Comments from new signups after writing a hub mentioning Werner Erhard

1. 79

   Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years ago

   I've just had an interested experience. I've had four new people sign up with HubPages because they are Erhard devotees, and they were irate at what I wrote. Three of them had clearly signed up in ire and were abusive, so they're no problem. I denied their mean comments and flagged their profiles.
   
   However, the fourth had a very long comment - a hub, really - and he also enrolled in HubPages only to comment. I was thinking about inviting him to make a hub on Erhard if he wanted to reply, instead of wasting it as a comment. I don't even know how long comments can be.
   
   So.
   1. What do you do when someone signs up only to comment (not nasty comments)?
   2. How long can comments be, and shouldn't these be hubs?
   
   Thank you for your answers.

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   1. 0

      hippomudposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Healthy Pursuits, I might be  one of the perpetrators :-)  you are talking about.
      
      I admit to signing up and bolting in with a minimum of manners but all I did was nitpick a few inaccuracies  you presented. I saw your  "Hub" in a google search i did for the name "Erhard" and got yanked in  ( as happens when surfing the www ) and started nitpicking :-)  I am sorry for not being more tactful  and a little kinder.  But I was in no way "abusive" or "mean". I took the 'comment" option as an open invitation to comment. Where is the folly or broken rule in signing-up to comment?

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      1. 68

         Pearldiverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I personally would say... Good On You!
         
         If an author is going to write and promote ANY Subject in a manner which the public reasonably expect to represent accurate information and it doesn't accurately do so... then take the author to task!
         
         Good writers actually ensure that what is promoted is relevant and accurate! Perhaps in this case the author here has learned a lesson and since taken the time to correct the issue with Factual Information?  How hard is research?

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         1. 79

            Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I would not mind if someone took me to task for providing inaccurate information. However, I not only did NOT provide inaccurate or irrelevant information, but I make every effort to make sure that all of my information is accuratel.
            I wonder why you would automatically assumed that I, as the author, should be upbraided for poor performance?

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      2. 79

         Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         hippomud,
         I see no broken rules in the idea of signing up and making a comment your first action. It shows interest in what's being said.
         
         However, taking an ugly tone, entering several comments in a row - all in that same tone - and showing a "minimum of manners", as you so gently put it here, is both antisocial and unnecessary.
         
         I flagged your profile for review not because you commented, not because you disagreed with what I had to say, but because your tone was so ugly and you left several comments in a row in that same ugly tone. Couple that with the fact that you had signed up a few hours before, and had done nothing else on HubPages said to me that you only signed up to verbally smack me around. I didn't appreciate it, to say the least.
         
         If you choose to disagree with me with another comment on that same hub, but one that is written in a civil tone, I will honestly consider accepting it.

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   2. 70

      seanorjohnposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Get over it. Lighten up man.

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      1. 79

         Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         okey dokey

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2. 91

   Pcunixposted 12 years ago

   If somebody wants to waste their talent leaving a long related comment, I guess that's their loss.   It is likely to help you with Google even if they disagreed with you.

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   1. 79

      Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks! I didn't think of that. This person was actually an assistant in later EST training, so he really has a lot to say. However, the other replies from other EST trainees were more telling - abusive. I flagged them.

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      1. 0

         hippomudposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Healthy Pursuits, may I ask, specifically,  how were any of them "abusive"? What was said that was "mean" or "abusive" to you?

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3. 59

   Xenonlitposted 12 years ago

   Do you have your comments set for your approval before they can be seen?
   
   Don't approve anything that you feel is abusive or insulting.
   
   The good news is that you are getting viewers from somewhere outside of Hub Pages!

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   1. 79

      Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I do. Thanks for the tip. I realized that they came from outside HubPages and I was happy to see that. Even if my hub did vacuum all the EST trainees who still believe out of the woodwork.

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      1. 59

         Xenonlitposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I remember EST and still use some of the relaxation techniques. But Erhard and his devotees were too much to put up with after the seminar was over.
         
         Here's to being free of them!

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         1. 79

            Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I had several friends who tried the seminars. None of them completed them, and my hub describing EST came from what they said about their experiences. Actually, it only skimmed a little of what they had to say. I guess the guy who gave the seminars in our area was a really egomaniac.
            I remember being surprised at the time that nobody at all wanted to finish the seminars.
            It sounds like you had a better seminar leader. It's nice to see that you got something good out of them.

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4. 76

   Shanna11posted 12 years ago

   I actually signed up just to comment on an article I read. It wasn't a mean comment however, it was a humorous comment of commiseration. I had no intention of staying, but the author of the article liked my comment so much that he followed me, sent me fan mail and commented back on how much he liked what I'd said.
   
   I ended up poking around a bit, churning out my first Hub and deciding I wanted to stay. I probably wouldn't have if I the author hadn't encouraged me to stay, so I'm glad I did.
   
   I would do the same if I were you-- obviously as long as the comment wasn't downright awful. An invitation can go a long way.

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   1. 79

      Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I am actually considering inviting one of the commenters, the only polite one, if he wants to write some hubs for HubPages. I don't think that signing up and having your first action being a comment is a bad thing. However, I think that signing up to be abusive is something that shouldn't be done.

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   2. 79

      Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I was thinking about doing that. I think he already has his first hub in the comment he sent to me. I decided to take a few more days to forget the ugly stuff from others who have his same point of view, minus the manners.
      We do learn a bunch about ourselves every day. I try very hard to make sure that every bit of information I put in a hub is correct. To have people who believe differently than I do being a little foamy at the mouth towards me about it was slightly upsetting. So I'll watch myself for that in future.

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      1. 0

         hippomudposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Deleted
         1. 79

            Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I have no problem with the length of his comment, and he can link it to my hub, but I thought I might suggest that he make it his first hub if he wanted to.
            
            Come on, you know what civil looks and sounds like.
            
            There were only 4 people who commented on my hub. I didn't mind that they disagreed with what I wrote.

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            1. 0

               hippomudposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               bowing out.

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