Why No Purely Personal Writing on Hubpages?

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   shanmarieposted 11 years ago

   I have been a member of Hubpages for 2 years now, but have just recently began using it to post my own work.  While I understand that internet users search for information, and that these Hubs containing useful information draw in more money, I am also somewhat offended that I received an email that one of my Hubs is purely personal, and thus a violation.  I mean, why bother to develop an elaborate community of writers to offer comments and insights about one another's work if a piece of writing inspired by something personal cannot be posted?  What makes a personal piece less poignant than a fictional piece with no useful purpose other than an interesting or fun read?

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      wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Probably because HP doesn't want to become just another blog site.  Which is, of course, exactly what would happen if personal content were encouraged or even allowed.  We continually see nubies signing up to blog, in fact.

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      MelissaBarrettposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with Writeangled.
      
      I have nothing against you personally, but I'm not the least bit interested in your day to day life, heart aches, or trials and tribulations... and no one who doesn't know you isn't either.
      
      A blog is really the best place for things like that... or just update your facebook status.
      
      Now, that being said... say you break up with your boyfriend.  The world in general doesn't care... however if you would like to BRIEFLY tell a bit of the story, then write a hub on how to deal with depression from that, that MIGHT be of interest to somebody....
      
      As long as the information that's not about you far exceeds your personal experience, the hub might be of interest to somebody else.

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      nonslick50posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I am sooo in violation! LOL! I opened my account simply to share the occasional work of creative nonfiction, which is, by nature, a personal narrative. I just do it for fun, though, so if they want to give me the boot, I'm ready to hit the pavement.

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         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I would hope that if you are sharing it with the public, you intended it to have entertainment value.

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         shanmarieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, Nonslick50!  That's what I mean.  I am not talking about diary or journal blog entries, though some of those are interesting. I'm talking about something turned into a story or prose for the sake of entertainment.  After all, they say to write what you know, right?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The rule exists because they don't want people posting blog-type posts about what they had for breakfast, or how lovely their sister's wedding was, or how cute their grandson is. 
      
      I'm sure you'll agree that such posts have no place on HubPages - but creating that rule means that HubPages must be seen to apply it fairly, and that means applying it to any posts which are personal.

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   WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

   Fiction, if it has any merits at least requires some literary skill in its production.
   
   The HP definition of purely personal is content that would be of no interest to anyone except those who know the writer personally.
   
   That definition holds within itself the reason why this sort of stuff is not encouraged. To spell it out: most people would be bored out of their minds if they read it.

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      shanmarieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That I can understand. I don't want to read what someone ate for breakfast or a Facebook status update.  However, I wrote something in sarcasm that was meant for entertainment purposes, and people did seem to be enjoying it--until HP decided it was "purely personal" and unpublished it.  It was not even written like a blog entry or a diary entry.

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   Beth37posted 11 years ago

   One of my hubs just got tagged for that. My bad... I needed a sounding board, but I edited it today and hopefully it will have more of a "how to" feel now.

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      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think you can start personal, but need to end on a message/lesson/something with broader usefulness.

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         Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         That's what I did with the revision, thanks. I thought I had done that in the first place, but the msg. might not have been strong enough. It was a bit of a "vent" piece. Im still learning.

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            ExpectGreatThingsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            You've got me curious Beth37 Which hub is it?

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               Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               It is one called "Assault from within." I was having a particularly hard day with an addiction I face. The funny thing is, I wrote a love story during a  great deal of the battle that day... spent a lot of time on it, wrote it well I think... then because I felt like Id been fighting the addiction all day, just popped off the "assault from within" one as a way to just get it all off my chest. It got more traffic than the one I spent time on. Go figure. Anyway, hopefully I tied any ends together so that it will be useful. It didn't need too much revision I don't think.

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                  Soul Man Walkerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Addiction, or prediction? Maybe seduction? Walker a stalker? I don't think so!

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                     Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Ive been a good girl. Point your finger at me all you want, Im still riding the wagon.

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                        Soul Man Walkerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        Off the wagon.

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                           Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           Everyone says our hubscores are a poor representation of our value. I think you are the exception.

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                              Soul Man Walkerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              You don't know the half of it, my love.

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                  shanmarieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I'm going ot have to go read this now. You have me curious.  I wrote something not so much meant as a vent piece, but rather as a sarcastic piece. I was making fun of myself and thought maybe others could either relate to it or maybe get a chuckle out of it.  It wasn't meant to be a blog entry in any way, shape, or form.

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   Green Bardposted 11 years ago

   I have had problems with my hubs in my other accounts being seen as too personal and they have had very low traffic or been idled so I learned not to write them any more. I might put a bit of personal opinion or experience in a hub but that is about it. I can understand the ruling and as it has already been said personal tales of our lives are far more suited to personal blogs.

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      shanmarieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Perhaps, but a well written personal tale can be just as good as a piece of fiction.  It all depends on how it is written.  A journal/blog is something quite different than a personal blog, I think.

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   peeplesposted 11 years ago

   I write personal work all the time, however I tie it in with useful information. Actually one of my informative personal hubs is very popular with google ranking between number 1 and 3 in several search terms. The key for me is figuring out how to link personal into informative. I don't have any issues with getting purely personal notices, but since I put this up I am sure I will now!

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