One would hope that in our country's current climate of "fake news" and "twitter outrage" that some lone publication may appear before our eyes, a beacon of hope that journalistic intigrity may return. Alas, we have The Odyssey Online where every person with an opinion on something can now call themselves writers and journalists. I made this account today with one click. To revive the genius ad campaign, it was "so easy a caveman could do it." And they do. Daily. So here are the 5 lovely and wonderful reasons that I personally find this publication to be a huge scam.
1. It is clearly a move for easy revenue
When the internet actually became a community including people who previously didn't use the internet in this communitive way, the company known as Buzzfeed took it by storm. And now every company and publication has tried to follow in its footsteps. Including this one. In order to make it easier for them to take up those sweet, sweet, dodgecoins they need as many views as possible. So how do you insure you get as many viewable articles as possible with the least amount of effort? You flood the system with what it wants. By allowing any person to just hop on and put out articles upon listicles a day on this website it ensures The Odyssey will have plenty of content. But content just for the sake of content doesn't necessarily mean you will garner views. That's brings us to point number two
2. This is directly connected to your Facebook
When applying to "create" for this website today the only option I had was to connect it to my Facebook. I complied but turned off the ability for it to have access to my friends list. Their expectation is most people will either be ok with that or not even notice. They want you to push your work out there to your friends and family hoping your supportive best friend and your adorable Aunt Sheryl will be so proud that they alone will share it at least twice. So by directly linking your account to Facebook it makes it easier to share and thus garner more views which in turn pays the people at The Odyssey Online. "But Sydney," I hear the fake person I'm having this conversation with ask, "What is wrong with the people who provide this website getting paid?" My response is nothings wrong with that. Nothing except...
3. When do the writers get paid?
No seriously, they are the people directly bringing in the eyes to this website. So where is their cut? Am I paid for every article I produce? It can't be because I could do these all day if I so desired. So what is my payment for the work that I have done? Oh, views? People seeing and noticing my work? Ah yes, the old exposure payment. You and I both know that this is the extreme bottom rung of sleeze in the writing business. Unfortunately plenty of people who are writing for this site don't really know that. You could do this independently and would have more integrity than The Odyssey. Their own excuse, is that they only make $3 per every 1,000 pages and it wouldn't make sense to pay you, the writer, because then they, the company, would clearly be losing money and that would be sad :,(. But, on the bright side, if you push and share your article enough and it does well they might compensate you for up to $1,000! Key word "might". To say the least, this is all bullshit.
4. They rely on the content their writers put out to be easily digestible and "relatable"
Much like horoscopes, listicles are made to feel unique to you and yet they could apply to anyone. Buzzfeed cornered the market on having "relatable" content and now everyone else is doing the same. That content is more shareable which in turn ultimately makes it more profitable. So by relying on the young people who are writing for them, The Odyssey is taking in views based on content of current youth culture that they have absolutely nothing to do with. I could almost guarantee the so to speak "person in charge" wouldn't be able to have a halfway actual decent article that they could write, let alone publish. Bold statements but strongly felt.
5. They are taking advantage of young hopeful writers
It is really despicable how hard The Odyssey tries to make itself out like it's "for creators". That they are letting you "reach your audience". The truth is it is totally an opportunity to take advantage of young high school and college students who want to write and put themselves out there. They rely on that. They know you will write for them for free because you just want something, anything, to be out there and kind of legit. They don't care if your work isn't any good or if it is. They just want the advantage of having free labour that is directly in tune with what is current and interesting so that they can get the views. They know writers who are halfway established or know better wouldn't touch this thing with a ten foot pole. Here is my unasked for advice to the dedicated writers of The Odyssey Online. Go elsewhere. Work on your writing. If you love it, do it. Write all the time. Write something you work hard on and care about. Figure out what your unique voice is. Submit your work to a legitimate publication. Have it rejected. Try again. Failure is growth not defeat. Just give your hard work and time to a place more deserving than The Odyssey Online.
