One of my friends is an avid writer, so naturally, I invited him to write for Odyssey. After reading a few articles, he responded, "I don't think any of my writing would fit with Odyssey's liberal agenda..."
I was taken aback.
"Agenda? Creators literally have the freedom to write about whatever they want."
In my experience, Odyssey eagerly opens its doors to both ends of the spectrum. Over the past few months, my community has produced a diverse array of pieces, including a team video on the power of love, a sensory deprivation tank review, a three-part series on the Bible, an interview with Ken Bone, a humoring set of progressive pick-up lines and so much more.
As a Contributing Editor, I am constantly amazed by the sheer diversity just within my own community — in every aspect — from political and religious beliefs to individual writing styles.
With that being said, it's time to eliminate some misconceptions about Odyssey.
"Odyssey is the worst news source ever."
Odyssey is not meant to be a news source. It is a platform that gives creators a place to voice their reactions to current events, be it politics, social issues, arts and entertainment, etc. With thousands of voices comes thousands of opinions.
Subjective? For sure. Authentic? Most definitely.
Creators are sharing their own unique perspectives with the world. No one creator's opinion is representing Odyssey as a whole. You don't have to agree with every writer. In fact, you won't. There is such an abundance of differing views that you are sure to find some healthy opposition.
"What you see represents nothing other than authentic ideas that the community deems important." — Odyssey Online
"Odyssey creators are so uninformed."
The truth is that it is easy to join an Odyssey community if you possess the desire to do so. However, staying committed to weekly, quality writing is another story. You would not imagine the amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into every week. The creators who do commit are the ones who truly want to share their ideas.
As for being "uninformed," Odyssey writers and editors do their best to ensure that an article is not spewing falsehoods, especially with ever-present "fake news." Still, there are two sides to every story. Do you feel its "uninformed" because you don't agree with it or because it's actually incorrect?
"Odyssey creators write about the dumbest things ever."
I've heard people mock the idea of an "open letter." I get it. What haven't you read an open letter about? (You'll find some good laughs on this Twitter account, Odyssey Rejects).
But open letters can also share eye-opening messages. Two open letters from my community come to mind: "An Open Letter To My Deadbeat Dad" and "An Open Letter To My Eating Disorder."
Sometimes, people automatically assume all Odyssey creators are sorority girls who love writing listicles and open letters. I would agree that at one point (from the pages I was viewing), Odyssey seemed saturated with that demographic, which resulted in a lot of the content also being geared towards that audience. Odyssey has since noticeably branched out to all readers. More and more creators from high schools and colleges are contributing powerful, diverse ideas.
Odyssey is not defined by one writer's opinions. If you find yourself disagreeing, you still have over 15,000 writers (and counting) to check out. I'm sure you'll find one you like.
That reminds me. Another thing that works pretty well is: don't like it? Don't read it.
Or rather, you could find a platform to voice your disagreement. It is strong voices like yours that make Odyssey the community that it is.
