Does Votes Cost Money Around Here Now?
THE REAL QUESTION
To vote or not? That is the question that has been on my mind for many months. I have wanted to write an article about voting to see what others think about the entire process. Personally, I vote a lot. Not always, but I can appreciate the time and effort that is put in one solid quality article. In this article, my purpose is to explore and research why people vote and why they do not.
VOTING IS BENEFICAL
When we explore the benefits of voting on someone's hub, we can clearly see how it would be beneficial to both parties. One clear choice is this phrase, "do onto others as you want done to you". If you vote for me, I will vote for you. Although very few would admit this, it is more then likely a common practice. I imagine that votes would help the overall score of your hub or article.
As most of us already know, we have the option to vote up a page or we can vote it down. When I think about it, we are given a fair amount of power over someone's work. An article that seems great to someone else may be worthless to another. The question is, does it mean that one is right to vote it down? So what causes someone to vote a page down?
- Length of article?
- Grammar errors?
- Punctuation mistakes?
- Misspellings?
- Bad placement of content?
In all honesty, any one of these can cause someone to vote your article down. But here again, we have to ask another question. Are these legit reasons to vote down an article or should we be helpful and tell them about their mistakes? We all find articles that have mistakes in them because we all make mistakes. Some hubbers put out articles like baked cookies. It is very easy to make an error. Personally, I appreciate anyone that picks up on my errors. It is always preferred that you send a personal email instead of leaving it in the comment box.
LEARN TO WRITE WITH QUALITY
DIFFERENCES IN HIGH AND LOW QUALITY ARTICLES
So what does it take to get your vote? I have read a variety of different hubs that were high quality articles, yet they were no votes. As all hubbers know, you can vote an article up and down, useful, beautiful, interesting, funny, and awesome. I will admit, some writers put out what is considered to be "low quality article". What is a low quality article? Here are some things that can cause a hub to be low quality.
- Low word count.
- Off topic.
- No associations with subject
- Grammar mistakes
- Punctuation errors
- Low quality pictures
- Listing to many products.
One good thing about Hubpages is that they have a built in system that automatically finds most of these errors and mistakes before you are allowed to publish an article. However, it isn't bullet proof. Low quality articles can still squeeze through the cracks and make its way online. To make sure your article is not low quality, you need to check the following things.
- Make sure your subject matches the content in the body of work.
- Make sure that there isn't any grammar mistakes.
- Make sure you pictures are high quality with good resolutions.
- Make sure you check your spelling.
- Make sure the length of your article is appropriate with the topic.
- Make sure your Ebay and Amazon products are appropriate with your article.
- Make sure you use multiple text capsules and title them so readers can find specific information in your article much easier.
If you make sure you commit to these steps, you are more likely to receive votes for your article and earn a higher hub score. Remember, when you choose a topic, you want to make sure a reader can find a host of information on your article. For example, if you are writing about the history of a World War II battle, you want to make sure you list as much information about the battle as possible. This is one advantage of choosing a topic that is specific and concentrates on one event or one source.
VOTING IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT THING TO DO
For anyone that has took the time to research, write and create an article, you know the time that you have put in just to create a single article. Some hubbers write articles with a wealth of information and knowledge. These articles just don't create themselves. Some articles take hours, days, weeks, and months to write. You have to give consideration and appreciation to any writer when they create an article. We can give this to them by voting on their article. At Hubpages, we can give someone the credit that they deserve by simply clicking on the appropriate button. It really isn't that hard at all and it is the right thing to do.
I know every article that is published doesn't deserve to be voted down the board. I am not telling you to vote for this one and that one. All I am saying is, if an article deserves it, please make sure you vote for it. This goes for any article that you read online. Take the time to appreciate someone's work and vote on it if you feel that it is worthy of your vote.
As most of us know, hubbers come and go. Personally, I am finding that I have very little time anymore to get online, write, and read my friend's articles. I try to show them all appreciation by voting on their hubs when they truly deserve the vote. One of the main reasons that I wrote this article came from an article I read many months ago. It was an article about the Civil War and it was a very good article. The layout, punctuation, grammar, spelling, length, and topic were all perfect. As I scrolled down the page, I noticed that it didn't have any votes. I was surprised to see 15 comments. At the very least, this was a useful article for anyone that would search for this specific topic. This is the exactly what I am talking about.
Taking the time to appropriate vote on someone's article doesn't cost us a dime. Furthermore, it is the right thing to do. As fellow writers, friends, and community, we should all strive to be helpful and appreciate each other's work.
Related
Comments
Technically I've belonged for over 2 years, but I did not actually start writing hubs till this fall, so I'm new to these questions. I have not been clear what the up and down voting is about.
Generally if a hub is the least bit interesting, I vote Up and Interesting. If at all useful, I also click that. In a very few cases I have clicked Awesome or Beautiful, and in very rare, exceptionally excellent cases I have shared in FB, Twitter, and on HubPages.
If a Hub is not at all interesting to me -- vacuous content, painfully bad poetry, etc. -- I stop reading, don't vote, and go on to another hub. I see no reason to vote down a hub when there is nothing particularly wrong with it besides not being of interest to me.
I have only voted down a couple of Hubs -- one by an expert hubber that kept mentioning SEO without having the consideration to say what that means and another the hubber of was a company and that looked and read like an infomercial.
If a hub is sincere, appropriate, and overall worth reading but has flaws, I vote it up and at least interesting and mention the flaws in a comment, sandwiched between praises, like this:
Thanks for this well written and well thought out hub about voting hubs up or down. I'm curious to learn more about best practices re voting.
I did spot these easily corrected grammar errors:
Listing to many products.
SHOULD READ
Listing too many products.
and:
Make sure that there isn't any grammar mistakes.
SHOULD READ
Make sure that there aren't any grammar mistakes.
Did you put in that last one on purpose, to help make your point?
I have wondered how best to mention errors. I've tried a few times telling a hubber about a hub's typos, word usage errors, etc., in a private message but never got a thank you, which told me that private messages from strangers are unwelcome and that copy edit messages from strangers are unwelcome, so I stopped doing that. I've considered having comments that only point out errors and adding a suggestion that the hubber accept my suggestions (if they seem valid) but not accept my Comment. After all, of what purpose is a Comment that calls attention to errors that no longer exist? I might try that idea sometime if a hub has lots of typos and such in it but is still sincere and interesting. But if a hub is well written and interesting and has one or two or a few minor errors that got overlooked, mentioning them within a Comment of mostly praise seems best.
I wonder what others do. Or should minor errors be ignored because they are the writer's problem and getting a final draft proofread before publication is the writer's responsibility?
- AUTHOR
*Thanks for taking the time to drop by. In a sense, voting on the hubs can be political as well. If you really are emotionally involved with a fellow hubber, as most of us are, why wouldn't you give them the benefit of the doubt and trust them? Voting is more about doing the right thing rather then wrong.
*Cred2, always great to hear from you pal. Great point. Commenting is very important as well, really more so then voting. I guess you can say they are two of the same. Once again, it is the right thing to do. It is our communication link on the hubs.
Good info, I am very judicious about discrediting any article, I will not vote down because I may disagree with content, but I will make that disagreement known in my comment. It is just polite to acknowledge the writer and his or her work with making your presense known in the feedback setion. Thanks, Cred2
PS: Sorry I misread your article's use of the word 'vote'. Actually I vote quite a lot on the Hubs! (Voted up!)
Sometimes I wonder if voting can signify that the person you are having confidence in is actually credible and can actually deliver on the promises made. In the end, it impinges not just on politics but also on one's sense of human nature and one's religious outlook, I reckon.
- AUTHOR
Once again, thanks to you all for taking the time to come by. All of you have valid points and I am glad that you all take the time to vote on articles and leave comments.
Personally I always vote and comment.
I wouldn´t vote a hub down unless it was offensive or obscene.
This hub has just been voted up, useful and interesting, by me.
Thank you for all your hard work.
Great writing but you forgot one. Abuse of the vote down button based upon your disagreement with the writer. It does happen whether you realize it or not. I have written to Hub staff about the problem. If you "flag" a Hub you must say why, not so with the vote down option. If you're not familiar with internet trolls and their tactics maybe bone up a bit on it.
If anyone votes you down then maybe it would be prudent to see if there is a valid reason. It would be an easy, and needed, fix.
You got an Up and 4 Stars.
The Frog Prince
Hey bro now I always vote when I read a hub, whether I think it's good or bad I vote what I think. Most people consider the voting a good way to tell if you are making headway in the scoring of hubs and hubbers. Me I count them as the money of Hubpages kinda. The more votes a hub gets the better it is. This is a community of people who are here to write and help right? Well I like the way you write your hubs and that's why I vote. keepin the faith")bri36
I agree with you and think it is important that we vote on good hubs that we read! We also have the opportunity to share good article with our followers and on social sites which is beneficial for both parts. If I take the time to leave a comment I think it is natural to vote also. Hubpages has done it so easy for us so it doesn't take much extra time. Good points here, we are all writers and it is much more fun to support each other and encouraging hubbers to write! Voted up, useful!
Tina
Hi Ricky, you've made some excellent points here, I always vote up on articles I've enjoyed, as you pointed out a lot of work goes into some articles, I don't think I could ever vote down.
I will take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support, comments and votes on my hubs - it's readers encouragement that keeps us writing!
Voted up!
Best wishes Lesley
great article you are right it takes time. To write a good or great article, we love hubpages because we write about things we love, enjoy and when other hubbers vote that is awesome...
I voted this Hub Up and Awesome! Thank you for this needful article.
Only on rare occasions have I ever hit the vote down button; less than ten times I think. And it was not because of the Length of article; Grammar errors; Punctuation mistakes; Misspellings; or Bad placement of content. For those I might not vote at all or vote up for the content of the writer's heart. I only voted down when I found articles that promulgated serious errors in judgment that could lead gullible others astray, especially if written with vitriol and hostility toward what is good, right, and true about the world in which we live.
:D
If I really like the article I vote up but truth be told I like to also check out the comments and then I leave mine and perhaps forget to hit the vote.. but it's nice to get a vote up I use to just hit voted up and did that for two months and the result was no one on the hub page community visisted any of my work.. so.. damn am I still writing? so.. take the comment,.. the votes mean nothing as far as I could tell Phew Frank
- AUTHOR
*Mary, thanks you so much for taking the time to come by and for your comment. Hope you have a great day:)
*AE, thanks again dear. I agree. Voting is our way of showing appreciation to the writer.
*LA, thanks for taking the time and good point. It is very hard for me to vote down. If anything, I don't vote either way. The way I see it, who am I do down size someone's hard work?
*HBN, always great to have you come by. You are a prime example of how I judge as well HBN. Same here, I know cause I have been a beneficial as well. Your right in everything you say. I appreciate your input and I know you are a lady of your word. That is why I try to always tell the writer how I voted so they know I respected their article and it is deserving.
*Sgbrown, so glad you took the time to drop by. It is greatly appreciated. Absolutely. Another reason why voting is so important.
*Nell, it is always a pleasure:) I practice the same thing. In all honesty, I have never voted down either. I leave it alone. Basically, no vote is nearly as equal.
*Vox, so glad you chose to come by and I send my many thanks. Sharing is another great point. This shows the writer we do care. As a community, we have to support one another.
*LaThing, thanks for taking the time to comment and read this article. Glad you found it useful.
*Alocsin, always appreciate your visits. That is a good point. There is so many different levels of writing here. That is a great way to view and judge articles.
Great informative hub,I to always vote on hubs i read, and have not voted any hub down yet. But i guess some people might forget to vote on some hubs they read,it happens.
Awesome and vote up !!!
I always vote for articles -- but I also try to make allowance for the fact that not everybody here is a professional. So I look more at what the article is talking about to determine how to vote. Voting this Up and Useful.
Great article, lot of useful information. Thanks for sharing!
LOL Great title and even better article! I always vote up hubs that I like, and very rarely (almost never) vote down. When I really, really like an article, I share it with my social networks, and when I think it's an extraordinary piece, +1. I think people often forget that there's a spelling checker in every text capsule :) Myself included! Voted up, funny and interesting!
Hi, well I definitely voted this up! lol! seriously though, I quite agree, there are so many interesting hubs out there, and as you said they have put a lot of time and effort into them, so they deserve a vote up. I have never voted anything down, purely because if I read something thats not up to standard I leave it, as I just feel guilty and think its not up to me to put down someone else's work, anyway voted up! lol!
Wonderful hub! I agree, if someone has taken the time and effort to create a good hub, we should show our appreciation and vote on it. This is a great hub and I am voting it up and awesome! Have a wonderful day! :)
You made some great points and I know you practice what you've said here because I've been the fortunate beneficiary of your generous and supportive comments and votes.
I pretty much follow the suggestions you've made here and make it a practice to leave comments and votes on quality hubs that I've enjoyed reading.
I believe feedback is important and I love the opportunity to engage in meaningful comments with authors whose work I admire.
I do sometimes see low quality hubs but rarely vote them down unless it's something that reflects very poorly on our whole HubPages community.
On the other hand, if an article is good and there's an error that needs correction (i.e. a whole paragraph has been inadvertantly repeated)I will send a private email as I know it was probably a cut and paste error that the writer would want to correct.
When I do vote an article up I generally write that fact in the comment section because I feel it's important feedback for the author who, as you say, has obviously put a lot of time and effort into the hub.
Am voting this hub up across the board except for funny.
Great points! I try to vote up and comment as many articles as I can. I am guilty of not being able to hit that "down" button. If I feel like I cannot, in good conscience, vote a hub up and comment, then I leave. It's probably not the best practice, but I feel guilt at voting someone down. Voting yours up and sharing.
I agree. If you're going to spend the time reading an article, at least vote. Thank you for sharing Ricky..( I voted up and awesome...Cheers
Very good article, and I voted it UP, etc.etc. I agree with you the importance of voting on articles.
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