by Holly Huffstutler

Created on: July 19, 2009

When we all first sign up for Helium, we soon realize that this writers' community that we've joined expects us to take our responsibility for reading and rating each other's work very seriously. Up in the top right hand corner next to the clickable "Write" is the word "Rate." They are side by side; and of equal prominence.

The Rate function here at Helium is a kind of a closed circuit monitoring system. Our readers don't get the chance to decide whether one article is better than the other, only we are allowed to do that. We who have a vested interest in keeping this online font of knowledge as a legitimate source of information collectively review each other. When necessary, we even "flag" each other's inaccurate or abusive work. There is a reason the position of editor has long been in place within the writing career; even the best writer needs oversight. The kind of peer reviewing we do when we rate articles one by one not o not only keeps the individual writer honest, it also improves the quality of our whole community.

So what else can reading two articles side by side and marking which one we think is better do for us?

For one thing, it forces us to read Helium articles not written by ourselves. This Helium writer has a tiny confession to make. She doesn't go out of her way to read things written by other Helium writers. If she runs across an interesting lead in her search for more titles to write to, or if she's genuinely researching something, she'll read what other Helium writers have worked so hard on. Besides that her primary platform for reading other people's work is when she rates.

Reading and rating on Helium can be educational. The articles we rate will only be from channels we have previously written in, but they're not necessarily from titles we will gravitate towards. For instance, if you've written several interior design articles in the Home & Garden channel, you may find yourself rating Home repair articles that educate you in plumbing or carpentry projects you've been scared to attempt.

Another benefit of consistently rating is the money it can bring. Helium.com, unlike some online writing jobs, offers its writers payment per article. But the other revenue stream, and the one that my have the bigger return, is the revenue sharing program. Once we write our first article and get a rating star, our articles start earning money, and can do so forever as long as keep our rating stars. This starts slow (pennies a day) but can steadily build once we have a significant number of articles and maintain the rating stars that qualify us for our small cut of Helium profits.

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