Twitter users were up in arms after 947 DJ Anele Mdoda made a tweet the topic of her show without referencing the person who had inspired the topic.
At about 10am on Monday, @AwkwardlyH had tweeted: “1st borns are not getting enough credit hey. We are the trial and errors of parenting.”
This tweet was retweeted 35 times and spawned even more responses through a Twitter debate.
A few hours later, just before Mdoda’s 3pm to 7pm show, her station tweeted: “1st borns don’t get enough credit, they’re the trial & error of parenting! Where do you fit in? Tell @Anele & @AlexCaige”
This launched a barrage of tweets against both the station and Mdoda.
The original tweeter, @AwkwardlyH, said: “Y’all really aint going to credit me for giving you content? I understand Twitter is a public platform but crediting me for your content costs yall nothing @947Highveld.”
She was supported by a number of tweeters, including @Penxenxe, who said: “Content producer of that Highveld show is trash for not crediting Leti or rewriting the tweet differently if they didn’t want to credit her.”
@Murrayingram tweeted: “We’re not gonna stop until you apologise to @AwkwardlyH for stealing her tweet @947Highveld so just get it over with @Anele @AlexCaige.”
After hours of silence from the station and Mdoda, the radio presenter responded in a series of tweets, saying: “@AwkwardlyH relax, a whole show did not ride on your tweet, secondly this was a discussion had at my nephews bday this weekend and you reminded me, for that, thank you.
“There is no prize or money here. You want an RT, I will give you an RT like I usually do with u. Otherwise calm down, you did not invent the wheel, but thank you for reminding us of what all first borns think.”
This further enraged those who felt that Mdoda should have apologised or credited the initial tweeter.
In response, @AwkwardlyH tweeted: “Being condescending and rude over a stolen tweet doesn’t change that the tweet was stolen.”
TWEETS:
@GugsM: Stealing tweets is not very LeadSA of you @947Highveld. If you cannot be original, at least attribute.
@anesu_chiga: It wasn’t copied verbatim but it’s still “plagiarism”. A simple credit to @AwkwardlyH for inspiring a segment wouldn’t have hurt.
@faithkwaza: Hopefully an apology will be coming your way very soon. Humility is underrated these days. Sorry would have prevented this mess.
@TauYaDitshego: This @947High-veld vs @AwkwardlyH episode teaches us that plagiarism not only happens at varsity or between newspapers/magazines.
@THISisLULE: Omg is that Anele woman serious? Can she not read? U copied that damn tweet word for word.
@ShottaZee: So basically @Anele is saying @AwkwardlyH tweeted the tweet that was stolen WORD FOR WORD by @947Highveld jus so she can get an RT from her?
@jean_n_tonic: Aren’t people who produce content for radio supposed to be creative? Stealing tweets to create content for your station? Low. @947Highveld
@Khuze_Elikhulu: Even since Jacob Zuma came to power, crime is so out of control, even your tweets ain’t safe from thieves.
The Star