Theories on MP's Shutdown

I'm apparently not the only one that feels the higher-ups are being maddeningly tight-lipped about the one thing we're all wondering - Why?

Another writer clued me in to the fact that it was exactly a year ago - Feb 15th, 2012 - that Odesk bought out MediaPiston. I don't think it's a coincidence, either! It's pretty likely that MP was given a directive to "become profitable to x amount within a year" to remain open for business.

Anyone have some insight?

I've been through these Internet closures before, and in my experience, silence is the norm rather than the exception. And you're right, it is maddening: the operators of the site spend so much time fostering a community, only to pull the plug with little or no reasonable explanation.

I think your theory is sound, but it doesn't seem like MP was preparing for a one-year deadline. Maybe oDesk management just dropped it on them; I don't know. I do know that Joe has a hair-trigger temper, so maybe that played a part too.

I don't believe that oDesk bought MP in an effort to incorporate any of MP's features into its platform; rather, I believe oDesk bought MP because it was competition. We all know that that's the goal of so-called serial entrepreneurs: to develop it, to sell it, and then to move on to the next project. Sadly, those who helped it succeed are devastated in the wake.

I am pretty new to MP and didn't realize that oDesk had already bought them out even before I joined. I remember seeing an email or a post somewhere after joining about the buy out and assumed that eventually MP would be absorbed by them.

I guess I'm less surprised about the fact that it happened at all then about the fact that it happened so abruptly and after all the improvements to the site UI.

kaceykazoo wrote:I am pretty new to MP and didn't realize that oDesk had already bought them out even before I joined. I remember seeing an email or a post somewhere after joining about the buy out and assumed that eventually MP would be absorbed by them.

I guess I'm less surprised about the fact that it happened at all then about the fact that it happened so abruptly and after all the improvements to the site UI.

Sites fold, and while that's a disappointment, most freelancers who have been around for a bit have seen it happen once or twice. I think your focus is the one many of us share - being puzzled about this sudden (and still unexplained) decision hot on the heels of finger-wagging admonishment to watch the new metrics like hawks and step up our game. I'm absolutely puzzled why the site put SO much work in - new UI, new metrics, new discussion about penalties and improvements - all in the last 30 days only to set fire to the drawing board and walk away. If we'd had some indication there was this level of struggle (yes, we had unhappy clients, but what site doesn't?) or that closing altogether was even on the table, it probably wouldn't have been such a shock.


ETA: This was courtesy of "Jess S" over on the MP forums:

"There's much debate about it, but here is one link, http://freelancingandmore.com/2013/02/16/writing-site-updates-media-piston/

Here is another link informing oDesk of the transition, which I do not think was provided on MP, https://kb.odesk.com/questions/1521/MediaPiston+Transition"

Hi Gals & Guys,

A big thanks to Delany for setting up this forum for us to a) vent our current frustration at the MP shocker, and b) help each other pick up the pieces and move forward.

As soon as Joe gave the nod, I sent a short msg via MP to each of the "active" clients that have favorited me - giving them my oDesk ID and letting them know I'd like to continue working with them. Knowing the way things work at oDesk, It would have been better to give them my personal email ID, but I didn't want to risk being suspended from MP at this critical time - can't afford to miss any updates on their forum! Some writers are being mighty nice and posting useful links to expand our writing horizons.

So anyway, from the couple of client replies I have gotten so far, they are no happier than us writers. It seems that they have learnt the hard way about oDesk's content quality. No tracking of deadlines was another concern they had.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about oDesk. I started off my freelancing career there just over a year ago. Its pay rates are the pits in most cases, and if you work Fixed Price (as against hourly), it's quite possible some shady clients will steal your work for free. But if you're careful and persistent in your job applications, you just might come across a worthy client or two. I was invited to write at MP that way! I also currently have a client that pays me quite promptly and handsomely there.

Guess I've rambled on for pretty long, but I wanted to share my experiences for your benefit.
Cheers,
Jennifer B

I can't even find myself on oDesk, so I doubt any clients will be able to find me either, lol. I did give them what I believe my oDesk name is--but I also gave them my email address.

Just a reminder MPExpats; when you need to compete, you infiltrate your competitors communities to learn what they're doing. How does oDesk accomplish grabbing such a large share of the market?

What are the reasons MP clients should refrain from using oDesk? Pros/Cons

One of reasons I'm skeptical of oDesk is because they can freeze your account whenever they want; Customer Service seems to have lots of issues; and, they are customer-centered, which translates into the freelancer losing out.

There are so many problems with the MP/oDesk union that are not advantageous to us. It's just another Elance bidding-farm. Unless you already have a following, I don't see how anyone can thrive on oDesk.

I hated the fact that the MP community has to switch over to oDesk, but even so, I figured I'd give the other site another try. I logged in and was faced with swarms of bids for writing projects where the bidders claim that they'll work for rates as low as $0.50 - $0.70 per HOUR! I'm not sure whether to simply throw in the towel or wonder whether I might actually stand a chance finding some new work on oDesk. What do you guys think?

tinas wrote:I hated the fact that the MP community has to switch over to oDesk, but even so, I figured I'd give the other site another try. I logged in and was faced with swarms of bids for writing projects where the bidders claim that they'll work for rates as low as $0.50 - $0.70 per HOUR! I'm not sure whether to simply throw in the towel or wonder whether I might actually stand a chance finding some new work on oDesk. What do you guys think?

Unfortunately, a lot of clients don't understand that they're getting what they pay for - they'd rather pay .50 cents and get a horrible piece of work that one of us will eventually have to redo than do it right the first time. You can, however, stick out from the crowd by crafting each bid for the corresponding job (many of "them" simply c&p the same badly-worded blurb in every job) and highlighting the fact that you're either American or a native English writer. I opted to step away from oDesk entirely, as it translates to (in my opinion) way too much work for the potential of a payoff. If you haven't looked into them already, Interact Media and CloudCrowd are both decent MP/Textbroker alternatives that seem to have steady-ish work. I'm on WriterAccess too, but man are they fussy - work's scarce, too.

Yeah, I'm going to give CloudCrowd another go. Never heard of WriterAccess, but I'll check it out.

Give QualityGal a try too - they're currently one of my main writing sites. They usually have plenty of work, ranging from short SEO articles to longer ones of all different types of topics - home & garden, education, various business industries, hobbies, sports etc, and decent pay rates too.

Hmmm...intriguing, thank you for the tip about QualityGal. I'm going to poke at Skyword and take another run at Write.com/Crowdsource in the coming weeks, if only for review purposes. There's a lot of sites out there, it's just a little dizzying sometimes trying to keep them all straight haha!