I have been a content creator for Odyssey for nearly four months now. Even though I have only been writing for this website for a short amount of time, I have already learned a lot.
Like how Odyssey "over-exploits" their writers. They constantly send emails to their creators telling them to share their articles on all social media platforms in order for people to see our work. Our editors and AMAs try their hardest in order for us to let others see what it is that we are passionate about.
How about the fact that the Odyssey calls us "creators" rather than "writers"? Because there is a major difference between creating a blog and writing a blog, right? No. A creator is exactly that, somebody who creates a piece of literature so that others may see what is important to their world.
Whether the person is writing about something simple like "Harry Potter", Disney or music, or they are writing on something hard-hitting like politics, gun violence or feminism, our Editors support us in everything that we write about. They encourage us to increase our skills, and help us get our articles out there.
What if we discuss the fact that we don't get compensation in the form of money? That we get compensation in the form of experience, exposure, and references? That we are able to write for a well-ranked website as college students? That we put out one (maybe two) articles a week and we get to do it without the pressure of being told what we can and cannot write?
Lately, there have been some former Odyssey creators who see these things as problems. They believe that we should all be paid and not be bugged to expose our articles. Former creators feel that Odyssey is taking advantage of college students because they are not getting paid.
When you think about it, though, we aren't being taken advantage of. When we either choose to request a spot on an Odyssey team or somebody requests for us to seek out a position, we know that we aren't seeking a paid position.
I do not see the point in any former or current Odyssey creator bashing the platform because we don't get paid or because they ask us to share our articles more than once a week. The experience we get is one that is able to last a lifetime. People get to see our articles through a platform that encourages young writers to truly express themselves.
Those creators who have either left Odyssey of their own accord or who have been asked to leave should show some respect and not go onto their personal social media accounts and bash the platform with hashtags like #payyourcreators or #exposetheodysseyparty. I find these people extremely disrespectful.
They are bitter former creators who didn't get everything they wanted when it came to Odyssey. With my knowledge of what these people are saying, they believe they have the right to have all of their articles on the front page of Odyssey's website. I don't believe anybody deserves a spot on the front page unless they have earned that spot fair and square.
Some creators work harder than others to write these amazing articles that get a lot of shares, and they deserve to be featured. Now, don't get me wrong, every creator works hard on their articles, but that doesn't mean they wrote ones that deserve to be featured.
So, as a current Odyssey creator, I want to tell everybody that Odyssey is not doing anything wrong. To other Odyssey creators, don't listen to former Odyssey creators who are bitter and have issues with their own school's network. Don't listen to their disrespectful comments or allow them to change your perspective on Odyssey as a whole.
Stand up for yourself and don't allow others to bash the website you love writing for.
