As usual there’s a lot that’s happening on the ground every day. Below are some of the things that took place in the freelancing scene over the last couple of days:
1. The Big iWriter Scare
2. News about Facebook
3. Mocality Closes Down
4. Google Reader Shutting Down
…and an incredible James Bond slideshow by Ana Hoffman.
1. The Big iWriter Scare
iWriter suddenly stopped working a couple of days ago.
Whenever you would try to log in, you’d receive a notification stating that your IP has been banned…
Soon, this site was flooded with traffic and I received lots of emails asking me whether I knew what was going on with iWriter. Questions kept coming in such as:
Has iWriter temporarily banned my IP?
Is my iWriter account banned?
What’s wrong with iWriter in Kenya?
…among others
I later came to find out that this was just a technical issue since iWriter was moving to another server. I guess the reason I found out everything late is the fact that after the bans happened, I immediately spread my wings and now have more stable clients elsewhere.
I believe everything is okay now with iWriter. In case you are still experiencing problems, feel free to leave to communicate it in the comments sections.
Additionally, I have learned that it is now difficult for blocked IPs or people masking their IPs to access articles. Apparently there is a bug on the “Write Articles” section. So how do I personally access iWriter? Well, Airtel Internet still accesses iWriter perfectly but as usual, don’t bet on it, another iWriter ban might come as soon as you start getting comfortable.
2. News About Facebook
There has been a lot going on with Facebook over the last couple of weeks. Below are some key things I thought you would need to know:
- Hashtags are coming to Facebook (Twitter fans understand what I’m saying
- Facebook is coming up with a new design. Check out the new Facebook design here and feel free to join the waiting list so that you can start using it before everyone else.
Speaking of Facebook, here is a great slideshare deck that was created by the giant blogger Ana Hoffman on how to get more Facebook fans:
3. Mocality Closes Down
Mocality has been one of the top Kenyan online directories for the last 4 years. Unfortunately, the site closed down on February 28th for reasons that I am yet to find out. I personally loved this site and always used it to get phone numbers of all sorts of businesses and organizations.
This closure came just a couple of months after Dealfish shut down/was acquired by OLX. It still puzzles me how such giant websites can just shut down suddenly. I guess my theory is still true, to make money online with a website, you have to include a paid service or product.
4. Google Reader Shutting Down
Many fans who love using RSS feeds still do not believe this. Google is shutting down it’s huge RSS feed reader on 1st July, 2013.
This was RSS feed reader was so popular that many people all over the blogosphere are looking for ways to keep it online. In case you are one of these who wants it to remain, you can sign this petition to save Google reader.
Note that signing the petition does not guarantee that Google Reader will remain online after the above date. Meanwhile, if you still need these RSS services, there are a ton of other alternatives that you can use for your favorite feeds.
Conclusion
A lot has happened but it seems like the iWriter scare really shook people once again. I personally thought people have already moved on to other sites after the bans started. Once again, for the umpteenth time, I urge freelancers to spread their wings so that they will not be affected by any more changes in iWriter. I think we should have had enough of this already!
Which other writing sites do you use apart from iWriter? What do you think about the new look of Facebook? Is there anything you’d like to mention about Google Reader or Mocality?
For all these and more, see you in the comments section.
Hi Walter. What are other reliable writing sites like iWriter.
Hi Jack,
Here’s a list of sites https://freelancerkenya.com/money-online/legitimate-freelancing-websites/
Iwriter is a scam period!
Hi Fiona. Not a scam. One just needs to be extra cautious.
My account was less than a week old with $12 on 3 approved articles with good ratings. There was no reason to ban it.
They ban any writer rating below 3 after 5 reviews, 3.2 after 10 reviews, or 3.4 after 20 reviews. It’s not scam at all. I choose to always deliver great content to all requesters. If I doubt I can write a good article after picking it, I drop it immediately even if I had spent some time doing some research. I then go for the one I am sure it can get approved with good ratings. I also choose to contact the requesters especially those with low approval ratings and whose articles have been on the line for some days. I ask for more instructions and samples of how they want their articles to appear. I promise them a great content. They don’t reject my articles easily. They can request for revision if need be and most end up making me their favorite writer. Determination is all you need. You also need to know what you are writing about. If an article you have written doesn’t make sense to you, the requester will also not find sense in it.
Well said Christian.
What reason did they give you when they banned you?
They said low ratings yet so far my ratings were at 3 out of 5 stars so now I am looking to buy a freelancers account but I need some advice on how to go about it so that I don’t end up getting conned.
Hi Fiona,
They consider that low. Always good to get to 4 and above and retain it there. Pole sana. Freelancer.com is free to open.
Dear Walter,
I have an iWriter account that is idle because I am afraid of messing. I have never written article and I would like to request you to link me up with someone I can work for as I train.
Hi Japheth
Thanks for your message. You need to start writing on that iWriter account. Don’t let it remain idle.
I can link you up with other clients. Sign up here for that https://freelancerkenya.com/job-alerts
Hi Walter
I came across iWriter and have recently started writing articles there. Can you suggest me some methods or strategies to improve my writing and may $ on iwriter?
Thank You
Hi
I have put up some writing suggestions here https://freelancerkenya.com/money-online/how-to-make-money-online-in-kenya-as-a-freelance-writer/
Check them out and implement them in your writing.
Blessings,
Walter
they just replied saying its banned due to low rating. now i know i didnt have low rating and i have some $$ pending… what can be done?
do u know any other site?
Sorry to hear that. You can try out sites like Elance, Freelancer, ConstantContent, KenyaWriting, oDesk and Fiverr.
Seems I have got this same issue now in 2014!! my account is banned due to low ratings. not sure what to do. have written to them lets see
Hi Shweta
Sorry to hear about the ban. You will get an automatic response telling you to write somewhere else.
I suggest you strive to improve your writing skills first. Once they are all polished up you can try them again or another site.
I wish you all the very best.
I have been using this site for couple of months and got multiple account on it. On one account, I was trying to submit my article but, due to some system issue it did not get submitted. I had to cancel the article from one account and tried submitting it from another account but, system gave me a message that similar article is already in our database. Then, I checked my first account and found that article was already in there. When I tried logging in my account next day which is today, I get a message that my account has been banned as I tried to submit same article twice but, I did not do anything intentionally. It was system issue and was not accepting my article. I submitted a ticket with support function but, reply that I got is that my account once blocked, can not be unblocked. I have good amount of money in my account and I really do not think that admin can’t unblock any account. Please advise what do I do in this situation.
Hi Vishal,
I am so sorry to learn about your situation. I really am.
There is no guarantee that you will have your account back. Having two accounts and submitting two similar articles must have been the reasons for the ban.
Do your best to talk to support again to see how it will go but they may not even respond. In case they ignore two of your tickets, you may have to move on.
Word of advice, don’t leave your cash hanging online – iWriter, PayPal e.t.c. have policies that may even ban you for unclear reasons. Always withdraw to your local account as soon as you can. It’s safer there so that in case of a blockage or ban, you have most of your cash locally.
Please let us know how it goes. I am so sorry once again.
Walter
hi walter,was using i writer then my account was banned cuz of low ratings.what can i do?
Hi Jay,
I am so sorry to hear you were banned.
The first obvious question I would ask is, how good is your writing?
See, it all depends on the quality, if it’s not great, then the industry will be so frustrating for you. If its great, then the road will be smoother. You can even contact me with a sample of your writing I advise on whether you need to first work on your skills.
On the other hand, if it is great you can talk to iWriter support and see if you can start another account or if they can reinstate the banned account.
Let me know what you think and once again I am very very sorry for what happened.
am excited about the new Facebook especially with larger photos and stuff, but i dont like the idea of shutting down google reader, there is no good replacement for at the moment.
Hi Techchapa,
Yes, Facebook is doing well.
I hope you signed the Google Reader petition.
Cheers 🙂
I have been accessing Iwriter via Yu but it is not very stable, thanks for the information because I already had done a few articles awaiting approval, by the way thanks Walter for the strategy am at 3.9 after 11 reviews
Weweee, you are almost getting to premium. Congratulations.
Pole about what’s happening with Yu. Keep me posted in case things change.
I have been using masking software but now can’t access iwriter
It seems they detected people using masking softwares. Sorry about that.