We’ve got some big news!
I’m proud to introduce Yahoo! Voices: a new online home for millions of pieces of content created by our community of experts and enthusiasts.
Yahoo! Voices (http://voices.yahoo.com) replaces Associated Content as the official digital library of Yahoo! Contributor Network, encompassing the best content we’ve published over the years, and continuing to grow with new articles, video, and slideshows submitted by you.
Joining the Yahoo! family
Less than six months after Associated Content became part of the Yahoo! family, our publishing platform was reborn as Yahoo! Contributor Network. We began publishing content to some of the world’s most visited sites, like Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, omg!, and more. Meanwhile, our digital library continued to grow with more than 30,000 new publications each month.
Now our digital library is finally ready to take a huge step forward onto a Yahoo.com domain, where your content will stand alongside leading websites in virtually every digital media category.
We have worked hard to make this transition as seamless as possible for contributors and visitors. Associated Content URLs will automatically redirect to the same content on Yahoo! Voices, and there will be total continuity in page view tracking. Those of you who have already published to our digital library of content will find “Associated Content” replaced with “Yahoo! Voices” sections on your profile page, Account page, and Content menu. Other features, including the Clout system, will function just as they always have.
We are also expecting some short-term challenges, including a temporary decline in page views while search engines and other traffic sources adjust to the new domain. Rest assured that we will be monitoring this closely, and that we will continue to focus on increasing exposure for the excellent content you create. Ultimately, the benefits of bringing this library within the walls of Yahoo!, the world's premier digital media company (a true feather in your cap!), will outweigh any temporary setbacks.
To learn more about how this launch may affect you, click here to read our special FAQ.
New Submission Guidelines
Today we are also releasing revised Submission Guidelines that clarify what we’re seeking: unique, authentic perspectives from experts, enthusiasts, and citizen journalists, to complement Yahoo!'s broader editorial offerings. These guidelines will be the new acceptance criteria for all new submissions and existing content that does not meet these standards will eventually be retired or returned to the original author for editing.
You can read the new Submission Guidelines here.
Raising the bar
We're sharpening our focus and raising our standards, and we hope you'll do the same. Though many of our contributors are freelance writers who can write eloquently on just about any topic, we ask that you focus primarily on topics you are especially knowledgeable and passionate about. Use our platform to amplify your voice. Wear your personality on your sleeve. Raise the bar! We want to publish content that can't be found anywhere else on the Web, because only YOU could create it. That’s the spirit of Yahoo! Contributor Network, and that’s what Yahoo! Voices is all about.
Our new Submission Guidelines apply to your existing library, in addition to your submissions moving forward. I ask that you take this opportunity to review your library and identify content that doesn’t meet our new guidelines, is outdated, or simply isn’t something you’re proud to stand behind any longer. To support this, we've added two new options to our content flagging tool. Check your Yahoo! Contributor Network private message inbox for further instruction.
While you’re at it, keep your eyes open for content that is especially great. Nominations for our 2011 Yahoo! Contributor Awards are now open!
Get your free copy of the Yahoo! Style Guide
The Yahoo! Style Guide is the ultimate guide to best practices in online content creation, and it has already become an invaluable resource to many contributors. We've sent style guides to hundreds of contributors so far this year. To celebrate the launch of Yahoo! Voices, we're spreading the wisdom further.
If you haven’t already received a style guide from us, you’ll soon receive an invitation to claim a free copy if you have more than 10 articles in your library and if you publish a new article before the end of the year. Don’t miss this chance to get this amazing resource for free!
Taking your voice further than ever
When we created Associated Content back in 2005, our mission was to empower individuals with specialized knowledge and experience to create original content, share it with an audience of millions, and often earn a portion of the revenue it generates. I'm proud to tell you that, through our community-powered publishing platform (Yahoo! Contributor Network) and its new digital library (Yahoo! Voices), Yahoo! is not only upholding the spirit of Associated Content, but massively expanding the scope of our ambitious mission.
Our community has millions of important stories to tell, and we're thrilled to provide an even better place to showcase your unique voice. Welcome to Yahoo! Voices!
-Luke Beatty
Founder, Associated Content
VP, Yahoo! Communities
45 Comments
Post a CommentIt is one thing to post a story but another to find the page that contains all the stories that have been submitted. I find reading other people's work exciting and interesting, so much to learn from others but no bread crumbs can be found to get me to the right place.
I want to know how to get your articles taken off of here haven't received a performance payment like I used to since yahoo took over.. Seems a little fishy if you ask me.
I hate the new guidelines! I can't repost my pillar content because some of them would be better suited to a blog or have irrelevant links! I'm ticked off and I'm leaving YCN!
Survey Monkey will not allow me to send in the form for my free Style Guide Book! It doesn't want to connect at all when I submit my form with U.S. address! Help please?
Many articles are at best; scrutinized before having the light of day shine upon them, based off of the viewers comments, and the content that seems to be accepted, seems to receive negative feedback from readers, who feel the topics are not suitable to their interests. In reality if one is to write you should be engaged in both sides of the field of agreement and disagreements coming from the content editor and the readers. I have had a article rejected or I should say declined and that was in Oct of 2011. I just learned of it today 1 11 2012, so I would say to those of you from both sides of the field that the balance of compromise should depend on the readers views of the latest topics; with a open mind to the positive and negative posts, the reasoning behind this will ensure your readers will stay with the Yahoo family and keep the web site up beat. Just think about whats said here and keep an open mind to both sides it will pay off for the true workers and weed out the weak
I am new here and still puzzled about how it all works. Is there a blog area where what we post goes out immediately? I am on the www.blogit website and that's the way it works. Of course only other members can read the complete postings there and the pay, if you can call it that, is pitiful but we can and do write timely articles, instantly.
I assume from the comments here, that every thing has to go through an editorial process that can take weeks.
I can uderstand that for the assignments but it seems counterproductive, particularly when one is dealing with sporting events.
I hate to beat a dead horse, but I am having the same issues. The time in which it takes the editors to approve the articles written is abysmal. On top of this, the strictness of the title, subtitle etc. is appalling. It's okay if they make you rework your title, but the fact that it takes another four days to have four different words approved is simply ridiculous.
Please Yahoo Voices, listen to our voices.
I have no issues with Yahoo Voices except for the people managing the contact section in which you can send an e-mail asking for help.
I have been trying to get an issue resolved since October. A tech was supposed to get involved starting in December. Nothing has happened and for this entire month I have not been able to log in or submit anything. I can tell that I have been forgotten. So, once again, I am sending another e-mail. I think this is the poorest service I have received dealing with any online site.
I am finding that it was great that at first Yahoo was giving us a platform to share our thoughts, ideas and voices with the world and now they have turned against the very hand of writers that they have helped launch why is that Yahoo??
Woohoo, Yahoo! :-)