Boosting Post Quality With Attribution

manuelhooks (72)Verifiedin Steem For Bangladesh • 3 days ago

Common Knowledge vs Attributions

There are facts and information you can claim and present as yours without any questions. Your photos, personal analysis, opinion and metaphors. You are entitled to your account of events, processes and your intent. This type of information is 100% yours; it requires no attribution and raises no questions at all.

Just make sure you let the reader know that this is your information by using framing phrases like:
- From what I have seen ...
- In my experience ...
- I think the reason is ....
- What this tells me is ....

I think it is best to sometimes invite conversations by posing a question or an open thought that clearly shows that what is just said is not a declared fact. Below is a typical example.
Could it be that new steemians do not have the proper understanding of attribution?

Common knowledge is another group of facts you can present without any attribution. But I think this group is dicey. There seems to be a grey line separating common knowledge from facts that need attribution and there are situations where what is considered common knowledge here is not viewed the same way by others.
It comes down to: Would most informed people in the field know this without having to look it up?

Common knowledge is stuff that’s widely known, undisputed, and appears in many sources without a single original author. We all know that:
- Lagos is the commercial capital of Nigeria
- Water boils at 100°C at sea level
- Moss Rose is a flowering plant
- World War II ended in 1945
- Google Lens can identify objects from photos

When Citations Become Compulsory

When your post includes anything that is beyond common knowledge and is not the type I earlier described as 100% yours. You will need attribution.

This includes anything specific, recent, disputed, or came from someone’s original work, his research or opinion.

Personally, I believe any information you are not the primary source, which someone reading may be prompted to ask a question like; how did you know this?
Such facts will need a source

Examples:
If you make the claim that "Google Lens fails 40% of the time when Nigerian wild fruits are scanned". I will be forced to ask how you knew that. Such statment will need a source.

If your post says "Moss Rose has medicinal value, and can be used in the treatment of fibromyalgia". You will need to cite the study or test.

When you make a direct quote from someone’s post, you will have to acknowledge its source.

If you mention a specific statistic like: “Nigeria produced 2.1 million tons of cassava in 2024.” How did you know about it? You should point to your source.

_{^{Captured with GalaxyA15}}

You will need a citation if you use an image, diagram, or unique phrasing adopted from a fellow Steemian's post or a picture from a depository like Pixabay.com.

Paraphrasing information lifted from another person's work still needs citation.

Why it Matters

It is only fair and honest to give credit to that person who did the work we are now using, that hould include the guy who captured the picture we get from Freepix. Attribution boosts credibility as it proves we are not making things up.
Attribution is the weapon that prevents plagiarism, allowing the reader to read more and verify facts.

Conclusion

I strongly believe we will improve the quality of our posts with phrases like;

According to Wikipedia...
Based on the information I gathered from....
The Daily Times newspaper of.... said ...

Let's respect the intellectual rights of those who laid down the foundation we are building on, acknowledging their contributions and effort.

“I think copyright is moral, proper. I think a creator has the right to control the disposition of his or her works - I actually believe that the financial issue is less important than the integrity of the work, the attribution, that kind of stuff.”

^{Esther Dyson....}