Over the past 20 years, the writing and publishing industry has been radically changed by perhaps the biggest technological and cultural change since Guttenberg invented the 
printing press in the 15th Century. This rapid transition from traditional “old media” to the fast-working and more concise tools and writing styles of the Internet and the Digital Age.
This evolutionary process has not only exposed experienced writers to new techniques on how to find work and be published, but it has given novice writers a wide array of tools and outlets to make their own way in the writing world.
The Dream Job – Working from Home
The Internet is now filled with writing and editing gigs. Unfortunately, with the rapid call for an abundance of articles, writers are often faced with a few dilemmas that seem to be growing frighteningly fast.
Before the major Google update hit the net in February, many companies sought incredibly low-content, or even spun articles, to get the best for their buck, while paying the writers at insultingly low rates.
With the decline of print journalism, as well as the reality of a struggling economy, starving professional writers as well as novices looking for work made this a reality. In many cases, accepting pay far less than minimum wage, with demands for the quantity of content often unreasonable.
In Demand
Demand Studios has become one of the biggest “content farms” online within the past few years. Many may argue that Demand Studios is not even remotely close to being a content farm, but since there was a time when literally thousands of redundant articles were available on any given day, I beg to differ.
Although Demand Studios pays a bit above the cut compared to other content farms (which really isn’t saying much), the dissipated titles and the inconsistencies of the copy editors make it hardly worth it. While one editor will let a “How to Crack an Egg” article slide through with no edits, another editor may send the article back over a simple typo. This type of inconsistent practice has created a system that has been penalizing the writers.
A Fatal Mistake?
Demand Studios uses a score card in which writers are graded for their articles. If you happen to catch the wrong editor, or even worse an editor with a bad attitude having a rotten day, you will find yourself at the bottom of the grading scale, even if you are one of the better writers. Since Google Panda emerged, Demand Studios has changed their writing rules. Only those with a high score card will be able to grab and write titles, while thousands are out of work simply due to the fact that they have gotten an editor with a chip on his shoulder.
What is at Stake?
There can be no doubt that due to Panda updates as well as the open dissension in their ranks, that Demand may be suffering a bit more than they would like to admit in recent months. Their painfully obvious and repeated job ads placed in the past month or more may also be a serious sign that some of their higher-quality, or more reliable writers, have moved on. It may be long past due for the developers at Demands Studio take a serious look at their WEP program and how it has affected their writers and in turn, their content.
Sources:
Why You Shouldn’t Write for Content Mills
Thanks for this look at Demand Studios Leigh. I think this is an important issue to everyone who makes their living as an online writer. I’ve never worked for Demand but I’ve certainly heard plenty of stories like yours. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you pertaining to sharing the following superb subject matter on your web-site. I came across it on google. I may check to come back once you publish additional aricles.
Before Demands Studio emerged I used to share my answers on ehow.com, but now I find there is no trace of my activity there on that website.