Another One Bites the Dust~*~ Themestream!!!! Bright Ideas?? Epinions??
Apr 11 '01 (Updated Apr 13 '01)
The Bottom Line Epinions maintains its presence on the web, but will it persevere in the land of doom? Think carefully before counting on receiving funds when posting online!
Themestream
It seemed like a good thing! Having already been familiar with getting paid to write and post through membership at Epinions, I was excited to try Themestream. Understand that the main reason I began writing was for cognitive therapy. So, with the closure of Opinions for E-2 upgrade – I needed another outlet.
After establishing a profile at Themestream, I decided to compose an article – post it, and see what happened. First off, let me tell you that it was not easy to navigate between the categories and select which destination to park my editorial. That alone was a large downfall of the system. The traffic to the site just wasn’t what I expected it would be, and the whole system there seemed cold and not user-friendly!
As I reread the policies, it clearly stood out to me that redeeming would not be self-elected. Unlike Epinions – where you may redeem after a $10.00 balance – Themestream would only redeem quarterly. Umm… that just seemed too unpredictable for me. My instincts told me to not expect to receive anything from them. Hindsight allows me to call that thought discernment now!
From the fine print:
7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
In no event will Themestream, its affiliates, licensors or other third parties mentioned on this site be liable for any damages whatsoever including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive or consequential damages (including those resulting from lost profits, lost data or business interruption) arising out of the use of this site, or any web sites linked to this site.
Today I received the following letter:
Dear Contributor,
Due to the current business climate, the Themestream web service will close its doors on April 13, 2001. It has always been our pleasure to serve you. And it hurts us to tell you that we are ceasing all business operations.
Themestream is in the process of trying to sell some or all of its assets and negotiating with it's secured creditors. Although we won't know the outcome of these negotiations until they are complete, we believe it is very unlikely that we will be able to pay any other creditors- including
contributors. We will inform you if the situation changes. Otherwise, you should assume you would not receive any further payments from us.
We will continue to abide by our privacy policy and will take all reasonable steps to safeguard any of your personal information stored on our servers. If you do not have back up copies of your articles, please go to the site -
http://www.themestream.com -- and copy and paste the text of your articles into a document on your computer. Please do this by the end of the day of April 12, 2001. In the meantime, we have stopped accepting new article submissions.
Lastly, if you have any questions, please direct them to:
questions@themestream.com
We hope that you have benefited from the Themestream service as much as we have from your contributions. We wish you continued success in publishing.
Sincerely,
The Themestream Team
So, one day to back up any articles, and no money will be received. Fortunately, my balance was a mere $1.12. Unfortunately some had in excess of $1,000.00 owed to them. That really irritates me! I felt a strong need to share this with all. In the current doomsville of dot.com sites we all need to choose our time spent online wisely!
Bright Ideas
Earlier this week I received this letter from Bright Ideas:
When the company founders set out to create the Brightidea Exchange, we envisioned an organic community, bringing corporations and their consumers together. With this in mind, we designed a platform capable of handling an influx of ideas from millions of people. So far, the engine we have built has proved to be proficient at collecting and displaying content of all kinds. Unfortunately, the platform has fallen short of our original goal - paying real people for thinking. Together we have successfully created the "World’s Most Active Idea Exchange", but it is time for all of us to elevate the quality and reliability of our ideas and step closer to our vision - a true platform for "Professional Thinkers".
Brightidea has become a more stimulating environment for our members and clients. We have reached a critical mass of members and submissions, and are currently removing all "non-ideas" from the site. Quite simply, Brightidea is not a writing site. We have a responsibility to our vision, our investors, and especially our members to strictly pay for content that is appropriate for our site. Therefore, all payments will be made for content submitted as of April 5, 2001, however royalty checks will be cut on a quarterly basis, retroactive to March 6, 2001 (next payment: 6/30). The extra time will help ensure that only actual ideas are being compensated, and afford us the opportunity to build a stronger infrastructure to support a society of "Professional Thinkers" dedicated to new and original ideas. Any non-ideas that are removed from the site will not be awarded royalties. All royalties owed will be paid at the end of this quarter.
On a positive note, we have received a very encouraging response from major product and services companies about Brightidea and our Society of Thinkers. It is clear that they are ready to pay you considerable rewards for your high-quality ideas. In light of this, we understand that you are not just going to give away your million dollar ideas for pennies in the ‘SHARE’ area, so we are proud to announce the launch of our Corporate Conduits, an international listing of over 2000 consumer product and service companies. By participating here, you can truly profit from your ideas.
Trust is our mutual currency. You are Professional Thinkers with valuable insights and we are the trusted standard who can introduce your concepts to the companies that need them. The Corporate Conduitsä section, under the ‘COMPETE’ tab, will serve as a direct line of communication between you and those companies you have ideas for. All ideas submitted to the conduits REMAIN YOUR PROPERTY. They are not open to public viewing and are subject to a separate Terms of Service. When there are enough quality ideas (the ideas will go through a screening process) for a particular company, Brightidea will aggressively negotiate their sale on your behalf. Think of us as your agent. We have taken additional steps to protect your ideas by partnering with the digital registry, FirstUse.com, and have also included encryption technology for all entries into the conduits. In conjunction with the Corporate Conduits, we will be providing additional tools and resources to help jumpstart your creativity. The Share area will continue to help each other grow as professional thinkers. Let yourself go and you will be pleasantly surprised.
We are a young company in the embryonic stages of growth, trying to do something very new. The only way for it to succeed is if we work in concert with each other. In the Idea Economy, we are each other’s greatest and most valuable assets. Collectively, I have absolutely no doubt that we can create the world around us.
See you in the Future.
Adam Petrillo
Illuminare.:.
Brightidea, Inc.
This was yet another writing site I tried during the Epinions down time. It was easy to estimate that the site would not be able to continue paying out the rate they were with the garbage that some were posting. You could find ideas as ludicrous as: Want to save electricity? Turn out a light! Of course, there were some awesome ideas posted as well. By the time you finally clicked onto one you were too exhausted to comprehend the concept. And it didn’t appear anyone was posting brilliant ideas. No offense, I just don’t feel the site was receiving what the founder intended.
Epinions
Regardless of challenges experienced at Epinions, I maintain it is still the best site to post editorials at! The system is easier to navigate than most, they pay balances at a low minimum (and with dollars – not coupons like some sites), and they offer a variety to the consumer. It is my hope that Epinions will persevere and become the consumer’s report of this era! Nonetheless, I recommend not letting your balance sit unclaimed for too long. One never knows what the future holds!
I am deeply saddened by the layoffs that have transpired, but understand that the management is trying to persevere in a lonely dot.com arena.
Conclusion
Be sure to read the agreements provided by the site, understand what your rights are. Then, post accordingly. If you are counting on the money earned, plan carefully! The likelihood of receiving funds from a site that mandate you wait a period of time is much more risky than a sum of $10.00. Nonetheless, utilize your right to cash out when allowed. Each of us needs to decide how much we are willing to gamble! If the site you are counting on fizzles … how much are you willing to lose? For some that amount will be no more than $10.00. Others may choose $50.00 or more. Just remember that your personal savings account is a safer place to park your funds than an online click to earn program!
Will the last person to leave please turn out the lights?
Happy Reading!
© 2001 Lisa_J
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Epinions.com ID:
Lisa_J
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 - Top 50 |
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Location: Pacific Northwest - Washington State
Reviews written: 1010
Trusted by: 672 members
About Me:
Rest in Peace Barbara, you are missed.....
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