July 20, 2016 at 7:07 am

“LiteracyBase is a makeshift microblogging platform that is intentionally created to add values to everyone’s life by providing their answers, value added rich content and rewarding points.” (from the “About Us” page)

I have to wonder if this description of the site was perhaps written when the site owners had a different vision for LiteracyBase? The use of the word “microblogging” doesn’t exactly conjure up visions of posts at least 300 words long, does it? Not for me, anyway! Microblogging is like Twitter or a status update on Facebook. It’s 100 characters or so, maybe up to 100 words like Bubblews. I think LB is selling itself short by using this term in the site description – and I have to wonder how many people it’s confused!

I found that the description was awkward in a lot of other ways – mechanics, jargon, not really describing what actually happens on the site. But the word that really sticks with me is this: “makeshift.”

I wonder if the site owners know the meaning of this word. And if they do, it’s even more evidence that the site description refers to a much earlier version of LiteracyBase. Because “makeshift” means both temporary and of poor quality – something hastily thrown together out of necessity, rather than a project intended to endure.

Perhaps now would be a good time to rewrite the “about” page? This is what is showing up on sites like Facebook, every time a user shares a referral link. Is it really what the owners and the community want to communicate about LB?

I was reminded of the unfortunate wording when a fellow writer asked me for a referral link today, and I thought it might be something the staff have forgotten as they focus on bigger things. Still, it is sometimes the first thing a potential user or reader will see when investigating the site…

July 20, 2016 at 7:51 am

How about tagging @support as they are the ones who should be reading this and not poor me who has no authority nor control over what is written there  😀

July 20, 2016 at 8:33 am

Well, thank you, @bestwriter! It appears I’d forgotten to do that. I’m glad you were around to mention it.

July 22, 2016 at 5:17 pm

@Kyla Matton Osborne (Ruby3881) I had never paid attention to the site description until you mentioned it here. Microblogging is indeed a misleading term.

July 22, 2016 at 5:43 pm

@Ruby3881 and what if they really meant it? I wish they do not read your post and hasten up the process!  

July 22, 2016 at 9:14 pm

I guess they need to recheck this statement. I think they still need to consider also on how a newbie can go to the next level. I am just saying.

August 5, 2016 at 10:46 pm

I think they may have started with shorter blogs in mind, @swalia. I guess they discovered that shorter doesn’t pay….

@sunil Hasten the process of what, Suny? If you mean of moving to microblogging, I think some people might be happy for that. The MyLot format seems to be quite popular. It could work on other sites, if they can get the conversations going well.

LB has a good community for conversation. But I think the discussions are easier to follow with the threaded replies they have at MyLot.

August 5, 2016 at 10:59 pm

I do not mind the description

August 5, 2016 at 11:27 pm

@Ruby3881 I am not aware of MyLot anymore as I have no discussion on that site anymore neither I have visited that site for 6-7 months. In fact certain sites are just too much for me that turn me off especially the ones with often changing rules. I prefer staying away from them until they get settled or show result.

MyLot in its second avatar has not come up to my expectation so I quit rather than accusing them for none of their fault. What I do not like there is just one thing that site has too many self appointed moderators which does not fits into my working style.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by  suny.

August 6, 2016 at 2:17 am

@sunil You are not the first to mention that on MyLot there are certain people who seem to have appointed themselves moderators. I know there are a couple of veterans who are well respected, and who have occasionally gotten into heated discussions with other users. I haven’t seen much beyond that but I found that after my first month there, most of the posts were just not interesting enough to stimulate conversation.

I haven’t seen much beyond that, in terms of the atmosphere. But I found that after my first month there, most of the posts were just not interesting enough to stimulate conversation. It’s hard to earn under the MyLot model when nobody is posting anything to comment on…

As for sites that constantly change, I think it’s understandable with a new site that is trying to adapt both to the demands of advertisers who provide the revenue and the needs of its users. LB, for example, has had a lot of changes to its ads. Sometimes they are there, sometimes there are none. Now we are seeing an autoplaying video and some InfoLinks ads that make it more difficult to use the site. There have also been a lot of issues with downtime and with server errors. But this is to be expected of a site that had seen little activity until the influx of members here in the spring.

To my mind, it’s much worse when a site with a long history (like Bubblews or BlogJob) suddenly announces drastic changes to its payment program, or when it fails to pay users what they are owed or eliminates revenue sharing altogether. Sites that are changing and announcing changes along the way, like the Harlow-McGaw sites, tend to do better in the long run. That’s why I always advocate transparency and giving users frequent updates, even if that means some rules will change more often than planned. It’s better than hiding the concerns until the problem is so big that the only choice is to stop paying the writers.

August 6, 2016 at 5:30 pm

Mylot has only one moderator and that is the owner.I am a mylotter for two years now and enjoy the fun with lots of nice Mylotters. We have teamwork there at mylot.Though the pay is small, but constant and the site owner really hears our woes and complains.

August 6, 2016 at 11:31 pm

GoAskAlice is a good site owner. I believe that in general, he wants users to do their own thing and just to realize that the more they interact, the more they earn. It’s a very unique site, though. I like to say that MyLot has done a much better job of producing a Facebook-like atmosphere that provides revenue to users than Bubblews did when they unveiled their big “site upgrade.”