Following Authors on HubPages

Classically speaking, a follower is someone who really likes your work. On HubPages, followers are people who have opted to get automatic updates on your writing because they enjoy the Hubs that you have written or interacting with you in the HubPages Forums. When someone follows you, they will receive an email every time that you publish a new Hub and they will also be able to keep up with what you are up to on HubPages because you're automatically added into their Feed.

If you enjoy reading someone's Hubs and chatting with them in the Forums, follow them! To join a fellow Hubber's Fan Club all that you have to do is visit that person’s profile page and click the green "follow" button. By clicking on that link, you will become a follower of this fabulous Hubber!

For example, in the picture below you see a “Follow" button for Jason Menayan.

Once you've followed another Hubber, if you choose, you'll be notified with an email each and every time he or she publishes a new Hub. You will also be updated each day via email with new Hubs written by your favorite authors (these are the Hubbers your follow.) These Hubbers will also show up in your Feed on the HubPages homepage. To update your notifications, go to My Account>Profile>Email Settings or visit our Learning Center entry on Notifications.

After Following a Hubber

Now that you are following a few Hubbers, it's always a good idea to let them know exactly why you decided to follow what they're doing on HubPages. This lets them know a little bit more about who you are and why you're interested in what they're writing, which will greatly increase the chance of them returning the favor and following you, too. The best way to tell the Hubbers that you're a fan of what you think of them is by leaving them some Fan Mail, which is a way to leave them a comment on their Profile Page. Also, something to keep in mind is that you can only leave one piece of Fan Mail for each Hubber, so make it something good! An example of what Fan Mail looks like and where it's located on a Hubber's profile can be seen above.

Note that you can also check one of the various boxes below your text box (Thanks / Good Writer / You’re Funny / Hot! / etc...)- when you check one and submit it with your message, these specific props will show up in the Hubber’s fan mail column at the right side of their profile.

There are definitely some benefits to being followed and following others. First of all, because your followers receive an email each time you publish a new Hub, they are more likely to visit your new Hub giving it an instant traffic source. Your followers are also more inclined to comment on your Hubs and will often share your Hubs with their own friends, which gets you even more visitors. Your followers may also be more likely to submit your Hub to social sites like Facebook, Twitter, digg, del.ici.ous, reddit, and StumbleUpon, which could potentially send your traffic through the roof.

If you prefer to stand alone and publish your Hubs while keeping your distance from other Hubbers, that’s perfectly welcome! Nevertheless, if you are an active member of the HubPages community, you will definitely gain a few more benefits- all while connecting with some very interesting people. Active community members can quickly build a good fan base on Hubpages and accrue higher hub scores. Hubbers with followers also get an instant readership when they publish a Hub and generally receive more comments on their writing. Active community members also get more back-links from other Hubbers than those who publish a Hub and run.