eHow's Latest Debacle
eHow has gone and done it again, unfortunately. They've shot themselves in the foot with their Demand Studio writers, and posted highly inappropriate content that borders on being downright salacious--and made it a Featured Article of the Day!
Yes, their latest ploy is to capitalize on hot trends, and they've done it by concentrating on the Tiger Woods scandal. They have featured an article called "How to Tame a Tiger" and it is all about infidelity. Not only is this an obvious reason for eHow writers to be upset, but there are several other reasons as well.
First, eHow promises to be an informative site with How-To articles. This article (and many others written by Demand Studios writers) does not even pass those guidelines and, if submitted by a regular eHow writer, would be rejected and lost almost immediately. It's not in how-to format and does not contain "an actionable step" in each "step" of the article.
Second, the source that the writer cites is Cosmo. While Cosmo may be a great read, and have lots of fun tips, the magazine can hardly be considered a credible source for serious research. (Especially since articles for the magazine are rejected if they are factual but contrary to Cosmo's lifestyle bias.)
Third, the article is sexist in the extreme. It suggests that only men are unfaithful, when every adult among us knows that women have just as much capacity to be unfaithful as men do. One has only to ask around among one's acquaintances to find that women and men are equally unfaithful. Infidelity has to do with one's own insecurities, and to suggest that somehow women are not as capable of behaving badly as men is sexist and eHow's own policies prohibit any kind of slur or hate speech.
And finally, eHow is pandering to the salacious taste for celebrity gossip. The problems between Tiger Woods and his wife are theirs. The affairs, if indeed he had them, were kept quiet for years and neither he nor his wife attempted to make them public. In this instance, eHow is no better than any celebrity gossip show or magazine that attempts to make a profit off people's personal lives and pain.
On the forums, many writers are upset with this new policy, and feel that their credibility as informative, nonfiction writers has been damaged. I would not be surprised were eHow to lose good writers over this issue, because there is little reason to continue to write for them (other than the money) when members' holiday and other timely articles are ignored in favour of trashing celebrities. Although I will probably leave my "how-to" articles there, I am happy for Infobarrel's policy of reviewing articles for new members until it is clear they can contribute well-written articles.
It's clear that if eHow is to retain their credibility, they must begin to separate Demand Studios' content from content submitted by eHow users. The eHow users undergo a much more rigourous screening policy, apparently, than Demand Studios uses for its articles, regardless of what Demand Studios claims is their policy.
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Great article!!
I saw this article, and read through the eHow forums this morning.
I haven't written a single article for eHow in about 3 months. I still have my library intact, with a few articles falling prey to the "sweeps" that never seem to hit the editor articles, despite writers being told for months that they would work on them.
It's really just par for the course.... That's why I'm really happy right here!
BTW... Pull up Google. Place your eHow user name in, followed by ehow. You'll notice virtually all links that pull up will be "ehow.co.uk." (notice the UK at the end) When you pull it up, you'll see it's roughly the same site, but there is no way to login.
From what I've heard online (granted, it's through the rumors), the authors aren't getting paid for any revenue generated on the UK site.
Info Barrel is the NEW eHow...in my honest opinion, there is no possible way that eHow can sustain....there are a few companies that just simply do things BETTER than they do....plus, they are driving away their most loyal and passionate members....
...history has proven that they never seem to learn....
I hope you don't mind, classicalgeek, but I linked to this article from THIS article of mine...
http://www.infobarrel.com/The_Truth_About_Article_Submission_Revenue_Sharing_Websites
you can see it in the eHow section...
Thank you, x3xsolxdierx3x . . . I have read that article and found it very informative! I am about to post on the forums about whether our articles receive revenue sharing from the eHow UK site.
let me know if you ever write any more articles like this, classicalgeek......articles only stay up on the main page for so long, and, the only reason I had found this one was because jcmayer777 had emailed it to me.....
there is alot of shadiness going on with eHow....in fact, I think many people are beginning to regret writing for eHow, however they are faced with a major dilemma because some of their articles really do continue to earn.....
This woman's articles are always straight from a magazine.
How is it the rules only apply to some?
I'm fed up with writing high quality articles for eHow and getting nowhere.
eHow grew way beyond its own means to maintain and sustain quality control over its own articles.......while it funneled tons of money into simply gaining writers and content, it REALLY neglected the 'quality' aspect of the equation....which, is why they are no seriously backpeddling, and pi$$ing off alot of people in the meantime, from their massive site-wide article sweeps....
they have hurt ALOT of people.....there are work at home moms who seriously depend on the additional revenue their eHow articles produce, however, eHow is deleting many of their highest earners, as well....
i mean, its completely wrong to approve an article, then, go ahead and delete it 3 months later, with little to no feedback.....really quite sickening if you ask me...
sigh
eHow started out needing stay at home moms to build up their content and site. Once they climbed their way to the top the need was gone.
I look for eHow to replace all the writers who have been loyal to them. The new eHow writers will end up getting paid a few bucks per article with no residual income.
I understand eHow, Info Barrel and similar sites are started with the hopes of becoming successful, but stepping on those who got you there is not acceptable. In fact, that is exactly what will drag eHow down.
I don't know what the numbers are when it comes to those who have left eHow because of the horrible treatment they are getting, but I can only imagine it's massive. That number will grow. In turn, Info Barrel will benefit along with those of us who are here.
You mentioned looking at the forums...I do not personally post in their forums, but what I read speaks volumes. People are mad and they aren't staying there.
I have nearly a hundred articles on eHow that I've not moved yet. Those articles have made less than $3 this month. My earnings seem to be going down. That is not what should be happening with evergreen articles. Something is definitely not right. I'm slowly deleting them from eHow and putting them on Info Barrel. I think eventually my hard work will pay off, but it sure as hell won't if I keep them where they are over at eHow.
I saw that article was featured. I think eHow is really falling apart. I really decided to stop putting content there when I saw sponsored advertisements for weight loss on addiction articles (from DS writers). Of course, I brought attention to it but got nowhere. I'm disgusted.
I liked the way you wove facts into this article, such as about cheating, Cosmo, etc.
Back when everyone found out about Tiger Woods' fun escapades, I wish I was Tiger Woods.
All along I was thinking he did all those EEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! partly because he did had his father (and friend) around. He lost his father, and so I presumed it was his way coping of his loss.
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