YouTube's Plagiarism Problem

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If you’re at all tapped-in to the YouTube “drama” scene, then you’ve probably watched (or at least heard about) hbomberguy’s latest video: “Plagiarism and You(Tube).” This week we’re here to decide – is it really the big issue everyone thinks it is?

Check out hbomberguy’s video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDp3cB5fHXQ&ab_channel=hbomberguy 

We start off the episode by discussing the state of plagiarism on the platform today, and there’s a lot more to it than you might realize. We talk about the challenges that come with telling a story that’s been told before, Matt tells us about his extensive career as an editor, and we tie all that into a video Matt did with the Foundation for Economic Education recently.

Then, Matt officially coins a term he’s been using a lot lately. A lot of creators who write their own content tend to be, as he calls them, “Wikipedia readers.” We talk about the difficulty of actually doing worthwhile research, the importance of providing context, and how all that can really set your content apart.

After that, we provide some real-world examples of the types of plagiarized content we’ve been seeing over the past few years. There are some cut-and-dry instances of this type of theft in your “reaction” creators of the world, but there are also people like James Rolfe (aka AVGN) and Internet Historian whose stories are a little more nuanced.

We finish out the episode by talking about how unfortunately easy it can be to get caught in this cycle, even if you’re not aware of it. From small examples like recipe disputes to gigantic ones like running for President of the United States – this stuff really comes up everywhere. We also talk about the seemingly decreasing level of weight accusations of plagiarism seem to carry anymore, and whether or not most people care at all.

Thanks to everyone who joined the live recording this week, and a huge shout out to all of our supportive patrons. We’ll see you again next week!

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