Let me just start by saying that I am a committed Teen Ink user. I go on at least once a week and comment on people's work and I frequently submit my artwork and written articles. I, however, do not subscribe to the monthly magazine. I feel that I can see just as much work and more on my computer, and it is free. I have never felt pressured to buy the magazine, never nagged or constantly reminded by ads that I do not subscribe to the magazine. Not until recently, until the formatting of Teen Ink changed.

It had been a busy couple of weeks. I had had an awful cough that I could not seem to get rid of, and I had been overloaded by homework. Because of all of these distractions, I had not found a lot of time to go on Teen Ink. During that time, though, the website which I hold so dear to my heart, underwent a makeover. A few days ago,(my cough was feeling better,) I opened my computer and logged on, then typed into the search bar the address that I was looking for, then suddenly, I was on teenink.com. I was expecting to come to the home page, where a little rectangle scrolled through the works that had been published in the magazine. No. There was instead, littered across the page, some articles that had been published in the magazine and some Editor's Choice work. The artwork was stuffed at the very bottom of the page; you had to scroll down to get to it. I was very confused. What had they done to my precious safe haven? Why was it was all of a sudden just another website, cluttered with advertisements and Facebook and Twitter updates? Suddenly, a window bounced down from the top of my screen. BUY THE TEEN INK MAGAZINE! it stated in bold purple letters. I clicked the X at the top of the window and sighed. I went through that day's popular articles, but I noticed that when I was scrolling down, there was a little box on the side, which had yet another advertisement about the Teen Ink magazine, right above the option to rate the article.

Now, I don't want it to seem like I have any huge problem with ads. I don't want to make it seem like I am whining, that I am a freak about advertisements. They are an annoyance, but I can deal with them. For example, on Teen Ink, there have always been advertisements. Of course there are, the people that work for Teen Ink have to earn something besides the magazine money. I have noticed, though, that these ads have always been fairly writing oriented. You know, places to get your book published, or writing classes. But now, no more are the ads about how to self-publish, but they are about getting your pet insurance and where to keep your own Hunger Games Movie Countdown Clock.
I will always be a Teen Ink user, no matter how many ads or persuasive pieces there are on why I should buy their magazine. But the truth of the matter is that I will not buy their magazine. I will not pay for sharing and reading work by teens just like me. I believe that doing what I love and reading and looking at other teen's work should be a free service. Even if I have to read about 24 PetWatch.