The First-Person Industrial Complex
The Internet prizes the harrowing personal essay. But sometimes telling your story comes with a price.
The Personal-Essay Boom Is Over
Some of the online publishers that survive have shifted to video and sponsored posts and Facebook partnerships to shore up revenue. Aggregation and op-eds—the infamous, abundant takes—continue to thrive, although the takes have perhaps cooled a bit. Personal essays have evidently been deemed not worth the trouble.
Xo Jane
xoJane: My Former Website’s Death Was A Blessing
As the internet says goodbye to the confessional site, an ex-staffer wonders how a good thing turned rotten.
It Happened to Me: How I Became a First-Person Human Trafficker
Mandy Stadtmiller, a former editor at xoJane, shares how commissioning the stories for the “It Happened To Me” column changed her mindset. It isn’t the best written piece but is an interesting insight.