A lot has changed since I've joined Vocal six or so years ago. Though, so have I.
Once upon a time... about 6-7 years ago, I moved to the Arctic. Yes, that's right, the Arctic. Hence the name, duh. Oneg in the Arctic, that's me!
I wanted to write about my experiences in the great North and share the stories I'd come to hear along the way. Then I wrote poetry, and short stories, as I always have. Then I found community. And friends. And a spark to write even more!
I've always loved Vocal's easy-to-navigate platform, and the concept of "communities" versus just genres. You could write and read so much more.
With time, my writing on Vocal grew and evolved, as should all great stories and journeys. But Vocal stayed the same. Which was good, but then bad.
Vocal, I've been struggling with you.
A few years back, you were doing so well. Had an app on the way, delivered a more community approach. You even promoted us on social media. You gave out deals on Vocal+ membership, and bonuses that encouraged us. I won't forget when you even created a little reel for my first Top Story and shared it on Instagram. I thought that was the coolest thing- I was famous!
Sure, submission approval wait times were a tad long at times, but when you'd approve our work, you'd send an email with a beautiful graphic for us to share. You championed us.
And gosh, the excitement with the app... it had so much potential.
But you flopped on it.
Then the leaderboard and Raise Your Voice came out. You wanted to hear our voices. And we were loud. Maybe we wanted too much. But we wanted to help you grow. But then it became a nightmare. It felt rigged (probably cause it is. Yeah, I said it)
Top stories became... meaningless. Basically the only way to barely cover the monthly Vocal+ membership.
Reads dropped, engagement got basic. Creators have left.
Nowadays it feels like there are more bots here than community.
I'm struggling with that Vocal. Don't you realize it? We all are.
Then you gave us a sliver of hope with the Dragon Beside Me Challenge. Gosh, you gave us hope. You worked with us for once. With us personally, those who have contributed so much. It was a cool challenge too. You involved the community in the judging and it was a real cool experience. And honestly, I feel that it brought a lot of us together.
But it was a one-time thing. Never tried to improve on the gaps that you said occured. And now, even worse, it feels like you're back to ignoring us and making empty "it's on the roadmap" promises.
And Vocal, I'm still waiting for that Pride challenge. I'm not giving up.
Vocal, we are out here busting our asses. We make this site what it is. Why are you acting this way then? We do so much for you, you need to keep up. Give us something back. Listen to our voice.
As I mentioned, I've been writing here for over 6 years. I haven't made much financially, and yes, I'm made some friends that are true gems. But Vocal, I'm asking you, we are asking you, do better.
Give us better challenges. Give us a functional app. Let us delete our damn stories in drafts!! Give us that Pride challenge. Promote us better (or at least pay more for our reads). Work with us. We want to help. We do. I do. But you gotta step up.
Get on it.
About the Creator
Oneg In The Arctic
A queer storyteller and poet of arctic adventures, good food, identity, mental health, and more.
Co-founder of Queer Vocal Voices
Water is Life ✊
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The Arrival of April Writing
Sometimes our spongy brains get a bit dry; too much is always going on in our lives. Sometimes we want to write but we just don’t know where or how to start. And so we decided, why not create a collection of ideas for the next month. April is a month of rebirth, of the seeds beginning to sprout as the great thaw begins. It is a time of sunshine but also nourishing rains. We hope we can help plant some idea seeds in your story garden.
By Oneg In The Arctic2 years ago in Writers
Comments (12)
So we're all square now, right? https://shopping-feedback.today/challenges/represented%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E – John Vocal
I've recommended your piece for a Top Story in this week's "Raise Your Voice" https://shopping-feedback.today/resources/raise-your-voice-thread-09-19-2024%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Some excellent points Oneg! ☺️ It’s very hard to cover monthly fees for me too but I still stay as even if I don’t write a lot I like to read a little each week. As it’s impossible to get top stories these days.. there should be something else like medium has I.e a little more coin for reads and engagement. Many don’t seem to be keen on the paid subscriber option. It’s just too expensive if day one did that for ten vocal friends plus their own subscription. Thanks for sharing this!
I agree with some of that for sure. The focus seems now on production with all these unnecessary rules and merit based on Likes They've definitely lost people who seemed to be at crux of it, there were sponsors for challenges before and the summer fiction series was the icing on the cake. It may change again though 🤞
Yes! We expend a lot of energy to be here! Writing our hearts out and supporting each other! It would be nice for Vocal to champion us again. Honestly? if another, better, app comes along, I'll be moving there if vocal doesn't change. I am grateful for the platform, but it's not evolving quick enough. Thank you for writing this!
Such a fabulous article. You have represented us so well! Thank you for sharing this!!
I can't help but feel that the best (only?) way to prompt change is to stop paying the Vocal+ subs. The platform is here to make money, not spend it. The money comes from you, it doesn't go to you. If you want to see change implemented, stop giving money for a service you're not happy with. After all, you wouldn't keep going back to a restaurant that didn't serve the food you ordered, would you? You wouldn't hire a freelancer who never shows up? Same principle here. If the money keeps coming, not much will change.
Vocal has shown me how petty they are by effectively banning me from all bonuses. They brought in their creator chat and proceeded to ignore everything by saying it's on the roadmap. Their stats have been faulty since I started, I have offered solutions they could implement easily and they ignore them instead , ruining the front page that no one asked for and exclusive content which just means stories get ignored by other creators. They created a clique with Discord (that was meant to be temporary) and they use that to demonstrate their disdain for the majority of creators. So good points and you are far more likely to get Vocal's ear than me
Well said! Let's see if it helps.
Shots fired ... and valid ones. Even in the time I've been at Vocal (just over 2 years) I've seen a lot change, and not always better (in fact rarely) it is a good site, but it could be great! I have theories about TS and the algorithms, as well as Challenge winners being based on more than just the writing. Just theories. The biggest thing that could be done to make the site better for writers on the whole has to be upping the per read money made - cause I haven't even broken even on my yearly subscription even with a few TS this year. But absolutely, the dropping of any form of Pride challenge has to be the biggest upset this year, essentially saying those voices don't matter enough to feature and highlight through a challenge - I've suggested one for coming out day in Oct, but not holding my breath. (Figure QVV can do it anyway) Well said, and thanks for being the brave one to actually say it! 🩷
Thank you! The $5.00 top stories are the only thing keeping me here as I said if I can't make enough to pay my dues then... It's just barely doing that as my reads are a pittance. Now I know that some of that is my fault because of not being involved so much on the Facebook groups and not paying attention to a few other things. I write every day and publish most days, so I am bound to hit a top story occasionally. I read who I want whether they read my material or not. When they read for read, I attempt to do that as well. I am grateful to this platform and medium.com for helping me to become a better writer.
We do promote this writing platform. It need a consistent hyping up writers as well. It does take a lot of energy . We all hope for Vocal succeed , it’s a great platform concept. 💞I hear you on this story .