Happy New Year to my fellow community members

Dear all,

I wish y'all happy new year.

I joined this forum exactly 9 years and 2 days ago. So much has changed over the years. I have been on and off connected to the forum but have not been able to contribute as regularly as I did until probably a couple of years or so ago.

However, I am seriously thinking of coming back because of missing out on the latest developments in our field.

The purpose of starting this new thread is to definitely announce my possible comeback, but more importantly, as a long-time member I wanted to share my experience with this forum here.

EssayScam has matured gracefully over the years. Back in those days when I was active, there was a lot of toxicity all over the forum. The space was dominated by a few powerful stakeholders/writers with just a few exceptions such as FLW, who, I am happy is still there and active. Today, the forum is far more diverse and tolerant which is a positive thing. A major milestone that this forum has achieved, to me, is to have evolved into a reliable brand and marketplace over time.

Over the years, new ICTs have also emerged creating new possibilities for freelance academic writers (don't know about the companies).

I believe the client has also evolved. Today, most insist on direct communication via different media like WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.

However, some things have probably remained almost constant, e.g. scammers ripping new unaware clients off on a regular basis which is a pity.

Why I left contributing to this forum was partly because of my busyness and partly because I felt that I didn't have anything meaningful to give because, generally, posting takes some time for research and some googling, and I didn't have it then. However, I think I will at least stick around to learn from other more active members.

Another roadblock was in the form of stricter controls and censorship policies that this forum's admins started to roll out. Making posts turned a difficult task. However, overall it has been a reassuring venture for me because I learned a good deal from here and hope to continue doing so.

If you like, you want to share your experience or the forum under this thread. I hope it is still allowed? (I guess I need to learn new admin rules now).

Happy New Year to you too! I am a newbie at this forum and I have been participating where I can, when I can. I hope to get to know everyone here and hopefully, participate in insightful discussions about our line of work. That is, aside from helping the students steer clear of the scam companies that still exist. While those companies are now fewer, they have not been totally eradicated so ES really serves a larger purpose in the sense of that academic setting. You are right about one thing, the emergence of social media and instant messaging has changed the game for both the independent writers and writing companies.

Hi Cite, I welcome you to the forum and hope you have a good time here. I would like to humbly differ from you in regards to the number of the companies/freelance writers in business. Probably, they are increasing in number.

More importantly, the industry has reached a level where it seems to trouble those in authority. The talks, articles in the mainstream periodicals, etc. point to this very fact.

However, little is said about the flawed educational system that gets everyone to write complex research content disregarding their background and competence in research.

There is a lot of gray area that goes unnoticed as well. For instance, around the world, peer-reviewed journal articles are authored by a team of writers where each member undertakes different tasks: from narrative writing to data analysis. Similarly, mixed-methods PhD dissertations usually have the student take help from an expert in an area s/he is not competent in. For instance, someone mainly in qualitative research will hire a professional for statistical analysis and vice versa. This practice is mainstream and such consultation is openly available under the flag of universities. Similarly, universities in the US, UK, Australia, and elsewhere allow admission to students who are not fluent in academic discourse. Then they demand them to produce something that's beyond their abilities.

Thus, there is so so much gray that needs to be dissected.

Happy New Year to all! I'm definitely a bit late to this thread, but it's only very recently that I've decided to be become an active member of this community. After working for other companies for a few years, I finally decided to branch out and start my own company. Prior to doing that, this website had been an invaluable resource to me. I hope to contribute and be of service to others who are in this industry.

Happy new year, and over the internet, it's never too late: the viral memes, photos, and "etc." I saw as a teen are still being shared as if fresh content. :-D So, cheers!