Image courtesy of http://www.vitamin-ha.com/funny-pic-dump-24-pics/
I didn't want to ever have to write this sort of post, but, to be honest, I'm getting a bit fed up of getting trodden on, so now I feel like I have no other choice.

EMLWY might be a personal website but it's all about you ladies and endometriosis in general too. I do everything I can to share others stories, list others personal blog sites and resources and help with any fundraising where I can. For me, none of this has ever been about competition. There are much bigger blogs out there, much better Instagram accounts than mine - but so what? It's not about how many followers you have. The whole point of this is to raise awareness of endometriosis and get that word out in the world for people to question and learn about, is it not?

Unfortunately, some people don't seem to think that way.

One of my posts in particular seems to be 'taken' again and again and used as others own work. The post I'm referring to is my 'Celebrities with Endometriosis' post. Don't get me wrong, as with any and everything on EMLWY, I want it to be shared. I want to get that knowledge out there. However, that's exactly why I spent hours writing that post. That's why I spent hours on the internet creating a one stop place with all that information - because it wasn't all in one place. The wording you've seen and read hasn't been copied and pasted. I've written that. I've put it all together. I'm the one who is constantly updating it with new people and information. No one else. Just little old me.

What I don't want is for it to be stolen and used as your own work - word for word, picture for picture - with no credit to EMLWY. And that's all you have to do: just give a little one word of credit. No one's going to suddenly stop following you and rush over to me. That's just silliness. It's about supporting this community and helping to spread the word. Not everyone relates to my blog, as I don't relate to every one else's. That's exactly why we need to support everyone though - to make everyone feel a little less alone.

I feel like I'm having to write this now because not only have I seen other blogs taking this post but there is one particular Instagram account which has a following much bigger than mine, that insists on doing this over and over again. I have contacted them and they have chosen to ignore me and still do it. I won't name and shame because I have no other issues with them. They are sharing information on endometriosis and I in no way want to stop that - but I do expect a little courtesy. I would never steal someone else's pictures, let alone a blog post, and not credit the person or place it came from. Even if you change the picture used, I still know it's been taken from EMLWY because, like I said, that information was never just in one place.

So, please, please continue to share information on endometriosis. Please continue to share the posts I and others write. But please don't steal. We all deserve support here, no matter how insignificant you might think we are in this world of endometriosis - we are all trying to make a difference.

Endometriosis isn't a competition.

S.