Writers Are the Reason for a Writing Site

All of the sites that we have the pleasure of writing on of course have rules we all must follow. As I say all the time, it's their site. They get to make the rules that we must abide by. Like it or leave it.

We do not have to agree with the rules of course. And we have the right to express it when we do disagree. That's free speech, and while not all sites operate under the protections of the U.S. Constitution, it is one of the inalienable rights that I, as an American citizen, hold dear. It is also a right that I will exercise without compromise no matter what the rules are.

That applies to here. It applies to Noise. It applies to HubPages. And it also applies to myLot, another writing site similar to Noise. But different in that posts there tend to be a bit longer in nature. But shorter than say, here on Read.

It's a great community with some equally great people. I will never be remiss to say that. It also happens to be a mostly fun site with a sort of family-like atmosphere. I even like the main moderator, GoAskAlice, and mostly respect the rules of the site.

But there are times when I strongly disagree with the moderator and I tell her so, and I make myself absolutely clear that at the end of the day regardless of her thoughts or wishes, I get the last word and will not adhere strictly to anything I strongly disagree with.

As I have said to her in the past, "The door is yours to show me at your will. It's no sweat off my back if you tell me I have overstayed my welcome." I have also told her point-blankly that she can take her sometimes Gestapo-like attitude and shove it where the sun won't ever shine.

She can take that as she pleases. I really don't care. Because while, as I have said, I must operate within the rules, it does not mean I will rest on my laurels or make any compromises just to be there.

They need me more than I need them, in other words. After all, it is my interaction and my content and my participation that is what makes their site go, and is what ultimately puts money in their pocket.

And I feel like I make a worthwhile contribution to myLot that also sometimes may drive in traffic to the site from outside the site. Something a lot of what gets posted there will not do.

That's not to make light of what anyone else is doing there. But I am simply saying my contribution to myLot is worthwhile enough that if they lose me, they lose more than they gain in the end.

The site is essentially a site that pays users for the interaction they create from what they produce on the site, and they pay users from advertising that appears on the site.

In other words, they won't pay me for writing a post. But they will pay me if you like and comment on it. It's a good system that works well and one of the best performing pay structures I have seen. And I have been on many sites like myLot in the past.

They all mostly failed for good reason, and there is good reason myLot continues to succeed. I will even go as far as to say that GoAskAlice is part of the reason it succeeds. And even the rules that I sometimes disagree with are as well. Or, at least the way the site polices itself is part of the reason.

Let's face it. Some rules are just stupid. And myLot has plenty of stupid rules. But so do sites like Noise and Read. It just is what it is.

The bottom line for me is this. I am going to say what I want. I am going to express any opinion I so desire. I am going to do it my way. And that will never change. I will do it until I am told I no longer can.

But at the end of the day I can move on just as I always have and find other places, other venues, other means of expressing my thoughts, opinions and ideas. I do not have to be limited to a place like myLot to do that, nor do I feel the need to be limited in my capacity to do that by a place like myLot.

That includes talking about myLot within myLot, a no-no over there that they police like true heathens in my opinion. If you write something in myLot about myLot it is promptly taken down—well, unless it praises myLot of course. They like that. But if it doesn't, it's as good as gone.

They're "don't you talk no smack about me" policy is quite strict. Almost to the point of being in North Korea and having your head chopped off if you question the Kim Jong Il regime over there.

Sometimes. Not all the time. But sometimes I actually think GoAskAlice thinks she's a bit of a bigger deal than she actually is. And she certainly doesn't like it when a guy like me takes the time and makes the effort to remind her of that.

It's us who are the big deal after all when all is said and done. You know, the ones who make the site go. The ones who write the content that drives all the traffic. We're the ones who keep the lights on. We're the ones who are the purpose for the existence of the site.

And we, GoAskAlice, are the ones who pay for the chair and the desk and the computer you sit behind to remind us all of your rules. And in an odd twist of fate of sorts what that really means is that—we actually get to make the rules and you may be wiser to follow ours a bit more.

As I said before. You need us more than we need you.

Lead image courtesy of Pixabay, user geralt. Board Empty Rule - Free photo on Pixabay