All Poetry

If you are a serious writer/poet don't waste your time on this site. It's a social club where too many users only seek to gain followers by following other users, have their profile page decorated with childish ribbons from entering foolish contests, and give comments on poems that are meaningless "required" comments that non paying members must give in order to post a poem. In addition, I reported a user that made horribly inappropriate comments on one of my posts, including profanity, and the site management took no action. There's more but I'll spare AllPoetry from further criticism at this time. But, once again, don't waste your time posting anything on the site.
Below is a screenshot of my complaint to AllPoetry moderator. It was submitted April 9,2024.

This platform promises a space for aspiring poets to refine their craft, but in reality, it's a cesspool of subpar verse and fragile egos. Constructive criticism is met with the tantrums of delicate poets who can't handle even the mildest of feedback. All Poetry is a wasteland of uninspired verse and fragile egos masquerading as a creative community. The contests are nothing short of laughable. They serve as a dumping ground for an avalanche of mostly subpar poetry, drowning out any semblance of talent. It's abundantly clear that the system is rigged. The positive reviews posted all over should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. Kevin seems oblivious to the lack of quality control for the site and it doesn't do any good to bring it up to him. Avoid this site like the plague if you value your sanity and your standards for poetry.
UPDATE: Pretty much everything Kevin said below is lies. I didn't use the name John on Allpoetry so, he doesn't know who I am. I would never, ever tell anyone to go die! Only a MONSTER could even come up with that! My sister died by suicide and I am so angry that I'm shaking right now. How dare you, Kevin! You don't know me!

But, if you like plagiarism, extra marital relationships and male predators who quickly become apparent, trolls and bullies with so much self hatred that most people there claim to have been a victim of it, members with multiple paid and unpaid accounts so that, even if you block someone, they have a handful of other accounts to "watch' you, and a deluge of non poetic poetry that is more a river of drivel with atrocious grammar then this is the site for you. I could go on; the site is being updated in the most frustrating way by an owner who has his firm favourites and allows them to get away with anything. At times it's felt a little like being in a juvenile prison with a lot of nasty thugs and lustful older men, although the site owner would deny any and all of this, blame anyone making a complaint about his money making AP machine and, like I said, stick with his favourites. Naming names is a difficult one as there are so many, but some of the worst male predators are Iff Ur Abs and Marc Allen and a couple of particularly deranged trolls are Tom George and the aptly named Chameleon123 but there are soooo many and, after being there yourself for a short while, I'm sure you'd quickly add to the list of crazies. If you even think to dare to stand up for yourself, speak out against anything wrong, report plagiarism, say it like it is, I can assure you that you'll no longer be welcome.
If you want social media disguised as a poetry site with affairs "on tap" and a lot of fakeness, aided by the ever present company of AI (which should have no place on a poetry site) then go ahead - but remember you've been warned.

6/27/2024 Update:
I find the response by the owner of All Poetry to be both bemusing and another example of how badly run the site is. I have never reported stalking by any member on the site and have no idea what Kevin is talking about, which just goes to prove how very many members making complaints about all manner of problems he must have - hence his own total mix up with regards to who is who. Safe to say All Poetry is a dire place and best avoided at all costs, and a reminder to anyone there to feel free to make your voice and thoughts heard about how toxic an environment it is. Whether or not the owner has a clue who you actually are.

The longer I was there, the less enamored I was with the results. It is unique social media site, for sure, run mostly by AI. Don't go there to learn how to write better poetry because no one bothers to give critiques, even if you ask for them. They are busy making short admiring comments and giving likes, so you will do the same for their poems. Hence members who have made 40,000+ comments and written 20,000 "poems." You can "follow" your fave poets. A kind of mutual admiration society. They do offer a couple of writing classes, but I found those also did not offer much in the way of insight into the process of writing. Same old stuff. AllPoetry has "autorank" which gives a numeric value to each of your poems, if you care to look it up -- all per an AI algorhithm. And what poet wants an artificial valuement of his very human creative product. There is definitely egalitarianism, which means anyone can post almost anything in any form for public consumption. That doesn't mean it is poetic, which is a shame. It does mean the site is fairly worthless if you are a serious poet. There is so much junk it is like looking in a city landfill for that diamond ring you lost. If you want to write, write for yourself. Take a university course in poetry writing and/or poetry appreciation. If you want a different type of social media that is nevertheless just as superficial as all the other social media, this might be the place for you. And, after all, it is free unless you want to jazz up the background colors or the font. Isn't that what poetry is about?

It is way better than a fan story simply because you have more options regarding whether you want to be a paid member or be on the site for free. Fan Story doesn't have the free option.

The owner of the website Kevin is a left wing liberal $#*!.
Completely dismissed the harassment and trolling bull$#*! I had to deal with another member talking about me and my family, because of his political views he was defending the other member & the "Palestinian conflict"

This site has had me grow so much in poetry. If users give me obsolete comments, I ignore them, which leaves the really good, thorough critiques and comments left. People complain about such, but all sites have people only there for points. But what matters is that there are those who will give you good feedback nevertheless, on AllPoetry.com.

Your are the most picked one always carrying my poetry.!
Somebody can easily write a poem with his emotional state of mind.
Go beyond the society and culture as well as any situation in life.
Fulfill the desire of hearts core.

I have been threatened by someone on there who said they'd kill me. I've been sexually harassed on there and people write a lot about lucifer on there calling themselves Satan and people are always stalking you on it and you can make more than one account for the same person under a different name and once caught they delete the profile. This has been going for years. Of all the poets they claim to have on their site, you get no feedback they just rate your poem from 1-6 and barely anyone reads your writings.

I read the reviews here and joined this site just to reply to a few people who are out of touch with reality. Points are used to host contests if you so desire or to give to people who took the time to give you a good critique on your poem. Memberships do not cost money, I became a paid member just to say thank you for all the wonderful free writing courses I have taken, and years of helping me stay balanced. There are narrow minded and sometimes stupid people here, but I have met even more caring intelligent people with a fresh point of view. And I am in awe of the quality of poems you can find here. If you want your poetry to improve or just want to read some great poems you will love this site and it's many wonderful perspectives with a very helpful staff..

AllPoetry ( allpoetry.com) Is a wonderful place to learn and grow as a poet. It's huge knowledge base, is my go to, when I want to learn something new. Its members are warm and welcoming and its never ending supply of contest's and groups is enough to keep any writer focused and engaged for a very long time. I have been a member for well over ten years.Not a day goes by that I don't spend some time there, reading and sharing with other poets. Anita L.

What looked promising, ends up like all other too good to be true's. They just want your money. But you don't find that out til you've spent an hour writing a poem... lol crock of crap. Ill stick to the old notepad method, this site pissed me off so bad now I'm going to go write a poem about it!

I got AP probably before 6 and halve years before, then i started to read poems to ease my lone wretched mind on street life; now i am in it to invent more than 165 poetry styles and to promote all to the world, probably not but surely became the only poet of the world by my inventions. AP is my beloved university.

I've been submitting poems to AllPoetry for two years. AllPoetry
Encourages and motivates through its user contests where points are
Awarded. The points enable other writers to hold contests. I haven't
Ever experienced any of the negatives other writers complain about.
Sometimes I buy a Silver membership (which is quite reasonable) and
Never have had trouble cancelling and restarting it. Sure, it would be
Nice to receive more constructive criticism in the comments, but since
Most people on there are probably "amateurs" like myself, we don't feel
Qualified to be too critical. If you just want to have fun, have your
Voice heard by a few other writers, and be encouraged and motivated, AllPoetry is good site for you. It is also the most user friendly writers site I've visited.

Been on the site four years, leaving shortly for the final time. The small groups on site with their dedicated members are its best aspect. Here you will find strong writers and great personal support to improve. Against that, the owner of the site will simply change parameters without any way to know the changes make sense. Width of poem windows, front page criteria and the list goes on. So there is a dichotomy of the good with the unfettered fiddling. Many can offset one against the other. I just got frustrated. Such great potential. But many have left and continue to leave and that slow trickle of quality writers has not been replaced.

As for the site. I like the layout itself. Functionality an A+ for a writers platform. Socially it has weak points as people can access others without having proper credentials. It's basically a non credited writers social site somewhat like Facebook or MySpace. Many users are stalkers and target female writers as I heard stories. There is a dominant majority who bully and act as if they are in competition. The group of bully's and stalkers tend to be political affiliated, causing fights and other issues. To finish this review off. Half of the people can't write. Have no writing scheme are self published and to top it off they can't even spell.

I've posted some poems to AllPoetry and it's been OK. I feel like there are better more active writing groups out there. It's more of a social networking site than anything else. But nothing terrible.

So far (in three months)I have had a positive experience. I mainly wanted to see if I really was a poet or not. I've decided after posting over 20 poems that I will pursue writing it. I've only had one sarcastic review which was I suppose an attempt at being witty. I think it is important though to belong to a group of friends on the site.

Don't bother with this site. Every day they try to scam you into buying some online bull$#*! merchandise and when you refuse to do so by speaking your mind the mods make up excuses to ban you.

If you are serious about poetry make yourself a favor and look somewhere else!

This site is full of liars who allow bullying. My request when someone sent me nasty messages because she didn't win a contest I held were ignored when I said I felt bullied by it and I was told this person had every right to do what she did. I have now brought this case to others because in the day and age cyber bullying is to be take seriously not ignored.

You have to buddy up with people to get any comments on your work. You have to be "in the loop".
I have written on the site for over a year. Never getting more than 1-4 "likes". Mine is not bad. You are a poet or not. You do not "learn" to write. You can take classes to maybe fit into the box. Read me if you want. The site changes from All Poets to All Poetry depending what day it is. Debra Ann Van Ness

As with any endeavor we undertake writing has its pros and cons. Not unlike our daily lives we are free to make our nearly 3000 choices every day. Choosing a poetry site is one of these if we choose that option. That being said I chose Allpoetry 5 years and nearly 700 poems ago. I remain at Allpoetry because I found a family of people that are full of comrodery. I have since begun a poetry radio show based on different subjects.
This was encouraged to me as well as gifted to me by said family. I have grown personally and spirituality im ways I might not have without this online family supporting and encouraging me. I highly recommend finding yourself as I did with Allpoetry.

I make this statement free of any benefit except the hope I may encourage you the reader to give yourself at least a look at Allpoetry.

And then make the choice to remain in Allpoetry or keep searching for the real you

All in all this is quite a good site but I find that the same types of poetry are front page picks. Usually very descriptive poems and the rest are left out. It becomes quite frustrating to put your heart into writing a poem and they are rarely picked. I think I will keep my poems to myself because they never get any positive feedback and it is hurtful.