Don’t get me wrong, I love writing for Odyssey, it is one of the best things that has happened to me during my college career. But with the good always comes a little bad. With that being said, there are things that I have grown to love and others that I’m not too fond of about the website.
1. Clickbait needs to be over.
This year clickbait has become a giant trend. Clickbait is the false titling of an article or a video to attract more viewers. Yes, I am talking to you the author of ‘If College Majors were Flowers’, I clicked on your article to see if my major (film) was used, instead you try to make a fun ‘joke’ about how “we” are all dead on the inside. I am perfectly alive, thank you very much. These articles are just an overall bad representation of what Odyssey is a whole. We have a 500 word limit, why are we writing an article with less? This is why Odyssey is becoming a laughing stock of the internet.
2. General hatred of president 45.
I really do not know what to tell you guys here. I was not 18 for that election, my say did not mean anything. If we all continue to hate him so much then bad things are going to continue happening. It is time we all get off of our high horses, band together, and remember that we are all American. Within the past month and a half we have felt as if our democratic rights are being taken away (ex: net neutrality repealing) so why are we all talking about how much we hate our president instead of fighting for democratic rights? To the people who are discussing their viewpoints as a way to make change, I am clapping for you, but for those of you who are just trying to bash him, you should not be able to publish that.
3. People writing about only problems related to girls.
I understand this platform is generally skewed as a female written website, but that does not mean our audience should be directed towards only women. In the long run, articles that relate to a larger audience WILL get more views. Odyssey has the biggest critique of being a white female driven platform, we should all take this initiative to include more demographics apart of the platform.
4. Odyssey Headquarters sharing articles that are definitely not worth a share.
I wish I could find the exact article I am talking about but currently I cannot. Back in October I read an article written by an EIC here at Odyssey. She was discussing how the content shared to Odyssey’s facebook page is not always worth viewing, and a lot of new writers in her community wrote so many articles that should be getting some type of recognition, but they aren’t. I have to say: I agreed with her article. I do admit since her article gained popularity and made it to the front page of Odyssey, I have seen a significant change in what is shared on that page. But the problems are still there.
5. General consensus of hating men from recent sexual harassment accusations.
I understand that sexual harassment is not a good thing, I understand that it needs to be talked about or it will not be seen as an issue, but assuming because one man did something that does not mean all men are like that. That is all I have to say.
An additional note:
Dear Sports creators, you are doing fantastic. If you want to read a good article on Odyssey, go to the sports section. I can ensure you that these articles will be of substance, these people know what they are talking about.
I feel once these issues have been resolved Odyssey all over will be a better looking platform to the general public. Until then, you can continue writing your ‘What donut you are based on your zodiac sign’ and making it to the front page, but just remember there are some articles of substance on this website.
