When you begin blogging there is always pressure to post regularly. In the beginning it’s easy because you’re excited and focused. But, just like a new toy at Christmas, your excitement fades over time.

So, what is a blogger to do?

Some bloggers take the easy way out. They click through their favorite blogs, find a post, give it a slight rewrite and publish it as their own. Sometimes – they don’t even do a rewrite!

And yes, eventually, this will happen to you!

This type of blogosphere pollution is referred to by Google as “duplicate content” and they hate it as much as I do. Just like a paper mill dumping waste into a nearby lake, uninspired, unoriginal blog posts clog search results and degrade the overall search experience.

Luckily, we can fight blogosphere pollution by not being a part of the problem! We can do this same way we fight environmental pollution: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

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Here is a quick reference to help those who attended our Corporate Blogging Geek Camp remember what we talked about. It covers the:

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Imagine, you arrive at work, check your blog and discover a new comment. It reads, “Brian Shoff is a dangerous criminal.” You don’t know if it’s true, but approve the comment anyway. After all, blogging is all about hearing everyone’s opinion, right?

Time passes and one day you get a letter from an attorney. It details that the plaintiff, Brian Shoff, is suing you for libel. It further explains that the lawsuit stems from Brian Shoff losing consideration for a position with a prestigious employer because of the defaming comment on your blog.

Ted Byrne, Editor / Economist for Business2Business Publications, asked about this last Geek Camp. “Are bloggers liable for comment libel?”

I’m not a lawyer and this post should not be considered legal advice. However, I did so some research and discovered Section 230, a surviving piece of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996 that can help protect you from situations like the one above.

Here is how it works …

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I think we can all agree that the majority of Americans have heard the word, “blog.” But how many can define it? What makes it different from a website? How do businesses use blogs? More importantly … how can your business benefit from a blog?

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