Is Mahalo a "content farm?" Is Wikipedia NOT a "content farm" just because it doesn't make money? Help me understand, please?

Any company or website who's primary objective is to generate large amounts of articles or written content in order to 'cash in' on ad revenue is labeled a 'content farm' or 'content mill'. Wikipedia is usually not labeled as a "content farm" since it is noted as a non-profit, *altruistic* effort to create information. ''Content Farms'' have capitalized on the public desire for information that is easily accessible on the web.In the past, if you wanted information, you turned to friends, relatives, books and professionals in areas such as medicine.

Now, you can type in a search query and *potentially* receive the answer you are looking for- usually for free. As anyone that has browsed the web for any length of time can attest, there are good sources of information and there are sources that are questionable. Content farms are somewhere in the middle.

If you browse sites that host user generated content such as eHow and Associated Content, you will see a wide range in terms of quality. Some items are well written, valuable sources of information. Other items are poor quality and are written primarily for the search potential.

As with any source of information, readers must take note of the source and reasonableness of the information they read. The higher quality articles on eHow are often written by a contributing writer, who was paid by Demand Studios for the content. Based on the 'template' format of eHow, the information presented is often limited in scope.

I work as a freelance writer for several ''content mills'', most of which have editorial oversight. Over the past year 1/2, I have seen the requirements for quality and references increase at *ALL* of the locations where I submit content. For most of the newer content I have reviewed, the information is fairly solid and helpful.

As a 'free' source of information, I believe these sites provide a valuable service. Companies, like Demand Studios and Mahalo are rewarded for their free information services through ad revenue. I believe this is a fair trade off.

I also believe this is the new media. Less people are reading physical newspapers, magazines and books for information, because it can be found on the web. These companies are offering a way to generate usable, fairly reliable (based on a QC process) information quickly.

Why is this a problem? Mainly because individuals who work in more traditional sources of media are feeling the monetary pinch and have not adapted sufficiently. They blame 'content farms', but in reality, it is just a media shift.

Now, there is starting to be a shift at the 'content farms' to distinguish between writers that generate content, and writers that produce higher quality articles and the pay scale is starting to vary. For example, Associated Content has started a Featured Contributor program that highlights individuals that have built up authority in an area and have a resume to back up their writing. Demand Studios offers their top writers opportunities to work on special projects that have higher compensation.

Seed (AOL properties) pays above average for online content, but makes writers compete and has higher standards than many locations. Quality is being targeted along with quantity. When there is a demand for authoritative, high quality information on the web, companies will start catering to that market.

I can envision websites that offer medical articles written by doctors, business advice from successful entrepreneurs and even craft articles by HGTV personalities for a nominal fee. If the demand is there, someone will offer it. If Google starts distinguishing more based on quality, companies will follow suit.

For a time, there was a wide range of topics that had minimal content on the web, so even poor quality information was able to rank high. As the space become more 'crowded' the 'cream' will rise to the top and writers and distributors will have to adjust. Just my 2 cents.

Internet purists will never be happy if anyone is making money on the internet. So anytime anyone has a problem with the way someone else is making money on or with the internet for any reason they will create a negative label for it or add an already existing negative label to this method and it creator and/or user. They will most likely post this information on the internet and in some hypocritical way make money from their own posting of this.

Content Farm is just name calling. If it was the accusers making tons of cash from the scrutinous blog postings they would be the ones laughing to the bank instead of using negative commentary and blog postings *about* those who are making tons of cash. This type of chicanery is saleable.. people like to read it and it will sell ad space so people who can't think of a way to make money on the internet with their own ideas .. complain about the successful ideas of others in order to feed this niche need of some people to read complaint and scrutiny blog postings and commentary.

I think it is funny and the accused should be laughing and cashing checks. While the accusers sit in the misery of never being able to figure out how to do sales and marketing on the internet without whining and hypocrisy.

Its about auto generated content on Mahalo which is why Mahalo is called biggest spam of the year.

When you think about it for a moment as someone else said on a comment board that I visited the other day, isn't the whole internet more or less a content farm or content mill. This person had a very valid point, when you think of the internet that is pretty much what it actually is. Its a place loaded with content, and to say that a content farm is a bad place is really calling the entire internet a bad place.

Then I have read stuff such as content farms are loaded with content that is less then stellar, and low quality compared to other more quality areas who have skilled professionals writing for them. Do you know how offensive I find this? I consider myself a writer, I have spent years studying my craft, but because I'm not a doctor I shouldn't talk about health issues.

Because I am not a teacher I shouldn't talk about educational courses, because I'm not a chef I shouldn't talk about cooking and recipes. Just because any of these professionals in these fields may know their craft doesn't necessarily mean that they know how to write about it. Writing is a skill in itself, writers research their subjects and take the time to articulate the words as best they can to get the message across to their readers.

But now I am reading criticism that says that this isn't enough, I have worked for several websites all over the internet, and thought this made me a better writer only to find out from these critics that all I am is a content farmer, I'm not sure how to take this opinion.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.