a long time.
March 18th, 2011 at 12:26
Julius Caesar sure wasn't parroting. If he had been, he wouldn't have gone down in history as one of the most important and influencial people ever.
Just send me an invitation to connect and I will accept. Please click group and then a group we both belong to since I get at least 50 invitations a week and decline people who state we are friends, work together or something like that because they usually are spammers blocked by Linkedin.
March 18th, 2011 at 15:26
What are the main ingredients or attributes that make some one a great influence on the masses?That might make a thought provoking and interesting topic for your next writing.
Much to my chagrin I am unable to present an invitation to you due to the fact your network requests an email and their is no group link. Which is odd because we both are in the White House and Writer Mafia groups . Maybe it is due to the 50 invitations you receive on a weekly bases.Popular lady (hehe). I shall now scurry and cry like a little girl
…now I'm joking.
March 19th, 2011 at 16:18
Catarina,
Parroting is annoying. It's one thing to approach a topic that's been discussed before as long as you bring your own unique spin to it but to just regurgitate what's already been said is a waste of everyone's time. Sometimes, I think it comes down to quantity vs quality. Every article you write is original and is clearly your point of view and the amount of pride you take in your writing comes across. The parrots will eventually fade away.
March 19th, 2011 at 18:50
Hi Catarina,
Did you ever play the children's game where all the children sit in a circle and one child whispers a message to the child beside her and that child whispers the same message to the child beside him…at the end of the circle the last child states the message and then the first child states the message. There is always a huge difference. This is what happens when people parrot and don't think for themselves. Not only does the message get watered down – it becomes a different message – an unintended message.
March 19th, 2011 at 19:09
Agree with you Catherine. But unlike in the game the parrots are causing problems online. Would you for instance like it if someone copied and pasted an article you had written and posted it on their site pretending they had written it? Taking legal actions would be easier said than done, and very expensive, if the parrot was on the other side of the world.
March 19th, 2011 at 19:11
Thanks Sherryl. They will fade away, actually become persona non grata, when everybody's using the new kind of software that shows exactly what a person is doing on social media and online.
March 29th, 2011 at 23:53
Catarina:
It is amazing on Twitter to see the same post go round and round. People then congratulate themselves on being on top of the latest and greatest. In reality, they are parroting as you point out. There are new ideas everyday but many people just want to share what a few "thought leaders" have to say. As you point out we are online to share our thoughts. We can comment on what others do and offer a pro or con point of view.
Rob
My recent post Product Development- 9 Critical Lessons Learned
March 30th, 2011 at 13:02
Yes Rob it's amazing how much parroting there is, isn't it. And the worst is when they take credit for someone else's ideas, which happens frequently. Anyway, they only impress people who don't understand what they are doing.
April 7th, 2011 at 15:36
Greetings Catarina:
We live in a Pret-A-Porter world. Most persons eat at fast food gigs, can instantly connect with family and friends (and others), and get most of life's amenities without much investment in time and effort. This in turn has created a couple of generations of lazy people.
Societies are divided by those who innovate and know and those who follow blindly. Information, real information; the kind that has been derived at via scientific observation and hypotheses takes time and insight that the majority of our societal co-habitants do not like to employ and are not willing to do so. Thus, as you point out, the end result is a radiograph of the precepts that led us here – A few will lead the masses…
Following Darwinism, those adept to handle change will do so and in that respect will possibly innovate new things along the way. Those stuck in the habits of copying and pasting without creating or building on the ideas of others will eventually weed themselves out of the game and life itself.
I see no problem with sharing great ideas as their permeation throughout a society will undoubtedly reap more benefits and greater penetration but as a rule, those who perform that service should give credit to those who created them.
April 7th, 2011 at 19:35
Jean, naturally agree with you that the few will lead the many and it's always been like that.
But that doesn't excuse the parroing going on online. Glad you wrote at the end that those who copy and paste "should give credit".
Anyway, sooner or later there will be jurisdiction for online behaviour and then people have to stop parroting. If not, they will end up in court.
April 21st, 2011 at 10:40
Hi Caterina,
I've just been made redundant from a senior charity comms job. The job has been given to a junior, as a promotion, and he is delivering a comms plan based on social media. I've been dipping in to their twitter feed and website and it's not bad, but there is a significant amount of retweeting rather than sharing their own ideas/policy positions. I appreciate that in a busy world having an organisation that creates a network – and shares the intelligence – is really important to those working in that field. But where are the knowledge makers and opinion formers? In the minority it seems. If this is the case, can a social media strategy ever stand alone? I have a love/hate relationship with social media for this reason – individual and corporate parroting are a poor excuse for moving thinking forward, and this is often done best face to face.
April 21st, 2011 at 12:11
Sian, I agree with you. For some reason social media is mainly parroting. Wonder where creativity has gone? Why do the majority of companies and people feel they have to do only what everybody else is doing? To the extent that they don't even realize they are parroting. On top of it it's also boring.
June 8th, 2011 at 11:35
Hi Caterina,
Love this topic! I think the reason people aren't more themselves is because they have not stopped long enough to find out who they really are.
They are far too busy trying to be like everybody else because it's safe.
Unfortunately safe does not equal extraordinary and memorable.
They remind a lot of politicians these days who govern by what is popular rather than offering authentic leadership regardless of popularity.
~Marcus
My recent post Had Aesop Read The Secret
June 8th, 2011 at 12:35
Thank you Marcus. Glad you like it. Wish more people would realise the benefits of being themselves.
December 25th, 2011 at 14:10
Great to read some criticism and reliable writing about social media once, I'm tired just reading and hearing all the hype around it. So thank you for fresh post.
My recent post Liikelahjojen synty – Mistä kaikki sai alkunsa?