eHOW recently switched to using Demand Studios for content rather than accept direct contributions from its members. The move stunned eHOW users, leaving many of them angry while others feeling confused, and yet others used the incident as an opportunity to plug competing sites. I had joined eHOW less than a month ago and never got the chance to submit any “how to” articles since their editing interface wasn’t working. However, I did have the chance to ask active members for their reaction to the sudden turn of events at eHOW.
Photo by Derek Kimball
Note that a number of members have been accepted automatically into Demand Studios if they met certain performance criteria during the time they wrote articles for eHOW . Most of those who responded to my query weren’t accepted and thus would have to apply for acceptance at Demand Studios through an application that even requires the upload of a c.v. Not all the users who were pre-accepted were jubilant. Dustin, who qualified for Demand Studios responds: “No, I won’t be publishing any new articles through DS due to the fact that as soon as you publish a new article you lose all ownership rights and can’t supply YOUR content anywhere else…” Most members would fit into the same category as Dustin, authors who syndicate their articles to many different sites, thus having to submit exclusive content is a sticking point for them. However, exclusivity only applies to paid assignments by Demand Studios, as opposed to completely original works.
Some members are deleting the content they uploaded to eHow before the switch, such as images, worried about losing their copyright to Demand Studios . One such user told me “You are selling everything (for a few cents) to Demand — but they can use your works anywhere and not pay you anymore“.
formythreeboyz, one of many confused members, writes “Not too sure what I plan on doing. I got really excited and had a lot of fun writing for Ehow…I am just waiting to hear what I am supposed to do next.” Another user expressed fear of Demand Studios’ application process: “As their name says, they are very demanding and I don’t qualify“. While still another worries about their true intentions: “I would just be providing them with information for their email marketing list, which they might sell to others“. Finally, there’s the member who claims eHow deliberately deleted articles, causing users to not qualify for automatic participation in Demand Studios. Snowfence believes eHow’s future is bleak: “What is eHow supposed to become now? A playground?! Geez…”
Some eHOW writers are more hopeful about the change. ” I am hoping this switch will at least correct ALL the publishing issues. It is no fun when Ehow never seemed to work properly.“, writes one of them. Could the notorious technical flaws have been one of the things that prompted them to abandon the community format that had been so successful?
Cynicism abounds among the disenchanted members, one of which, John, says: “So now I can’t write for eHow or Demand Studios! Oh well, I’m going to focus on writing for myself!” Did eHOW err? To quote one member: “Overall I am sad to see a good thing come to an end.”
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Tags: articles, demand studios, ehow
Angela R Beasley
11th May, 10
I was one of the more recent members of http://www.eHow.com. More specifically, I was on my second article upon notification of the switch to Demand Studios. During the short time I was there, I really enjoyed the eHow set-up and community.
I believe eHow became the site it was because of the freedoms afforded to the writers and self-policing efforts of the community. In my opinion, whenever you offer creative minds the freedom to express themselves without attempting to exert control over their creations, you typically end up with better results.
With http://www.eHow.com, writers were able to post their articles on eHow and their own web sites or blogs and still profit from eHow. Demand Studios is “demanding” (yes the pun is intended) that they own writer’s works (full ownership) in order for writers to be able to post to their site – pretty “demanding” isn’t it (yeah, I know, that one was overkill).
A lot of eHow writers were upset over the change and with Demand Studio’s policies. I personally do not agree with their policies. The great thing about the Internet is that we have choices and new choices pop up every day. The other great thing about the Internet is the ability to distribute your own content– or to start your own forum, blog or community with little or no overhead.
atNick
7th Sep, 10
I agree that it’s kind of annoying to be forced to go through Demand Studios, but after reading this Demand Studios Review I think they seem alright and I’ll give them a try.
atsnowfence
8th Sep, 10
I sure miss eHow. As like many others, I am sort of in a ‘limbo’. Many have survived the eHow disaster, and gone on to bigger and better things. As for me though, I would like to write again, but I just can’t find the motivation anymore.
You know… eHow IS still being used. There were thousands of friendships formed there, and those members with friendships are still using it to message each other. They share what they are doing now, give hope and ideas to those who just don’t know what to do now or where to go. If you check other writing sites, you will find most of us here and there… ALL still wishing that eHow hadn’t exploded…
By the way, eHow is still paying me even though I haven’t been allowed to write anymore articles since March. Keep on truckin’ fellow eHowers!
atunavailable
19th Sep, 10
Thanks for the heads up, I haven’t used Ehow for about a year and half and was shocked to find I couldn’t begin posting articles right away, but instead had to apply for the opportunity to make Ehow money.
After reading this article I can see that Ehow is a sinking ship, who in their right mind would sign away their article rights for a few pennies in income?
Choke on it and die EHOW!
at