Introduction - Helium Vs Hubpages

This Hub is a follow on from the previous one I wrote, where I compared the statistics and ratings of the two sites. That article concluded:

“So, looking at the numbers alone, your article has a much greater chance of being read by the greatest number of people if it is placed on Hubpages rather than Helium”.

I warned readers in that very objective article, as I warn you now, that this article will not be so constrained. The exit point for me was when I asked Helium for a link to be added that I had forgotten, and they refused 'point blank'. (They later reversed this desision after much riling at the system by me).

So I would like to compare one writer's experience and the organisational structures at both sites through a process of 10 questions and answers below. These are asked from a writer’s point of view and answered based on my knowledge of both sites.

10 QUESTIONS TO ASK BOTH SITES

1 - Can I delete my article(s), particularly if I fall out with the hierarchy?

• Helium → NO. Helium do not give you the right to delete any article from THEIR site.
• Hubpages → YES. If for what ever reason you wish to delete YOUR Hub, Hubpages gives you the right to do so.

What it means for the writer ♦ You lose control of your article at Helium. What you post there is out of your hands … forever! Hubpages fully acknowledge that the article remains your property 100% and that you should maintain the right at all time to publish it or not.

2 - Can I choose my own topic and title?

• Helium → NO. You can only add articles to the topics and titles previously set and approved by Helium.
• Hubpages → YES. As long as it is within the Hubpages content rules.

What it means for the writer ♦ Helium dictates the direction of your written content which can restrict significantly your creative endeavour. Hubpages exercises a more democratic and free-will philosophy allowing for more creative writing and expression.

3 - Can I go back and easily edit my document?

• Helium → NO. You can only fix a maximum of three typos by emailing the Helium hierarchy and requesting the changes. If you want to rewrite the article in any way, you must submit the two articles to the community and ask them for a verdict on the best one.
• Hubpages → YES. You can go back as often as you like and fix typos, change opinions, improve content and add new media.

What it means for the writer ♦ Making an article better at Helium is near impossible. The process is so arduous that most don’t bother and leave it in its lesser state. Hubpages encourages you to ‘make it better’ and they make it easy for you to do so.

4 - Can I add extensive media to improve the look of my article?

• Helium → NO. Just plain text + just one photo (which I never figured out how to add nor saw used once in over 200 articles)
• Hubpages → YES. You can add multiple videos, RSS & news feeds, photos, polls and comments.

What it means for the writer ♦ Helium articles will only appeal to text based learners while Hubpages articles can also appeal to visual and aural learners giving your article a much greater audience and interest spread.

5 - Can I leave a comment below the article for the community to see?

• Helium → NO. You can only send a private email to the author
• Hubpages → YES. You can post a comment or if you like even post a comment about a comment.

What it means for the writer ♦ At Helium, much is done in secret away from the public eye, whereas Hubpages ‘hangs it out there’. The Hubpages community is attracted to a well written article which creates a real buzz and engagement. Since most of us write because we love to, the community support and encouragement at Hubpages tends to make the whole writing experience worthwhile.

6 - Do I get the choice as to which articles I rate?

• Helium → NO. You can only rate the articles that the Helium hierarchy choose for you to rate.
• Hubpages → YES. You only need to read the articles that you are interested in and you can give it the ‘thumbs up’ if you think it deserves it.

What it means for the writer ♦ Helium dictate your reading for rating purposes, whether you are interested in the topic or not. In my opinion, you waste precious time reading articles that on any other site you would completely ignore. Reading soon becomes a chore which it should never ever be for a creative writer. Hubpages, like every other article site, lets you choose your article interest and rate accordingly.

7 - Can I format my article with Bold, Italics, underline, · bullet, 1 -points, "quotes" and will in be read in one continuous document?

• Helium → NO. Just plain text with a new added page every 500 words.
• Hubpages → YES. All of the above.

What it means for the writer ♦ Your article on Helium is presented in the most blandly possible way. Nothing can be highlighted, you can not summarise for the time-impaired reader and this plain text philosophy goes against all the basic principles of good article presentation. Also, flipping through the multiple pages, might add site revenues but it kills reader momentum. Hubpages provides you with the tools to make your article a great reader experience, which will inevitably enhance your authorship status.

8 - Can I go back and change my links if I have since developed a website or blog or a new book?

• Helium → NO. There are no link change allowed.
• Hubpages → YES. If your circumstances change, so can the links.

What it means for the writer ♦ At Helium you are locked in. No matter what happens to you in the next 10 years – your article remains as it is on Helium. As you grow as a writer in reputation and stature, Hubpages grows with you allowing you to change links to your latest book or new web-page. Sorry, no such flexibility at Helium.

9 – Can I use my name in the article?

• Helium → NO. They claim it is for rating reasons but you will have no mention of your authorship in the article – only an add-on tag placed by the Helium hierarchy after the article is published.
• Hubpages → YES. Hubpages are happy for you to talk about your experience, talk about yourself, mention your name and to 'own' your article.

What it means for the writer ♦ Helium strip all mention of your name from the articles posted to THEIR site. The content has no mention of you. No inherent ownership by you. Hubpages again acknowledges your right to own your article and if mentioning your name or what you do adds to the reader experience, then go for it.

10 – Will my article always appear under my author name in the search engine results?

• Helium → NO, not often. Mostly Helium just promote the title, the Helium name and the total number of articles that they have on that topic (There is limited authorship acknowledgement).
• Hubpages → YES, always. Your article title under your author name is how Hubpages presents it to the search engines …. always.

What it means for the writer ♦ Helium promote their own brand, ahead of the writer’s. Your authorship get less mention on search sites if you post it to Helium than it would at sites like ezineArticles, Knols and Hugbpages. Hubpages promote their brand alongside your author name. At Hubpages - it’s a partnership.

Conspiracy Theory and Helium's Rating System

There have been many articles written here at Hubpages that talk about the bad experiences that these writers have had with Helium. Some of these articles border on a sort of conspiracy with Helium concerning ‘inappropriately holding writer’s money and content’. Now while I do not claim to have sufficient knowledge to pass judgement on these claims, I do see how the average person, after looking at the answers above, could put together a case.

One final area I would like to cover is Helium’s article rating system. See, your articles on Helium will not earn money unless you maintain at least one rating star in their ratings system. According to their published rules, you achieve one star by performing at least 200 rates in 90 days and maintain a 'quality' of at least 71%. Currently, I have no rating star, even though I have rated 264 articles. This is because my 'quality' has dropped to 70.78%. Now, a couple of points to make about this.

1. Firstly, in every other mathematical system in the world (except Helium) 70.78% would round up to 71%. Well, I guess this attitude seems to be consistent with most of their other philosophies.
2. Secondly, I don’t know how my quality has gone down from 72% to 70.78% because I have not rated a single article for the past 20 days. Now that’s the point. It appears to me that I am being financially penalised for not visiting their site every day to ‘do my penance’ - rate articles. Well, I guess this attitude seems to be consistent with most of their other philosophies.

I feel sorry for those writers that have made such a huge writing investment at Helium. They are locked in and have no escape, so they must carry on making the best of it that they can. This locked-in nature of the Helium site is identified in the figures supplied by Quantast which identified that the majority of visits to Helium (over 53%) are regulars or addicts doing their 'rating penance' compared to about 70% of visits at Hubpages coming from the broader global community.

Conclusion

Now, I would fully understand it, if after reading this review, Helium were to delete me and the articles that I posted on their site … but I suspect they won’t, because in their minds, these articles are THEIRS to control, not mine. Personally, I would welcome my delisting at Helium because;

1. it would certainly put to rest, in my mind at least, all those doubts about conspricy theories and
2. I would then be able to take these 13 articles rated at 91.36% and place them here at Hubpages.

Author’s Note and Pledge: If I have factually misrepresented Helium in any way, then I stand to be corrected in this open forum that Hubpages provides and I will make the corrections accordingly. I also pledge to publish all supportive and dissenting comments (apart from those breaking the site rules) that are added as comments. May it always be that the openness, mutual trust and the democracy of the Hubpages philosophy ... rule ♥ 

I also write for Google's Knol project which targets writing products that compliment rather than compete with Hubpages. If you would like to know how I 'Write Knols that rank Top 10' then click HERE.