Duplicate content on various sites have people discussing just how it effects a website. Over the past year forums such as WebMaster World and Search Engine Watch have discussed both on and off site duplications.Some people are almost out of control, swearing there are penalties associated with duplications. Google alone has more than 50 thousand results for “duplicate content penalty” and WebmasterWorld has up to six thousand threads discussing the subject.A recent article placed on four prestigious sites quickly became among the top 30 results when searched. All four versions of the article were the same and all four versions were ranked among the top searches.If Google considers your site an authority it seems you can get away with almost anything short of blatant spam. Sites that Google indexes and sites that Google considers authorities have a certain disconnect.This is where the social media market comes in. Unless you have thousands upon thousands of links, you’re almost non-existent.