Sandbox for new hubbers

1. 81

   Mark Ewbieposted 12 years ago

   My suggestion is that all new hubbers, that is to say those who have not yet published a hub, have their hubs placed in a pre publication sandbox.  There should be no time limit on how long a hubber has been here.
   
   In the last twenty four hours or so I have seen absolute nailed on garbage that should not be anywhere near HubPages.  Some of these Hubbers have apparently had sign ons for months, but these are their first hubs.
   
   What happens is that I or other Hubbers flag these, and then your moderation team takes action.
   
   This seems to be the wrong way round.  Why don't you pass the first few hubs for publication, or not as the case may be?  This would also be a useful indicator to us as to what you consider fit for publication - rather than playing a pointless guessing game around the more intermediate quality - to flag or not to flag.
   
   Then we can feedback on the more clever spun and copied content, rather than doing what is a rather pointless task.  If you publicised the fact that all new Hubs will be held for approval it might just lower the numbers coming through.
   
   That's my bleat / message over with but one more idea. 
   
   Something needs to be done about New Spam Hubbers and Hub Hopping / Flagging and Moderation.
   
   Why not open the subject up for debate with Staff and Hubbers involved?  And reach a sensible, efficient consensus that helps to raise the quality.
   
   Edit: This is the stuff I am talking about.  It's obvious, not being picky or mean.
   
   "As wemovingdevelopingsome of ourfuture family home, everyonebelievedthe advantages ofmade to orderstrategies outweighed all of theshortcomings. Most peopleneededa buildingpackagethat are going..."

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2. 44

   Mikeydoesposted 12 years ago

   This certainly would help.

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3. 89

   WryLiltposted 12 years ago

   Absolutely agree. I go through the hubtivity now and then and can easily find at least one reason to flag at least 75% of the new hubs that appear there.
   
   If the staff are so busy and have to hire new moderators, why not make the job easier by cutting back on the spam they DO have to moderate? I don't see how it's possible to both moderate old content AND try and keep up with the new spam published continually.
   
   Turning the hub hopper into more of an "unpublished but submitted" hub flagger (probably with some type of hub account limit say 20 hubs and 6 months) would probably make members feel more productive AND cut down on spam.

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   1. 81

      Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Wrylilt.  I also note that a number of the recent spammers I have picked up have a number at the end of their 'name'.  A quick search for anyone with a four digit number in their ID would highlight a large amount - xxxxxxxx0123 for example.

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4. 86

   cardeleanposted 12 years ago

   Interesting idea.  There are many other writing websites that require an application type of process to ensure that the quality of writing is one that they want appearing on their site.  It may deter some people from joining hubpages but then again that may just be the point.  I also have hub hopped often and some of the stuff really is poor quality.
   
   As for the spammers, isn't there a way to do some sort of live person verification.  Again, I know that I have joined other websites that have had this requirement as well.  Just a thought.

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5. 80

   LeanManposted 12 years ago

   If youan enormouscanine, as a doberman, you need to constructor yourdog'scratewith agood sizedpuppyhouseholdschedule. Biganimal houseplans scome inmany differentforms, which enable it tocertainly be aregularkennelor simply a duplex (upwards ofone particulark9). Thisprovides youaformatin order toeitherstyles, together withis designedthat will help youan additionalpart ofowning aDo-it-yourselfdoggiekennel.
   
   As one new hubber said... lol

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   1. 75

      DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You mean you don't get that?  I complete GET that!  Of course,  I AM from South Carolina!

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6. 80

   LeanManposted 12 years ago

   But seriously folks.... I have hub hopped tonight, maybe 15 hubs and only one was not flagged by me - and even that I was not 100% sure of!!!
   
   The garbage I copied in the comment above is terrible - how can this site keep up with the number of spammers that are trying to get on here....
   
   Even if it takes days or even weeks to review and approve a new hubber I think it should be done!

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7. 93

   AliciaCposted 12 years ago

   I completely agree with the idea of new hubbers going through an “inspection” period. I want HubPages to succeed, but it seems to me that they’re hurting themselves every time they let nonsense articles and spam be published.

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8. 66

   theherbivorehippiposted 12 years ago

   AGREE!  It is too easy to publish here.  Like many other sites, you should have to earn the right to just press publish and be done with it.  The first few hubs should be held and reviewed by a moderator.  It seems as though Hubpages is just making so much more work for themselves and for us having to flag, then they have to review, review again, etc.  Isn't prevention always key?

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9. 77

   shoganposted 12 years ago

   I'm guessing, since this hasn't been implemented, that either HP doesn't want to go down the road of being a "partially open" platform or that we're all seriously underestimating the numbers of new hubs written in a 24-hour period.  Maybe both.
   
   It's a tough spot.  One reaction to Panda might have been to close HP's borders, weed through what's here, and then to set a firm entry policy.  This would have been a direct way to improve the quality quickly, without putting as many existing members off.  I don't know, though.  Closing entry for a spell might be against the very nature of what HP strives to be, and I'm not sure they want Google to dictate their philosophy to that extent.

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   1. 75

      DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Good point, Shogan, and glad to see you here!  Every site I've looked into lately has some sort of approval process.  I would recommend not accepting newbies for awhile till it gets cleaned up.  I could hubhop all night myself and never be able to flag all the stuff that's getting put up here.

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      1. 77

         shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Good to be seen, DIY.  I'm reluctant to recommend anything, because I don't know the reason why HP hasn't done this already.  As far as denying admittance, I tend to think that if this were going to happen, it would've already. 
         
         The reality is that Hubhopping won't remedy the amount of low-quality stuff being posted on a daily basis.  There's too much, and if I had to guess, there are too few active hubbers Hubhopping (all of 'em are in the forums, I'll bet).  It's great to put the effort in, but it's not a long-term solution to the issue of poor writing.  It is, however, a good way to lose your marbles!

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         1. 75

            DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I'll be the first to admit I'm incredibly naive, but i've learned so much about stolen content, article spinning, and pure garbage since I started writing here.  I would guess HP hasn't done it already is because alot of times I see this stuff in "featured articles" and it's terrible.  I go and look at the comments and people who are (were) respected writers on HP are writing nice comments...and I'm scratching my head!

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            1. 77

               shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               To be honest, I don't look at that stuff much.  If I had to guess, there is probably a lower percentage of quality articles being published daily now than a few months ago.  With so many long-term hubbers leaving and others suspending publishing, that leaves the number of poorly-written pages to flourish.  Something has to go on the front page; after all, this is still a business.
               
               Then again, maybe the numbers don't play out that way.  Maybe it's naive to assume that the forums are any reflection at all of the overall state of publishing on HP.  I do know that people tend to post here when they feel very strongly about a subject.  Reading all of the criticism can bias one to think things that aren't true.

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10. 61

    White Teethposted 12 years ago

    One of the problems here is robot posting. Hubpages is a targeted site for many of the robot-posting programs. Robots grab an article from here or elsewhere, spins-it, creates an account here, then posts the spun article. A robot could do hundreds of articles per day. There needs to be better counter-measures against the robots or the site will continue to be flooded faster than humans can respond.

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    1. 75

       DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Can there not be a captcha every time someone creates a hub?   Wouldn't that stop the bots from being able to post?

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       1. 61

          White Teethposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Captchas are pretty easily beaten by robots if the spammer subscribes to a de-captcha service.
          
          Sunforged has recommended that they force new accounts to setup a profile picture (not necessarily a real picture of themselves, but the act of choosing a photo and loading it will cause problems for the robots - until they adjust their programming anyway.)

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11. 60

    Randy Godwinposted 12 years ago

    HP refuses to stop this junk from being published.  This hurts everyone here!  I find this unacceptable if they expect us to clean up the mess they allow to collect here.  My advice is to quit hub hopping until HP decides if they want this junk here or not.  Or else find someone at staff able to give a reasonable explanation for allowing it to be published in the first place.
    
    Is this too much to ask?  Let us hop them BEFORE they are published on the site, not AFTER!!

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    1. 75

       DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I wonder how much revenue is being brought into HP by the junk hubs.  Sometimes I see people with 2 or three junk hubs and100's of followers and a ton of views.

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    2. 77

       shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Randy, it seems like there must be a reason HP hasn't done this already.  Either it's a philosophical or economic hesitation to tighten admittance or it's a process that requires a ton of planning (and is possibly underway already).  Either way, it's an option that has been discussed, I'm sure.

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       1. 75

          DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I think it has to be money.  And I'm sure it's probably a logistical nightmare as well, but something needs to be done.  And btw, Randy, our "friend" got banned.

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          1. 60

             Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             "Time wounds all heels!" 

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       2. 60

          Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I certainly hope it is underway, Shogan!  I would be glad to cruise a section of prospective hubs by new applicants, as I'm sure many who now detest shoveling the $#!7 would be.  I refuse to believe it would be that difficult to convert the hopper to this type of system.
          
          It has to be the money angle.  This is usually the root problem with anything in business which the powers-that-be refuse to discuss logically.  Just my opinion, by the way.

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12. 81

    Mark Ewbieposted 12 years ago

    http://hubpages.com/hub/just-laugh-shqip
    
    Before it gets taken down...

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    1. 66

       theherbivorehippiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Gosh..totally want to flag it but I just can't pick one category. lol 

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       1. 81

          Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I just go for Low Quality mostly - I mean the moderator has to make a decision anyway. Shame really because the picture is quite funny.

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       2. 75

          DIYweddingplannerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Is there a flag for just completely disgusting?

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          1. 81

             Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Not sure.  The funny thing is those in the picture are both previous 30DC competition winners.
             
             No OK. Sorry.  Bad taste joke.

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             1. 77

                shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Is it normal for something funny to make one feel like scrubbing oneself with a wire brush? 
                
                Also, is that actually a language?

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13. 60

    CASE1WORKERposted 12 years ago

    mark, the problem is that the seasoned hubbers were telling HP of the cr** on the site before the Panda came to stay. Did they do ought- not a jot.
    yes hub hopping- but we all have done that- I Have written a few articles for WIKINUT- they all have to be checked before publication.
    So here i am, a hub got picked up because of a pixelated photo( it was a mosaiic they come pixelated), does this improve the quality of the site one iota? In my opinion No. What does improve the quality is to get rid of all the spam and rubbish that we see published every few minutes.
    i think a system whereby moderators were paid a small percentage of earnings  in exchange for moderating hubs would be preferable. or, when Simone comes over to London she appoints some of us as trash reducers as we are awake when San Francisco is asleep and could temporarily unpublish until a real moderator took a good look at it.
    i like HP i like the community and i like the opportunity to write and publish and to share info all over the world.

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