How will the new feature, "how many unfeatured hubs out of total hubs" affect th

1. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   How will the new feature, "how many unfeatured hubs out of total hubs" affect the morale of writers
   
   either positively or more likely negatively?  Will these new feature eventually cause some writers to stop writing for HubPages altogether & others to leave HubPages entirely to other sites or to establish their own sites?
   
   

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2. 93

   peeplesposted 8 years ago

   I would hope it would encourage writers to fix their articles. After all if they care so much about the number why not do something to fix it? Now I know there is a small percentage of people who have unfeatured due to reasons sort of beyond their control, but I don't think that is the majority.
   People should work on their articles, and if they have no intention of doing so they can easily unpublish the article, since it's unfeatured anyway.
   If such a tiny thing stops someone from writing on here they likely don't want to be here anyway and would probably be better off on their own site setting most of their own rules. This is a writing site, with good social network. It will never be perfect, there will always be something for all of us to complain about, but most of us who have been here a while will stick it out in some way or another in my opinion, even if that's just leaving articles up.

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      fpherj48posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      The designation of featured & unfeatured (as well as corresponding reason) are clearly posted on our statistics page 24/7, this should more than suffice to encourage writers to edit & repair. NO reason whatsoever to post publicly on our profi

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   2. 93

      peeplesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Makes no difference to me I guess. The majority of google viewers aren't going to my profile page, and I don't care what most hubbers think of me or my writing. Lol! So guess it doesn't bother me, and if it did I think I'd improve my articles.

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   3. 60

      fpherj48posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Nor do I care much about the opinion of others....who may not even know what "featured" means.  It's the deliberate of the REPEAT info/message from Team to us...like "just in case we don't KNOW," they're HIGHLIGHTING it on our profile page.

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   4. 78

      dashingscorpioposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Essentially it's all in the eye of the beholder. Five years ago the same hub may have been featured. A new editor is hired and suddenly that hub is not up to quality standards. Trying to be what others want you to be never makes one happy.

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3. 61

   Lisa HWposted 8 years ago

   After eight years on this site and having over four hundred Hubs "pass through" my profile I'm now down (at last look) to - like - 40 Hubs with about half unfeatured.  What was encouraged/allowed on here then has changed (and changed yet again) and changed (yet again), and it's probably still going change for another while.  (Unfortunately, I did prematurely delete a bunch of "then Hubs" that might actually work better on here as "now Hubs".  Doesn't matter.)
   
   In offline writing nobody thinks it's reasonable to expect a publication to publish what it doesn't want, or what doesn't belong, on its pages.  There are offline publications (needless to point out) that have no use for any number of decent pieces of writing - just because they don't cater to that kind of writing.  Having standards (for quality, for type of material, etc. etc.) is standard in most places/publications where any-old-thing is neither welcomed nor acceptable.
   
   This site (and many others) used to essentially tell people to write "whatever", so I had a bunch of "whatever" among those four hundred or so Hubs.  I'm not here for my health, and I'm not here as a "career" either.  (Of course, actually, I  long ago kind of immunized my profile against the embarrassment of a bunch of very casual, non-professional-looking, pieces of writing by explaining that I'm in transition; so maybe it's easy for me not to be bothered by what's on it (including the numbers in questions) at this point.)   Either way, my self-esteem/"identity" are not tied to whether or not I have "good numbers" on my profile or Hubs.
   
   I left my "accolades" public on my profile more to show some kind of history of time on HubPages - I suppose so, if I wanted to contribute somewhere (forums, comments) I wouldn't appear to have signed up years ago and done little (or done only "crud") in terms of writing Hubs.
   
   I'm still trying to figure out if I have the time/inclination to post ONLY stuff on here that I think will do well on its own and that I think meet the latest aims of the site (or at last that I think will be worth a reader's time).  I don't want to waste my own time/energy either, though.
   
   I'm too old/mature to be worried about, or moved by, things like questionable numbers/scores on a writing platform.  (Of course, the price of not caring about that kind of stuff is that one may look like "a giant loser" (LOL)  to anyone who bases "identity" on superficial stuff.)

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4. 78

   dashingscorpioposted 8 years ago

   
   
   Any time a site repeatedly changes it's standards there runs a risk of long-time contributors who have received several accolades over the years to feel alienated when suddenly being told their work isn't good enough.
   On some level free speech and allowing the public to read what it wants to read seems appropriate. However it's also understandable that HP or any site for that matter also wants a respectable reputation.
   It's writers like Lisa H. who has been here for eight years and have witnessed change in requirements multiple times that are at risk of leaving. There was a time where the writer was able to have his or her own style.
   Today most sites are looking to have a cookie cutter layout.
   Every article must have 500-700 words, photo slideshow with 5 photos or more,  embedded video links, a survey poll, comments section, and Amazon product lists. That seems like a bit much for someone who only wanted to post a poem or their favorite chili recipe. Not everyone is trying to be a hard hitting journalist.
   I suspect new writers will adjust to all the changes and requirements a lot easier. Maybe hubs that are over 3years old should be "grand-fathered" in as acceptable especially if they remain popular and bring clicks to HP. Ultimately the goal for HP is to drive click/reads to earn advertisement dollars.

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      Lisa HWposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I wouldn't say I feel the least bit alienated here - just more careful about what I may post and/or trying to figure a way to make SOME things fit some version of "the latest cookie cutter".  (Just cautious to the point of doing nothing.     )

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