Anyone that doesn’t prefer living under a rock knows about the myriad of trends that come and pass in social media, some genuinely entertaining while others have you question people’s sanity. For content creators it becomes important to jump on the trends and milk them for growth and engagement, therefore memes, sounds, and other types of content are constantly being redistributed by brands and users alike.
But when does social copying turn into plagiarism? And where should the line be drawn?
In the world of social media, simply posting unoriginal content or reusing an idea doesn’t count as plagiarism. Take the Heineken “Reinvent the Draught Beer Experience” for example:

Heineken urged their own customers to reimagine the way beer packaging is done and submit their ideas, with the promise of $10,000 acting as forbidden fruit that everyone wanted. Not only did they save time on the creative process but also made their own customers work for them. Pure genius.
The idea of involving customers in creating a campaign is far from an original idea. The same idea has been used by multiple brands in multiple methods.
The problem becomes when brands try to steal original content and try to pass it for their own. That’s the workspace equivalent of you completing the entire project and your co-worker taking all the credit, it’s bound to upset anyone at the receiving end.
This theft becomes even more serious when large and established brands rip off smaller brands. Kylie cosmetics received serious internet backlash after copying an Instagram post from a vegan makeup page @vladamua.

Nobody wants a situation like this- not the brands, not their marketers, and certainly not the original creators. Here the question comes- How to navigate social media safely and avoid plagiarising content?
Here are two basic content creation tips to keep in mind when taking inspiration:

1. Getting inspired>> Stealing:
Every content creator worth their salt needs to pay attention to content that goes trending. But instead of copying it outright, pay attention to the structure and the intent. Analyse how your brand can fit into the trend et voilà – there’s the perfect opportunity to get involved in viral trends.
When Avengers: Endgame came out, brands were eager to craft their content to get into the trend. One of them was Wendy’s, and this definitely gave their customers a laugh-

2. People deserve credit:
It’s quite okay to sometimes copy and paste from a different account but ensure that the original creator is clearly attributed, tagging their account is a great way to ensure transparency.
A great way to be efficient and cure content creation stress.

Social media is ever evolving and rules regarding plagiarism are being adapted to fit the change but doing what feels right is the first step on the path to ethical content.