Photo de deux plongeuses tournant une vidéo
Pub pour un e-book de formation de plongée gratuit

Sharing diving information

Sharing diving information can sometimes lead to tricky situations like those experienced recently. The story takes place this Saturday, Febrary 15, 2020.

I look at my Facebook News Feed and I’m challenged by a really funny video made by two divers in a cold water environment. It shows a slightly offbeat vision of the “feminine dive”. Here it is not really glamorous, unsmart, but offering a spirit of hapiness and good humor.

On the SDT page that shares the video, the title (in English) is “Who are these girls?” and makes you think that no one knows where the video comes from. The likes are numerous, so are the shares. In a few hours this is becoming a buzz.

I love this kind of humor. The video is a hit. A friend tells me that this video has been running for a few hours on the web and that nobody knows who the girls in the video are.

I decide to share the video on my Facebook page Different Dive  and my Facebook group

And then suddenly I wonder. Through the sharing of diving information I may be involved in the theft of the work of others. Where is this video coming from?

I go back to the page that shares the video. Very quickly I realize that it seems to hide an agency that sells trips. I’m starting to read the comments.

Very quickly I come across a comment where a person indicates that the video belongs to her:

Copie d'un commentaire sur une page Facebook

I’m going to check the Save Our  Plankton page followed by 1000 members. It’s a wonderful page with beautiful photos. The aim is to show the beauty of the sea and encourage the preservation of the oceans. I love it.

I then call the person in charge of the page to ask if the video is hers. She’s confirming it to me. (It’s easily recognizable through the photos posted).

It’s Saturday, it’s 6:00PM
The SDT page that shared the video without mention of the origin (a page that seems used to this kind of practice) recorded more than 60,000 views in 8 hours. The page that created the video in 13 hours recorded only 10,000 views.

I am shocked that someone deliberately takes advantage of the work of others without mentioning the real authors.

I know what I have to do! Despite the huge number of  “likes”  and comments that the post has already received via the three places where I shared it, I delete everything, apologize to people and post the original video.  I explain the misunderstanding. I want to highlight the authors. So, I encourage Internet users to do the same and to discover the page “Save our  Plankton“.

I share the video on other groups hoping that the French-speaking divers community can make the difference and highlight the work of these two girls.

A friend of mine decided to post the original link of the video on the SDT page that “uses” the video. Finally, after several hours of “enjoying” the success of the video, the SDT administrator puts a word “we found them” and an identification of the original page without deleting the video that continues to “work” for him.

24 hours later, the video taken by the SDT page and the original page are almost even in terms of views.

While SDT has taken full advantage (and still is) to get more than 1000 additional members, the girls have seen their page make a nice leap forward as well. I am pleased to have participated with all of you in this recognition.

Why am I telling you all this?

On Sunday afternoon, I talk to Paul,the owner of La beauté de la plongée, who tells me “you have to explain this to people and encourage them to be careful to respect people’s work.” Paul always identifies the authors of the publications he shares.

And of course, I feel he’s right.

While I had decided to do a lot of other things this afternoon, I hit my keyboard to write this article.

Because I have already been a victim through my blog of this kind of actions where unscrupulous people publish my texts, photos and/or videos as their own. This is not at all correct or respectful of the energy and time that the authors take to produce and share what they do.

Sharing diving information : you’re an author and you find that someone else is using your content for their own benefit

This attitude is not fair or respectful

  • Politely ask the person to remove the post or mention your name and/or page, as you wish.
  • Without an answer from this person, do not hesitate to report the abuse. In the case of Facebook, the company takes this kind of complaint very seriously. It removes “stolen” publication quickly and your original publication will take over its full rights.
  • Don’t hesitate to put your name in photos and/or video to deter

Sharing diving information : do you want to share the work of an author?

  • Ask for his consent (that’s a minimum). Most of the time, people will be delighted to see their work recognized and shared.
  • If you can’t find it, but the place where you found the post mentions a name, do the same.
  • Do you take pictures on copyright-free photo platforms? Mention the author’s name if possible, even if it is not mandatory. This will be encouraging for the person who wants to share other creations.
  • If you see a post without any author’s name (such as the girls’ video on the SDT page), be curious and check if you can find the original post on the web.

It’s so much nicer to participate in sharing diving information by highlighting those who have taken their time to make them.

What do you think?

And above all… don’t forget to be happy 🤗

Hélène