It’s your one-year anniversary. You open Facebook to post a photo from your wedding day, and begin typing, “Holy cow, a year already?! We said our vows, honeymooned in Iceland, and adopted Puff Daddy, the fluffy white rescue pup. Cheers to many adventures ahead!” You think to yourself, “Perfect! I’ll tag my husband, then I’ll post it to Facebook. Done!”

Most of us do this without another thought. We completely forget what I call the “uncommon courtesy” of crediting the creator. “Wait, what? Why the heck does that matter?” you might be thinking. Listen up: Crediting is a lost art, which is odd, considering our years of schoolhouse wisdom on the subject. Remember when our teachers constantly drilled us about citing our sources, making us pad our essays with footnotes & big sexy bibliographies? Somehow, we threw that all out the window the second we graduated. I know, “citing your sources” sounds about as appealing as snacking on cardboard, but please hear me out:

As creators, makers, artists, writers, and photographers, we love when our work is shared. When you share our work online, it has the potential to make big waves for our small businesses. So for the love of Top the Tater, please credit the creator when you share their work online, and do it every single time. A photo you didn’t take? Credit. A hand-lettered quote you just had to share? Credit. A photo of the beautiful bouquet delivered to your doorstep? You guessed it: Credit that florist! The list goes on…

I promise: We’re not trying to be difficult; we’re just trying to revive basic etiquette that died with the onset of social media. Forgive my blunt analogy, but crediting is like giving someone a giant bear hug instead of flipping them the bird. I’m tired of seeing people post others’ work and wondering, “Who the heck created that?” I know many of us have done this unknowingly, so consider this a gentle public service announcement: Start sharing responsibly, yo!

Check out the video below, where I walk you through every step of the process. Crediting is easy-peasy and takes an extra 2-3 seconds of your day (plus it’s good karma. Win-win!). As always, don’t be shy if you have questions about crediting. We’re humbled that you care enough to ask. Happy sharing, friends!