Recently, there has been a lot of negative backlash against Odyssey from various corners of the media world, and I would have no issue with these critiques if they were actually based on factual evidence and not just mere emotions and thoughts.

(One of these pieces cited several inaccuracies about the company, starting with its name — it’s just Odyssey. It’s not The Odyssey Online; it’s not The Odyssey — it’s just Odyssey.)

The next evident mistake was when the author referred to Odyssey as, “the web-based publication that caters to college-aged fraternity and sorority members.” Not everyone on Odyssey is in a fraternity or sorority. In fact, not everyone writing for Odyssey is even in college.

My community, Aspiring Journalism Professionals, for example, has writers ranging from age 16 to 28. We have high schoolers, college students and working professionals who have graduated from college and are looking to either be published or build a portfolio to enter into the media world. Odyssey serves a much wider and diverse audience than this piece gives them credit for.

I’d also like to point out that citing us as a social media platform is, in fact, correct, but I wouldn’t call us “flimsy” as accumulating millions of views in a month’s time is impressive. We don’t claim to be The New York Times, but we still get a lot of views through organic social media promotion.

The so-called “low editorial standards” couldn’t be further from the truth. My Content Strategist, who edits our content, is in constant contact with me about what went well in a piece and what didn’t go so well in a piece. He puts 150 percent into editing his communities’ articles, just like the rest of the Content Strategists at Odyssey do.

Any editor who stays late to answer your editing questions on a video call, any editor who answers your five million text messages, any editor who bends over backward like the editors at Odyssey do is worth their weight in gold. If you haven’t experienced an editor like that before during your journalism career, I feel bad for you, because the things I have learned through my editors have forever impacted me.

On my lowest days as an Odyssey editor-in-chief, they have been there to pick me up and remind me of my true self-worth and talent. When I feel inadequate, they remind me that I am not inadequate. I cannot say enough positive things about the editorial staff at Odyssey; they have truly shaped my experience here thus far.

Odyssey even offers incentives to their writers and pays out a decent chunk of money each month to their creators who meet those bars. There are very few outlets who offer any kind of incentive for their creators, so for a startup to offer that is incredible.

For my fellow Odyssey writers and editors, you all know what I’m talking about. This platform has changed my life, and it’s hard to hear others talk about it in such a negative light when they haven’t formally experienced it themselves.

Girls share their rape stories on Odyssey to put their voice out there to help others, that’s incredible.

People share their stories about being bullied so that others know they aren’t alone and that they are worth it.

Writers are also encouraged to write about current events. What's wrong with writing about current events? This shows that this generation is staying informed of the world around them so that they can make the next best move for the world around them.

I truly hope that those judging Odyssey realize that one piece is not indicative of an entire platform, and, sometimes — actually, all the time — you have to look beyond a headline to see the story inside.

Sometimes people write funny stories, and that's OK — especially in the ongoing news cycle we're in now — it's OK to have a feel good story.

The fact that people are recognizing that some of Odyssey's less serious pieces get an incredible amount of views is actually recognizing some larger divides within the media world itself. Sometimes, people want a break from having Donald Trump shoved in their faces or they want a break from hearing about tragedy after tragedy.

We never claimed to be The New York Times, but we're doing a great job at telling stories and letting people's voices be heard.