Associated Content Versus Helium

The other day I told someone that I wrote a couple articles for AssociatedContent.com, and they mentioned they saw an article on cnn.com about a similar website called Helium.com. Intrigued, I figured what the heck, I would sign up and check it out. Woe is me! I was so spoiled by Associated Content, that immediately I was distraught on Helium.com. Keep in mind Associated Content has not asked me to write this or promised any upfront money. However, I just could not get over how blind I felt on Helium.com. The two biggest things I missed were: there are no page view numbers and no way to comment on other people's work besides the forums.

While admittedly, Associated Content's pageviews don't always seem entirely accurate, at least it gives me an idea of which articles are getting more readership. I have no clue on Helium. Also, feedback on specific works, no matter how immature, is always very welcome ( I can see it coming now, but oh well I asked for it). There was no way I could see to get that specific feedback on Helium, not even a private messaging system! Granted, I just started a few days ago, so maybe there are tricks I have not learned yet. Perhaps after the passage of time I will be able to determine that article A is getting more pageviews because I've earned .03 cents than article B that has only earned .01 cent.

Another thing that bothered me was the rating system seems like it is set up to be easily broken and not trustworthy. Basically, you can click on a "Rate" button, and then immediately are shown two articles side by side on the same topic. Then, you are supposed to choose which one is more valuable by a rating system full of choices like: slightly more, more, and by far. There is nothing that allows me to provide feedback that says they both are lame; or this one has better content, but that one has better grammar. You can skip a rating duo, but one is allowed only ten "skips", whatever that means. Stars can be earned on Helium based for number of quality rates and highly rated written articles. The articles are given rankings, but there is no easy way to determine your percentile without doing the math yourself. And the percentile is the thing that helps you with your stars...

Maybe I have not given it enough time yet, maybe I'm just being dense and asleep (considering I do most of my online reading and writing during the 'wee' hours), but Helium has a long way to go before it will seem like a rewarding experience. The thing that lured me there was talk of contests and what they call "Helium Marketplace" where real companies or people provide articles they want and what they are willing to pay for them. The other thing that seemed really cool was the promise of being able to join the National Press Club if you could bring in enough stars. However, considering the small amount of feedback leaving one essentially writing blind, I think I'll stick with Associated Content.

My two cents.