Is my hub's quality bad based on one swear word?

1. 92

   peeplesposted 10 years ago

   Is my hub's quality bad based on one swear word?
   
   I have had a hub unfeatured due to engagement but never quality. Now I publish a hub with one cuss word in it and it's poor quality by HP standards. It has all the required number of words, pictures, and I even put a poll in it even though I felt it was completely inappropriate. So the only thing I can figure is that one word caused it. So can one word cause unfeatured?

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2. 86

   bravewarriorposted 10 years ago

   Peeples, bring up the hub and go into edit mode.  On the top right side of the page, HP will give you their recommendations or why the hub received the grade it did.

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   1. 92

      peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have done this and there is nothing there. It shows what I need and I have met all the requirements.  There is nothing about why it is not featured.

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   2. 86

      btrbellposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm also trying to find what you are talking about, Shauna but I only see what peeples sees. Can you elaborate? Thank you!

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   3. 86

      bravewarriorposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I went thru all my half circles a couple of months ago.  When you open a hub that isn't featured, go into edit mode.  On the top right hand side above the checklist HP offers suggestions as to what to add, whether it be pix, video, word count, etc.

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   4. 92

      peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      All of mine are full. All needed pics, polls, word count are full. Still not featured. Confused.

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   5. 86

      bravewarriorposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Peeples, do you mean all your circles are full?  If so, give it a day or so to show up as featured.  If not, you may want to email the moderators at HP and ask why it's not featured.

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3. 39

   ChristinSposted 10 years ago

   Depending on the word yes. An F bomb for instance is likely to trigger a low quality rating. A milder term, probably not so much if it was just one word.  I would just do a substitute or asterisk out the offensive word to get it refeatured.  This would be do to Google rules more than the actual hub quality.

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   1. 92

      peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Good point, maybe I can just change it without actually getting rid of the word completely. An asterisk may be a good idea.

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   2. 39

      ChristinSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's my understanding they have humans doing quality checks now, so if they saw it, perhaps they flagged it for that reason. Otherwise I really don't know... strange.

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4. 0

   sheilamyersposted 10 years ago

   Sounds to me like that could be the reason, although I'd have to say as long as it's not, as Christine said, the F-bomb I think it's silly for anyone to rate a hub poorly because of one or more cuss words ... depending on how they're being used. My thoughts are if you can get your point across without using the cuss words, eliminate them. If it's part of a quoted conversation or something like that, I feel it should be left as is.

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   1. 86

      bravewarriorposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The F-bomb has never gotten my hubs circled or semi-circled.  The semi-circle means the hub isn't engaging.  Going into edit mode will reveal why the hub was so deemed.

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   2. 92

      peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The hub is an emotional hub and I used the word clusterf*ck. Not my normal word to use in a hub but it worked. I just don't understand how I can have all the requirements and still be not featured due to quality.

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5. 85

   billybucposted 10 years ago

   I honestly pay so little attention to HP standards that I don't know. I've never read the Learning Center stuff.....I've used cuss words before and it hasn't affected the quality at all...but I have never used the F word, so who knows?  HP will forever be a mystery to me; good thing I don't take them very seriously. They do their thing and I do mine.

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   1. 92

      peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I wouldn't take it seriously if it didn't keep me from having others read it. It bothers me because nothing I write can help others if not viewable. Maybe I'll just have to change it!

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   2. 85

      billybucposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, wait a second...is this about child abuse??? That may be the reason and not the language....HP hates child abuse as a subject. I lost advertising on four different hubs having to do with child abuse and sex trafficking.

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   3. 92

      peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's my latest, letter to my mom, I didn't think any of it was too sensitive. Normally they just take my ads which I don't mind. The things I'm going through, others are too, and it irks me they couldn't just take the ads and leave it featured.

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6. 81

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 10 years ago

   I have not published a hub on this website in a long time, however, with a half million views on the pages I have left here, I feel qualified to tell you "NO," the one curse word is not the issue.
   
   I could be wrong, it could be they've changed to where they now look at that as being a terrible thing.  Me?  I used to drop an F bomb here and there, if there's one thing I can't be angry with staff@Hubpages.com aboutt, it is they never bothered me for the few F bombs I'd use on my own pages.
   
   Now...cursing isn't really "classy," but sometimes and in some contexts, I think it makes perfect sense to curse.  Me?  I don't care what anyone thinks about me, but in regards to the business side of this, it's best to use such words very sparingly.

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7. 75

   JohnGreasyGamerposted 10 years ago

   As someone who usually puts them in Hubs (especially because I get so annoyed at what I review), I can safely tell you it's not a 'cuss word'. Also because I'm English, what my nationality might consider a strong word (like the p-word) is a casual negative word in the US. So I have to be careful what I put down because what might be a word used regularly in England like "f*g" (which is a cigarette) might offend US readers (who see it as a homophobic insult).
   
   I very much doubt it's the swear word. You might want to remove it just in case, as there'd be no harm in doing so methinks.
   
   EDIT: Just had to censor one word (the 'f' one) because it goes against HubPages' 'editorial guidelines'. It could possibly be the word you use.

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   1. 88

      MizBejabbersposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      John, I just had to laugh. When I was a kid in high school and college, back in the dark ages, f*g was slang for cigarette here in America, too. Gimme a f*g was heard regularly around the campus. I guess the now-homophobic context makes it tabu here.

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8. 88

   innerspinposted 10 years ago

   Okay,having read all the responses here, a few things strike me.
   
   Your word did make me go "What?" in surprise. It's pretty strong, and I cuss. Still, it's only one word.
   
   You say it's a letter to your mother. Is there a chance it may be considered too personal, even though you want it published to help others? I completely see your point, it's just a suggestion.
   
   If you struggled to add a poll maybe it looks out of place and spoils the hub.
   
   Writers shouldn't be left wondering what the problem is. It's been said before, HP should give clear comments as to what needs "fixing."
   
   Hope you can get this featured.

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9. 88

   MizBejabbersposted 10 years ago

   I dunno, Peeples, I've only had one hub actually pulled, and they claimed very plainly that I had copied it. After I proved mine to be the original, they put it back. It still has a big red symbol saying that it may have been copied. They've never said a word about one of my other hubs that was blatantly stolen.

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