Well That Was Short-Lived

An update on my (probably very brief) foray over to NewsBreak

It was good while it lasted…

Last week I wrote a story lamenting that I hadn’t heard of NewsBreak sooner.

As promised, I worked hard to obtain the required number of registered followers and have the minimum number of articles published. That process took one week, from October 28 to November 4, until I was approved on November 5.

From November 5 until today, I’ve earned nearly the same amount on NewsBreak as I have on Medium.

The problem with that?

I’ve been slogging away, working my tail off here for a paltry $1.50-$8.50 per day for more than six months!

Okay, cool, I thought. I figured I could share my articles in both places and eventually start earning a reasonable income between the two. I prefer the atmosphere here, I find there’s more freedom of expression, and a much more supportive writing community.

To me, Medium is made up of readers and writers sharing genuine ideas. NewsBreak is… well, it’s a bit like Fox News, unfortunately.

The creators try to screen and moderate so there isn’t rampant misinformation being spread about, but like any online news outlet, you avoid looking at the comments section if you value your sanity.

Anyway, what was my point?

Right.

Short but sweet

Yesterday, after less than one week of earning money on NewsBreak, I received an email informing creators of significant changes to the platform.

Great.

For those who aren’t familiar, yes, NewsBreak has a strong focus on local content. The problem with that is their local content only pertains to the United States, which encompasses approximately 4% of the world’s population.

I get it: it’s their platform, their site, their app — born and raised in the U.S.A. However, I was not. I was born, raised, and continue to live in Canada. Rural Manitoba Canada, to be exact, an area whose local news would not likely be of interest to big city Americans.

They do have a venue for expert contributors in areas such as mental health, the category under which my education, experience, and writing content likely falls. There is, as always, a catch.

The email indicates expert contributors must provide “proper” credentials but does not specify which credentials they will accept.

I have questions

Will they accept my Canadian university degrees as “proper” credentials? I’ve only had a week to accumulate a body of work on their platform, will that be enough? Why did we receive less than 24-hours notice?

I imagine more information will be forthcoming at their “town hall”, which I will most definitely not be attending — A large online meeting is my Autistic brain’s idea of hell, so that’s a hard no for me.

I’ll have to get the cole’s notes afterward.

Avoid the comments section

As I mentioned, like any large online platform, it’s best to avoid the comments section altogether if you value your sanity.

I really should have taken my own advice.

I can’t tell you the number of people (I think all of them) who comment on my NewsBreak articles and clearly haven’t read a single paragraph. They simply respond to the title.

On Medium, I am sure I get a few who quickly scan and move on, but if anyone disagrees or has critiques, they have clearly read the article first and offer well thought out and intelligent responses.

I think I’ll stay here, it’s comfier.

© Jillian Enright, ADHD 2e MB

The Prequel:

The Sequel:

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