Company Pays Basically Nothing, Expects More Out of Employee
CHICAGO, IL — Melissa Dinklage, 31, thought she had landed the job of her dreams when she accepted a content writing position at the entertainment and gaming news website Game Talk. “I love content writing, so I thought I had landed the job of my dreams,” Dinklage told her Twitter followers, “but they want me to write 10,000 words per day for fifty cents. Fifty mother fucking cents.” The media website is what is commonly known as a ‘content mill’ which survives by exploiting professionally inexperienced writers and demanding high output for cheap labor. “Can you live off fifty cents?” Dinklage continued, “Because I sure as hell can’t, and yet Game Talk is up my pussy 24/7 as if they pay me a living wage or some shit. They Just upped their quota and now I have to write 15,000 words per day for ten cents, so I quit. I was like, fuck this, I’m out.” Content mills have become wildly popular in the digital age. Game Rant and Belly Up Sports are two other examples of content mills that work in a very similar way to achieve the goal of luring internet surfers to click on ad-heavy articles highlighting lists of video games people should play before BioShock 4 or which MMA fighter has the most “insane” punches. Dinklage’s Twitter followers praised her decision to quit the company and shared their own stories of abusive companies that will most likely change nothing about the way they do business despite the now nationally mandated $15 minimum hourly wage.
