I would like to preface this with I am in no way shape or form attacking the individual writers who have tried to maintain integrity and strength in their opinions while working for the Odyssey. I give major credit to individuals who are able to keep their heads held high and move past the insurmountable amount of hatred that can be thrown in one's direction…I would also like to thank my writing team here at Miami University. You all have been so supportive in my writing endeavors, and I am so sorry to see it come to such an abrupt ending.

Now, here’s a story about my journey with Odyssey.

I started writing for Odyssey in July of 2017. It was a week after I had found out that the restaurant I had been working at for two years had shut down on me, and I was left slightly high and dry. Odyssey seemed like a way to be able to write, gain resume experience and to be able to use it as an outlet for my overarching feelings and emotions.

I was right: Odyssey is just that. It is a platform in which I felt comfortable projecting myself…to some extent. I was able to address my struggles with friendship and personality disorders. I was able to thank some people I could never find the words to say in person. Lastly, I was able to write freely about whatever I pleased.

So these reasons are why I am able to write this today.

Let’s start with the basics. Odyssey hires young adult writers, predominantly studying at universities around the United States. They promote the idea that a writer should be submitting four articles a month, or once a week, of at least 500 words each. Thus, each week I am adding an additional "homework assignment" to the lineup.

From there, you take your one article a week and YOU share the hell out of it. I mean I think I posted some of my articles on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, StumbleUpon, Reddit and any other place I could think of. With these shares, there’s a payment system in play. The following is from an Odyssey FAQs page on creator incentives:

Q: How many views do I need to achieve paid incentives?

A: Though net revenue is always changing, the base payment ($10) begins at around 17,000 organic views and the cap ($500) is around 850,000+. This number is the aggregate of monthly organic views on every piece of content you've ever posted on Odyssey.

My top article was viewed 1,500 times and had 350 shares. I barely made a dent toward the list. Another friend of mine hit 40,000 views and never received any compensation.

It feels so unobtainable, especially when many articles that go "viral" on Odyssey's social media are ones of bias and controversy towards a specific group: feminists, cisgender white men, black parents, frat boys, etc.

Now, let’s talk about the freedom of speech that Odyssey allows.

Odyssey states they are a public writing forum, and all of the writers are responsible for their own works, thus making sure they save their own asses.

Their terms of service state, “YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE 13 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND DISCRETION. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOU, YOUR COMPUTER, OR YOUR OTHER PROPERTY DUE TO YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SERVICES OR ANY MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THE SITE OR APP. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT INFORMATION TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE INTERNET IS NEVER COMPLETELY SECURE. NEITHER ODYSSEY, NOR ANY OF OUR EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, “OUR ASSOCIATES”) SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY COMPENSATORY, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ATTORNEYS’ FEES, OR FOR LOST DATA OR LOST PROFIT, ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES OR INABILITY TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE OR AN ASSOCIATE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR SUCH DAMAGES WERE FORESEEABLE. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES TO ALL KINDS OF LEGAL CLAIMS, SUCH AS BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LOSS OR HARM.”

The only wording they have to what's “not allowed” is plagiarism and copyright, hate speech, harassment, threats of violence, spam, graphic content, and content promoting self-harm.

I agree. We shouldn’t be writing about these things. Now, let’s see what rules Odyssey has broken.

"Hate speech is any speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits, and is unacceptable in any capacity. Odyssey reserves the right to request edits to any piece of content that may include hate speech, as well the ability to remove the piece from the site."

Odyssey’s social channels are used to amplify trending and popular content to highlight resonating perspectives and relevant conversations. That said, racism, hate speech, personal bullying, and other prohibited content should never be shared by Odyssey’s social media pages.

In the last two weeks, I have been shocked by the allowance of an article to keep circulating: Dear Black Parents: You Need to Stop Doing These 13 Things.

Let’s see what this article accuses these individuals of…

Financial contribution in the household

Public embarrassment

Threatening lives

Beating and physically abusing

Discouraging from the arts

Homophobia and violence

Taking away emotions

Perceiving things wrongly as disrespect

Hovering

Too much explicit language

Pretending to never be wrong

Making people have a different title, like auntie or uncle, than they really are

Ignoring sexual abuse

Shaming their own daughters

If I am correct, Odyssey clearly states that race is NEVER okay to be discriminated against. So, as an Odyssey creator myself, I reached out on several different platforms to indicate my disgust toward this article. People are commenting things such as, “You cannot paint black people with one brush,” and, “This is a bogus article about the stereotypical nonsense people perceive to happen in only black families."

I expected that this article would be addressed, taken down, blocked from the system and many other preventative measures…but it wasn’t. The next day, I logged onto my social media to see this being published as the “featured” article of the week on both Facebook and Twitter.

With the help of Odyssey, this young lady received the top spot of most viewed articles. She has over 596 comments and 250,000 reactions to her post. Odyssey provided this piece with the ability to thrive.

Someone asked me today, "Why are you leaving Odyssey?"

My response is this: I no longer view Odyssey as this great platform for writing. I attempted to reach out to discuss this disgusting article as an adult. They have ignored my attempts. I have morals, and Odyssey has broken them. So here’s my final chance to write freely.

Shame on you, Odyssey. Shame on allowing this disgusting article to circulate so freely on YOUR platform. So here is my goodbye…and my final article.

It does not fall into the categories of plagiarism and copyright, hate speech, harassment, threats of violence, spam, graphic content, or content promoting self-harm. Thus, I better see it next week.

Signing off for good,

An Ex-Odyssey Creator