A contributor network (or contributor platform) is an arrangement in which an online publication releases articles authored by freelance writers, known as ''contributors'', who are not part of its staff. Depending on the program, contributors may be paid or unpaid; paid contributors are typically compensated based on the volume of articles they produce or the amount of

web traffic Web traffic is the data sent and received by visitors to a website. Since the mid-1990s, web traffic has been the largest portion of Internet traffic. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are ...

their articles generate. Online publications use contributor networks to expand their content selection inexpensively. Because contributors are freelancers, publications can increase or decrease the number of contributors in their networks more easily than they can hire or fire employees. Some publications that use the contributor model exercise limited editorial oversight. For example, online articles written by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' contributors are not reviewed by editors prior to publication. Contributor networks are vulnerable to conflicts of interest. Public relations agents and marketing companies have advertised their clients by submitting promotional articles to the contributor networks of ''

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

'', '' Fast Company'', ''Forbes'', '' HuffPost'', '' Inc.'', '' Insider'', and Mashable.

References

{{reflist Journalism Electronic publishing Temporary employment

See also

References