Due to seeing some negativity surrounding one of the amazing companies I work for, I felt the need to clear the air and dispel some rumors about Odyssey. From the title, I'm sure this post seems like I'm going to be bashing the very company I write for, but I'm really going to be setting the record straight about some common misconceptions some folks have about Odyssey. If you've ever had doubts or reservations about our platform, this article should answer any burning questions you may have or dispel any rumors you might have heard.
If you're unfamiliar with Odyssey, it's a writing platform centered around publishing the thoughts and ideas of millennials. Odyssey also prides itself on being a platform that lets the content of the writers speak for itself, meaning the editors aren't allowed to withhold articles from being published; they edit grammar, syntax and punctuation while giving a few pointers every now and then. From the start of my explanation, many people probably see issues with the way the site operates. Odyssey is growing every day and we're reaching new heights at all times. We're a young company, and because of our youth, we've hit some bumps in the road along the way, but we're learning from our mistakes as we encounter them.
To start, many people say Odyssey is just for "frat boys," "sorority girls" and "basic" people. While the founding Odyssey communities originated on college campuses (hence the beginning of my involvement with the company), we're breaking this absurd stereotype by welcoming folks from all backgrounds to join our teams and we're appointing community recruiters to create teams that are centered around cities and towns, not only colleges. I currently create content for the University of West Georgia's Odyssey community, and all of my fellow team members come from multiple different organizations and walks of life in general. We have diversified members of sororities, religious groups, honors societies and other organizations who make up our team, and because we all share different stories and perspectives of life, we're able to be a well-rounded team with beautifully different ideas. As far as creating communities that are separate from college campuses, I recruited people to create my hometown's first Odyssey team, and I'm currently the editor-in-chief of my area's first community that isn't affiliated with a college or university. Having teams that recruit people off-campus definitely brings a different set of viewpoints to Odyssey, further dissolving the ridiculous stereotypes surrounding our writers.
Another complaint people have about Odyssey is that it's mainly a place for people to write and rant about unimportant topics. Everyone puts current issues on their personal levels of importance, so claiming that most topics that writers on this platform choose to write about as being irrelevant is a bit pompous and arrogant. Odyssey's main goal is to have the voices of the future be heard, and the voices I'm speaking of will one day be world leaders Therefore, it's a bit necessary for the youth of America to be allowed to speak about their concerns. Some articles about current events are more technical than others, of course, but the fact that young people have a place to write about their societal and global concerns is absolutely beautiful.
The final complaint many people have about Odyssey is that our articles are neither properly edited nor are our content Creators vetted before being onboarded or hired. I've had many potential team members approach me about how Odyssey handles how Creators are onboarded, and for the most part, people think potential creators simply put their names on an application, and it's immediately accepted. If these people were to apply, they'd learn Creators must submit a sample that gets evaluated by an editor before a screening, conducted by the same editor, takes place. Editors have a very similar process when it comes to being hired. I was screened twice before I became a community ambassador a few months ago, and once I had started my second local community, I was able to become the editor-in-chief of the team. While each individual team operates differently and has different editors with varying styles of corrections and suggestions, Odyssey strives to have articulate and advanced creators and editors. Thus far, our growing company has managed to have stellar content creators and editors across the board.
If you're a Creator for Odyssey, you've had people say some of the aforementioned complaints around you or have had them question your reasoning for joining the team because people give Odyssey a bad review or two. Through the negativity and the criticism, we have managed to remain stronger than ever and grow exponentially as a nationwide team. This is the truth about Odyssey, and it deserves to be shared with everyone who has ever doubted its importance.
