Because the world would be an ugly place without the seven-year-old girl writing poetry in a blog, or the 70-year-old woman writing a column for a tiny website about her crochet.

I’ll let readers decide what they want to read.

A troll by any other name…

To people who actually care about the art and soul of good writing, this dismantling is a brutal disappointment. Then again, if you are amused, as you say, by real writers bemoaning the decline of writing, perhaps you are amused by people losing their jobs, species extinction, degraded self-esteem, and a loss of artistic integrity on a national scale. Or maybe you’re just easily amused. Perhaps this is why you read all those blogs?

People have been writing for ages, some have definable qualities and others do not. What about the bloggers who review the news? Or the small website owner who loves gardening and shares her secrets? They post ads as well, is it taking away from the article in the New York Times about gardening or the news?

Some could say those who are writing about what they love without selling out at all are the quality writers, not the ones working at $1000 an article, the same article sharing space with provocative advertising.

But honestly, what is the problem? Are “quality” writers upset that there’s a place out there paying for writing that aren’t the rates they would accept? If that’s the case, why are they giving it the time of day? Are they complaining that writers are underpaid? What defines underpaid? Some swear they earn less than minimum wage at content mills, but perhaps they’re slow writers. (And last time I checked, most who worked at content mills earned an average of $10 an hour or more, above minimum wage. And slave wages are an inaccurate term, as slaves weren’t paid.)

Are they mad that when they write an article, that article is five pages below on Google from the number one spot, a blogger post?

Does it mean “goodbye to quality” or is it redefining quality? I think readers determine quality, not the writers. They vote with their views and subscriptions.

If traditional journalism folks aren’t happy because they aren’t getting the readership as their “less than elite” fellows, maybe it’s the readership redefining what they want, not the content providers or the writers.

On a side note, I find the “elite writers” rather amusing. They always talk about skill, and how hard it is to write an article of quality. I just think of all the crap I’ve read about “walk the pounds away” in Women’s World magazine or the fluff I read from the newspaper about “raising your kids”, the same fluff I wrote when I worked in the newspaper industry, and comparing it to someone online who blogged about something they loved and put ample more research and real data into the post.

I honestly don’t think I’ll miss elite writers complaining about lack of quality over reading something totally from the heart from a blogger.

But that’s my choice in what I choose to read, I guess.

Another problem is that most content writers get stuck in these mills and don’t see that there is a way to work themselves up to higher and better work with effort. As with any occupation writing involves consistent learning to grow and gain a higher position. Many believe that they can be happy working for lower rates because they don’t see the need to improve. The ‘elite’ writers consider this either lazy or unprofessional; what if there is just no need to get better? Content mill writers don’t have a boss, nor do they have the hassle of regular jobs but they do have regular pay – this is the allure of content mills. You don’t have to look for work because you already have it.

The content mills have become the Walmarts of the writing world. They have created the 21st Century version of the early 20th Century piece-work factory. As long as you turn out work that meets requirements, you get paid. You quickly learn what level of work is needed and what expectations are in relation to the pay scale. And how to match your work to those factors. That is how you get the generic content spewing out now.

It’s not the writers, it’s the business model.
Bill recently posted..Welcome

I remember when my sole writing goal was to make $500 for a single article. It’s much harder now and unless I am much mistaken the cost of living has gone up and not down.

It’s true that not everyone should be a writer, and I have seen writing on the web and in print that is worth about what these content mills pay. Professionals just cannot crank out crap; we have standards. However, not everyone who wants to call themselves a publisher be in the business of buying writing either.

A newspaper editor I knew (and newspapers are notoriously cheap when it comes to pay) told me roughly 30 years ago that if I couldn’t make $20/hour on a writing gig, it was a waste of my time.

What’s even more funny is lately I have been noticing that people who read content mill sites will later try to argue a point by saying they read it in an article. When I find out what article and where it was published :facepalm:.

I am tired of being forced-fed contrived, redundant, recycled “articles” on the Internet. Is that liberty? Is that what we are creating with our freedom? A bunch of wasted mindless time? Must I keep seeing claims from “writers” who brag about churning out at least three researched articles per hour? Come on. Where is the real value?