Flame Wars

This post is by one of our moderators Iain Strachan. It's an important message all members should heed, because it will lead to a more peaceful and constructive environment where we can all create our art together:

What’s a “Flame war”? 

It’s when two people on a social media get into a toxic argument and start hurling insults at each other. It rapidly gets out of hand as the combatants try to outdo each other. 

In Invisible Poets group we do not tolerate negative or abusive comments on people’s poems, nor do we tolerate “flame wars”. While constructive criticism is fine, it is not acceptable just to insult someone’s work, e.g. “Your poem’s a load of crap”. 

If you get a comment like this, please don’t be tempted to retaliate. People who make that sort of comment “know” they’re right and they won’t relent, and more than likely they will just double down. Instead, just report the comment to Admin, and we will deal with the offender. We operate a “one strike and you’re out” - so anyone dissing a poem without any attempt to engage with it will get an immediate ban from the group. 

But also, if you get enraged and retaliate, and get into a flame war, you could also get banned, or at the very least strongly restricted. Your poem, whatever its merits, will be removed from the group if you get into a fight like this. We want to keep this group as a safe place. So play nicely!

Iain Strachan

Image used under a Creative Commons licence from Flickr

Social Media Etiquette

It’s amazing how easy it is to hurt peoples feelings… especially when it pertains to their art. 

My girlfriend is a professional chef. I recently suggested that her food is expensive by my means. I never thought that she would take it to mean that her incredible creations were not worth it. I found myself with my fool foot in my mouth, and quickly apologized. 

Poetry is no different. I’ve seen so many poetry groups online that create such a toxic environment with jaunty criticism and self aggrandizing comments. They hurt. No matter how tough a person is… attacking them or anybody by denigrating something they are passionate about ultimately achieves nothing. 

Now an administrator on Invisible Poets, I was once a moderator. I would always accentuate a poets strengths, and treat each poet as a personal friend. Even today I do this when I can, and take great delight in encouraging someone to do something they love to do and are good at doing. That something is writing really good poetry.

Life is a constant learning experience. We can never be perfect. However, we can aspire to be something that we never were before. Once we get there, we can then work on becoming better with each particular endeavor. Eventually, we will be the best we can be… and that is a beautiful thing.

Poetry should not be a competition. It should represent a community based on communication and empathy. The very idea of Wheelsong is to promote quality poets by making a charitable difference. By its very character, it represents the most noble intentions by means of what amounts to a collectively humble poet soul. 

These noble intentions of humility are why I am proud to be a part of the Wheelsong family, and always will be for as long as I am needed… to encourage, promote, and exhilarate premiere poetry in order to make a difference.

Feel free to comment, and thank you for reading!

Matt Elmore

Copyrighting Poems On Social Media

I’ve written a poem and posted it on Instagram and Facebook. I’ve put it out there, but want to make sure Copycat Carl don’t claim it as his own! Just how DOES copyright apply to poems that are posted on social media?

First of all… DON’T PANIC! If you have recorded a poem in writing, it is automatically protected by copyright as long as it is an original work. Simple enough.

Copyright itself gives you the exclusive right to distribute, reproduce, perform, license, and display ORIGINAL work, including poems, songs, etc… This ownership is limited to among other things, the “fair use doctrine”, which states that others CAN use your work in a limited way for uses related to criticism, commentary, news reporting, non-profit teaching, scholarship, or research.

Also, copyrights do not last forever! The moment you post on an unrestricted social media platform… your work is considered published. In the United States generally speaking, copy written writings created after 1977, will last for the life of the author (or last surviving author of a joint work) plus another 70 years. I’m other countries it varies, but generally copyright continues not less than 50 years from publication or from the death of the author. Some may even be 95 or 100 years according to the country of location.

Of course, you can formally apply for a copyright in the U.S. through www.copyright.gov., with the standard registration being $65. 

In the U.K. and other European countries, the form of instant copyright is also generally accepted. This universal protection is guaranteed with the presence of an author’s name or website name, or even the name of an organization, a business, or a corporate name, Also needed is a current year or year range, along with a statement of ownership such as “All Rights Reserved”. This is important: NAME, YEAR, and STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP!

Also in most cases, poetry with published by a book publisher, the publisher administers the copyright for the author, but the author maintains their ownership rights. Those signing a publication agreement should check that carefully.

Jay Sizemore stated in a 2020 article that putting the “©️” symbol is a bit redundant. Placing “All Rights Reserved” with your work is better.

 If you share the work on social media, you are giving the social media platform the right to distribute the work for you. But you still are the owner. The date you post it will be considered the date of the copyright.

There is so much to copyright law… much more than a blog can handle. Just DON’T PANIC! As soon as you put it out there and no one else has, and you have name date and statement of ownership, you generally have what you need.

If I have missed anything, please feel free to add it to the comments below!! I do hope this has been helpful to you. Good luck and many successful postings to you!

Matt Elmore

Image by: Unsplash

Resources:

https://www.copyright.gov/

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-an-American-and-European-approach-to-copyright-law

https://medium.com/the-pom/a-message-to-online-poets-83c805c411f1

https://www.liveabout.com/copyrights-and-social-media-issues-397821

Poetry and Social Media

Oh how the times have changed! Books seem to have lost the overwhelming popularity they once had…. not to mention magazines and newspapers. The library was once a magical place! Yet many of the younger generation asks… who needs a library when you have social media?! 

Social media is not as much of a literary enemy as old school writers may think… especially in the world of poetry. It seems poetry is on a bit of an upswing lately on platforms familiar to many as Tic Toc, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook to name a few of the biggies.

According to a recent article in Forbes, the #poetry hashtag has more than 48 billion views on Tic Toc. This sensitive app has managed to bring a lot of attention to a number of authors through spoken word poetry. The possibilities of creating videos with a large variety of editing tools makes it a fun place to share work and possibly gain noteritey. 

However, notoriety and fame do not necessarily equate to selling poetry books. Tic Toc is good for writing communities though, especially “BookToc”, a growing crowd of book lovers that talk about nothing but books, primarily fiction related works.

Instagram has been a marvel for poets like Rupi Kaur and Morgan Harper Nichols. Their short form poetry, known for its confessional clean stylings, has brought them millions of followers. This form of poetry has been termed “Instapoetry”, and has garnered a controversial reputation of not being poetry due to its succinct structuring and fast pace. Yet, it seems social media is changing those rules. Kaur has more than 4 million Instagram followers, and has sold over 11 million copies of her books, which have been translated into 43 languages.

Jen Benka, the President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets, has stated “So many of the critiques of poetry on social media are about how poetry shouldn’t be performative, or how social media has made poetry too simple”. Is it poetry? Like all art, it’s in the eye of the beholder.

A downturn writers experience on these apps  continues to be simple plagiarism. Poems taken from some authors, then posted to names with a broader appeal and following base, leave the original poets out in the cold. Social media can indeed be what a close colleague once cleverly referred to as “a dark art”. 

Facebook has a blanket presence with a plethora of groups to choose from that all have their own personalities and purposes. I am of course, smitten with Invisible Poets and Wheelsong Poetry. This is not only because of the Wheelsong mission statement of promoting unknown talent. It is really about it’s first priority of giving back with charitable donations, such as the ongoing Wheelsong Anthology series. That incredible direction matches my personal writing motivations and then some!

As a rule of thumb. being active in social media requires a lot of posting, commenting, and interaction. I’ve also noticed that a touch of personal charisma becomes one’s individual brand. It also helps to promote attention by always maintaining a professional posture and positive attitude.

Social media is here to stay, and poets of every age and variety have to accept it. Learning which platforms are best for you for what you are trying to achieve is only possible by engaging in the activity and determining if a group or particular app is right for you.

Matt Elmore

Resources:

https://www.insidehook.com/article/internet/social-media-poetry

https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/03/01/bite-sized-tiktok-poetry-blows-up-along-with-growing-claims-of-plagiarism/?sh=5df4cb7c6873

https://gooduniversenextdoor.com/2023/01/19/poetry-on-tiktok/

https://www.writersdigest.com/publishing-insights/should-writers-use-social-media

Image from: Unsplash