Get involved

Whether you're a professional journalist, a wannabe or just keen to help on our discussion boards, we want to hear from you.

Write for us

Freelancers: Submit a short idea, outlining what your article would cover and the resources you would use (case studies, experts etc), along with your CV. Email us.

General submissions: If you're aged 16-25 and have a riveting story to tell, something to rant about or have a special interest in a specific subject, why not get if off your chest on TheSite.org? We're always on the lookout for new diarists, ranters and case studies. So come on, let us know who you are! Email us, saying more about what you want to write about and why. Email us.

Become a volunteer online peer advisor

Online agony aunts and uncles needed! Volunteer as an online peer advisor and support young people by answering their questions on relationships. To participate you need to be:

• 18-29 years old and living in Greater London
• Able to access the internet at home or at place of work/study (training and supervision is at YouthNet's offices in Islington, but volunteers work remotely at a location with internet access of their own convenience)
• Able to volunteer around 4-5 hours a week for training, supervision and online peer advisor work. The timing of supervision and online work is flexible, while training times will depend on the availability of volunteers selected on to this new pilot scheme

For more information email us. You can read an article about working as an online peer advisor.

Become a volunteer moderator

If you're open-minded, savvy, reliable and in touch with young people then we need you! TheSite.org is always on the lookout for more volunteers to moderate on our busy message boards. Technical expertise is not necessary although common sense and a good sense of humour are!

About the work: Moderators check posts made by our board users. Most of the time no action needs to be taken, but occasionally someone needs help (e.g. someone with depression may need reassurance and a helpline number), or posters need to be warned about unacceptable behaviour (e.g. commercial advertisers, racist remarks). Repeat offenders have their posts removed and sometimes have to be banned (but we try not to let it come to this). The atmosphere is usually positive and friendly and our moderators help to keep it that way.

The boards are here: Have a look and let us know which forums (topic areas, i.e. Sex or Politics) you would be most interested in moderating. We are also hoping to launch chat in the next couple of months and will be looking for people to help moderate one to two hour sessions, same rules apply.

What we are looking for: Can you get to London for a one to two hour training session? Are you aged 21 or over, with your own internet access? Are you available for one or two hours regularly every week to help us out? We will provide expenses, and someone from our team will always be contactable should there be any problems.

If you are interested please email us.

Work experience 

As you can imagine, TheSite.org is popular for work experience placements. It's a great way to experience a fun office environment, learn about journalism and online communities and meet some great people. If you are aged 16-25, have a way with words and are brimming with creative ideas on how we could improve TheSite.org, then we want you (as long as you can make good tea, too!)

What will I be expected to do? The editorial and communities teams work closely together enabling us to offer you experience in both areas. If you are interested in one area more than the other we'll take that on board when we receive your application. We hope to offer you a very real experience of the way we work. You won't just be photocopying and filing, there will be some boring bits too, but hey it's all part of the job!

Journalism: You will help us research and write articles, polls and surveys, scan and gather press cuttings, take photos and a whole heap more.

Communities: You will help us run chat sessions and activities on the discussion boards, create digital content such as screensavers, build surveys, update web pages and more.

Where are you based? We are based near Old Street tube station in London. If you did take a placement you would need to live in or near London or be able to stay with friends/relatives here as we do not provide accommodation.

Will you pay me? We are able to cover your travel expenses (weekly London travel cards) and a basic lunch allowance.

How much of my time do you want? Ideally we would like you to come in for two weeks solid or longer. If you are based in London we are also interested in part-time volunteers to come in for one day a week over a longer period. Our day starts at 9.30am and finishes at 5.30pm with an hour for lunch, but we can be flexible on hours.

Am I suitable to work with the editorial team? Whether you are: into journalism, media and communications; an English language/literature student; write for your student/local newspaper, magazine or website; or just want a taste of what the world of website journalism is all about, send us your CV, a covering letter and three content ideas (be original and avoid reviews for film, music etc).

Am I suitable to work with the communities team? Whether you are: interested in media and communications, studying a new media related subject or keen to find out how online communities work, send us your CV, a covering letter and three ideas for community content, e.g. an idea for a chat session, some questions for a vox-pop or some ideas to develop the discussion boards.

If you are interested in journalism email Julia. If you are interested in communities email Jim or Helen

Work for us

To find out about the latest job opportunities visit YouthNet's work for us page.