A picture is worth a thousand words

One of the reasons we are doing this blog is as a model to all you future groups. Hopefully through our toil, incredibly fascinating discussions, and earth-shattering discoveries-- you will become inspired to make tangents of your own in your eight-week focus group.

An important part of blog posts are the graphics. They are eye-catching, fun, and focusing the point of the blog. The famous idiom, 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' may have quite a bit of truth to it (as a writer, I will have you know I admit this with a fair amount of grumbling).

As a model for future groups, I want to talk about using graphics from other websites. How do you know if it is legit to use photos? Well, first of all, always link back to the place you got the picture from. It is respectful, and it is a good precaution to take.

Also, there is something called 'fair use' policy. The fair use policy is derived from the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, and are the general guidelines to be used when you find a cool image to use.

1. If you use the image in a way that is 'transformative,' as in making the image valuable to your own purpose instead of just copying completely, this is looked on as more favorable.
2. If you are using an image that was meant to demonstrate a fact versus fiction, this is also more favorable.
3. Using a part of the image from a website, instead of copying a whole document.
4. How the market is supposed to be affected. This is the most important aspect-- if you are marketing a different audience or purpose is more fair. Similarly, linking to the original website definitely makes using the image more fair.

Keep these four major principles in mind as you use your graphic, and you should be good to go!