Where is everyone & why aren't they writing new hubs?

1. 74

   Mom Katposted 12 years ago

   Alright, not EVERYONE, but a lot of hubbers (it seems)....
   
   When there are people who have joined 1, 2, 4... years ago and they were "last seen" a few hours ago... yet they haven't written anything for months!  What is going on with that?
   
   I don't understand how someone can go so long without writing any new hubs.  That's what we're here for, right?
   
   Here I am, going through my followers & the people I follow... looking for new hubs to read & hopefully feel inspired enough to comment on, when to my dismay, there aren't any new hubs
   
   Sure, I check the topics section and read other hubs from other writers who are more active... I'm just bewildered I guess.
   
   I understand that sometimes we take breaks, get busy with life & don't come on for a while.  Heck it happened to me for nearly 2 years.  But when I was on then & when I came back, I've always been active in writing new material.
   
   So what's up with that?

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   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Speaking for myself, it's because I still see the HubPages community as my online home, but I've lost confidence in it as a place to make real money.
      
      Ever since the first wave of big changes after Panda (back in early 2011), I've focussed my online endeavours on my own websites, not HP.   I've published only seven Hubs since then, and unpublished more than I've published.  But I still can't seem to walk away from the great community here, even though most Hubbers of my 'era' are no longer here.

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      1. 74

         Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Good to know, seriously.
         I agree that the community is great. 
         I just love to write so much, and I can't seem to stick to a blog or any other format, so this is where I go to get everything out that is bottled up inside my head that needs to be expressed through writing
         .... well, all the stuff that isn't going into my fiction book series.

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      2. 89

         mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         +1
         
         I grow vegetables all Summer and tend to write in the Winter more, but honestly, I have to say I have lost all confidence in writing here, constant changes, too many hoops to jump through, traffic dropping after virtually every change HP make (in my case income down by about 75%), new ridiculous rules brought in, e.g. the Zzz one. What used to cover the equivalent of a 20 hr a week part time 'normal' job for me, now equates to what I would earn here in about 12 hours per week in a very average job. I am on HP AD program yes, but since the new layout my Adsense payout (which still used to be monthly) is now only likely to reach payout about once every 6 months.
         
         I won't write here any more, as after four years I can only see this site going downhill, and all the efforts of the staff are apparently not helping even though they claim they are. Any doubts on this? Look at the HP Quantcast Stats, and also ask yourselves why the 'Success Stories' graphs were conveniently removed, (they showed clearly that the success story Hubbers had ongoing and massively dropping traffic). Just seems to me that in my four years of experience this site is seriously in freefall, and to assume anything else is to bury your head in the sand at your own peril.

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      3. 81

         GA Andersonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         My thoughts and reasons exactly!
         
         I started trying to deal with the new Zzzz thing by deleting and consolidating accounts but even the aged and non-Zzz hubs I have tried to move are now being flagged for strange violations
         
         (an example if you are interested: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/104090)
         
         So I am publishing elsewhere and coming to the forums for a break from writing.
         
         GA

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            You do know that if you unpublish a Hub, you must wait for it to be fully de-indexed before you publish it on another account?  Otherwise you'll be done for duplicate content.   
            
            The Zzz's don't mean your Hub is instantly de-indexed.

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2. 61

   janesixposted 12 years ago

   They're all busy fighting over politics in the forums

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   1. 74

      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      aw man    that stinks.

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3. 58

   ITcoachposted 12 years ago

   Hi Every one,
   
   I think everyone on Hub pages have different purposes to post the hubs. The people who came here so long before cannot be seen today because I suppose that they have gained their purpose to come on the hubpages. Any how the usage of internet and HP is such an addiction that can't be leave without any specific reason.

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   1. 89

      mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      They left because they were expected to edit hundreds of hubs with trivial edits that were unnecessary, not because they were bad writers, (I know many who left for this reason). They briefly gained their 'purpose to come on Hubpages' , but they left when the rule changes became ridiculous and ludicrous, (and I am still in contact with many of them, and they still make money, in fact much better money, elsewhere!) They got over any 'addiction' they had to Hubpages, although like myself in many cases they have chosen to leave hubs here but not write more due to logical ageing and backlinking advantages.

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      1. 74

         Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         where are these other places? I'm always on the look out for ways to add to the income.  I love the community at HP, but I must admit the money part isn't at all the motivating factor. 
         If there was somewhere similar that produced better results, I would be open to trying it out.

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         1. 89

            mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Their own websites and Xobba, Wizzley etc. To be honest having your own websites is the way to go (I have done this and now plan to create more).  Relying on a 'content farm' as a long term prospect is clearly not viable, and after all, why share your Adsense income when you don't have to?

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4. 82

   elayne001posted 12 years ago

   As for me, I was quite active until Panda or whatever cause took away my traffic. We are retiring soon, so I was looking for a regular task that would provide income and HP did not work out. I searched for other ways to create and ended up writing travelogues and get paid regularly and without fail. I also started making jewelry, and have loved it. I also garden, saving quite a bit on our grocery bill. I felt almost like a traitor to Hubpages, but seems I wasn't missed so much, but I still come to visit weekly. Just recently I noticed an increase in traffic, which was encouraging, but not quite enough to get me to spend my valuable time writing stories that I can get more income from elsewhere. Through it all, I have found the best place to submit my sites to is StumbleUpon. It has brought me the most traffic. Hubs I thought would do really good were not necessarily those that brought in traffic. As for the best performing hubs, beauty, makeup, hair and humor were the winners. I didn't want to write hubs that I was not interested in. I have enjoyed getting to know many hubbers and hearing their stories. Wishing it had worked out better for every one. Aloha!

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5. 60

   SaraBruceposted 12 years ago

   I reckon Facebook has a looot to do with it!!1

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6. 82

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   I haven't written many hubs partly because I have severe deadlines to deal with as a freelance translator. Also, it takes me about 10 minutes translating to earn what I earn in a month from Hubpages.
   
   I was initially attracted to the idea that although the returns here were low, they were recurring, and this gave me the motivation for my first hubs. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case, because the rules here change so frequently.
   
   Then there is the idle hub policy. Although I have not had any so far, I am not happy that Hubpages reserves the right to censor my hubs at whim by hiding them from search engines.
   
   The associated 24-hour idling of brand new hubs is the very last straw. From what I hear people saying, it seems to have a very negative impact on the chances of a new hub ever being successful.
   
   Like others, I too have started my own web sites and am favouring them when I do get the opportunity to write. I might write a hub now and then, just for fun, but cannot justify hub production as a major time investment unless things change quite radically here.
   
   As for my presence on the forum; I use it when I want a break from work.

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7. 68

   waynetposted 12 years ago

   I'm working on paintings and my Art because it is my dream to become a published Author of my own graphic novels and become immersed in my artwork. Also I teach Art offline which has taken up too much time as of late and also trying to create enough YouTube art videos to promote my artistic brand. I don't have time to edit loads of Hubpages and even write new ones at the moment...too much time invested elsewhere I'm afraid! I may return to write the odd Hubpage now and again, but not until my dreams have been realized!

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8. 61

   brettbposted 12 years ago

   I gave up this place in early 2011, I saw the writing on the wall and diverted my attention to building my own sites.
   
   My Hub Google traffic is down 90% in the last couple of days. I don't know if that's just me, or whether HubPages is finished.

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   1. 68

      waynetposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      My traffic is down by half....so....maybe Google hates Hubpages again....they'll have to Tweet Matt Cutts quick on this.

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      1. 0

         Ethan Greenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         it's not just hubpages, it's a widespread internet massacre. if you google 'googles algorythm change exact match domains' you will find blogs and forums with many people moaning that their personal websites have disappeared overnight...

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9. 0

   Ethan Greenposted 12 years ago

   I only started here a few months ago, and have found it an amazing place to learn about writing. But my learning was mostly done by listening to the advice of people who had been around for years. Now many of their advice is to abandon ship, but loyal as I am, I am just waiting to see what happens whilst putting into action the single best advice I have found about writing online: don't put all your eggs in one basket.

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10. 84

    IzzyMposted 12 years ago

    Well, I'm staying.
    
    Maybe its just habit, but I like nothing better than coming online, checking what is happening in the forums, writing hubs and checking on how they are doing, and what they are earning.
    
    I don't write much on this profile anymore, but I have a further 9 subdomains now to keep me busy.
    
    I also have my own websites and Blogger blogs, but they are lonely places, not like here.
    
    This was my life for a couple of years, but I am now a full-time carer for my elderly parents and I cherish every moment I can spend with them, because they won't be here for much longer.

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    1. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       You're right, that's why I'm still here, too!  The difference is that I'm able to enjoy the community without writing Hubs.

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    2. 65

       LucidDreamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Izzym
       
       I just had two blogger blogs deleted via Google. This makes me upset as for a long time now I have preffered to use them as a platform. Spam was the name they called it. Fortunately I backed up these blogs on another website made for this type of emergency.
       
       I am dumb enough I guess to still try a few new things with blogger but understand that with the new platform, we can control things such as robots.txt and so on. I believe I was penalized for duplicate content so a spam blog! This was in part do to archives being indexed.
       
       I am aslo starting some new sites with Wordpress.org to help with seo and maybe they are safer as far as deltion goes.
       
       I feel you have tio have your own sites to write on and promote. A community like Hubpages is all good and I had recently been making a nice score each month. thing is, we cannot contro what happens here.

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       1. 85

          Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          If you had the exact same content on another website, then that may be part of the reason Google closed down your blogs!  Another possible reason is that if your blog was full of links back to your Hubs (which are all on one site, remember), that would be seen as spam. 
          
          Both those practices - publishing the same content in two places, and creating blogs which are just a bunch of links - are very old advice.  If you want to make money online, I suggest you need to do a bit more research and ensure you're learning from people with a better understanding of SEO post-Panda.

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11. 74

    Kathleen Cochranposted 12 years ago

    I have more than 100 hubs written in the past17 months.  I'm not adding new hubs at my former rate because I'm trying to finish a book to self-publish (unless a the publisher fairy shows up at my doorstep!)  My traffic and followers continues to increase and it makes me wonder if reaching the 100 hub milestone creates some kind of critical mass that continues to propel you as a hubber even when you are not as active.  Anybody else have this experience.
    
    As a fulltime writer working from home, I don't know what I'd do without the HP community to keep me company and keep me motivated.

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    1. 74

       Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I'm only at 91 hubs right now... but I should be up to 100 pretty soon, so I'm hoping it is some sort of magical tipping point
       
       I would really like this to be a source of income for me.  We could use the extra money.  If things keep going at this rate, I'll only reach payout twice a year.  I would really like to see it be a monthly thing.

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12. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

    I used to have a goal of having 100 published hubs, but now I'm fine with where I'm at.  My traffic is doing fine.  My sub domain is a size that I can easily maintain. I've found that most of my more seasoned hubs are the ones that bring in the most traffic. 
    I work full time, have a family, and don't want to be sitting inside working on a computer.  I'll visit the forums now and then and read hubs, etc., but for now I'm not writing any new hubs.  I have a few topics I may write on soon, but am watching how the others continue to perform.

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13. 64

    Greek Oneposted 12 years ago

    I've moved on to developing websites on my own...
    
    and used Hubpages now for it's original purpose...
    
    meeting open-minded singles who like to party and pay my bills

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    1. 74

       Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       If I knew more about developing websites I might look into that too, alas I am but a simple writer without all of those other mad skills.
       
       I am really getting anxious for my book to get finished up with the editing process though.  Gosh I hope it does well once I get it out there on the market.

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          Greek Oneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I'm no programmer (and not even a writer lol)..
          
          I just used what i picked up here on Hubpages and did a little research...'
          
          Got a domain name for $10.. got some hosting for $100 a year.. asked questions about the techie stuff.. and the rest was fairly easy.. no programming, no mess (Well, not a LOT of mess anyway)

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14. 61

    nightnightposted 12 years ago

    Hi everyone this forum caught my eye for a number of reasons....
    
    I'm relatively new to Hubpages and I generally quite like it. It has all that I could ask for in terms of a vibrant community, easy ways to publish and interesting articles to read. However, just looking through the forums I can see that a lot of people are taking a pounding from googles constant changes to their algorithms.
    
    From my personal opinion I strongly feel that people wouldn't be as badly affected by these changes if they published on a personal website related to that niche topic that they are publishing about. So I had an idea. Imagine if there were niche websites that you could publish on and earn revenue streams from. Much like a version of Hubpages that was spilt into different websites regarding there topic. So for example if you wanted to publish a Hub about gardening you would go to the specific gardening website and publish there.
    
    The one thing I love about Hubpages is the diversity in topic range that I see from writers. One moment I can be writing about social media and the next I can write about World War 2. If there was a way that people could distribute their articles to specific locations I think everyone would gain more income and have a better experience.
    
    So what am I suggesting? At first I was going to suggest that an individual starts to set up websites related to topics however, this doesn't really work for security reasons and other obvious reasons. So I think that Hubpages should do exactly what I am suggesting and launch a network of sites related to different topics, and then use hubpages as a platform for the writers to communicate with each other, and write there articles.
    
    Any thoughts on this??? (I'm going to post this on the new feature suggestion bit as well)
    
    All the best

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    1. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       When HubPages made the switch to sub-domains last year, many Hubbers suggested that the sub-domains should be set up by topic, not by author.    HubPages rejected that idea at the time, and I don't think they would undo the current structure now.

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       1. 61

          nightnightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Hmm I see what your saying. Thanks for the feedback.

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15. 83

    kathleenkatposted 12 years ago

    I published 2 yesterday
    
    I am not a long-time member, but I plan to be. I would feel honored to get some comments from experienced Hubbers to help me write better Hubs; I think all of us new users would be. Don't forget about us!

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16. 79

    tlpoagueposted 12 years ago

    Hi all, I haven't been here most of the summer because I have been trying to run my own business. The summer months are the most productive for what I do. Hopefully once the snow falls I will be able to spend more time here. Most of this week will be catching up on comments and updating my hubs, so I don't think I will have much time for writing new ones yet. I had planned on being around more often this summer, but my internet was limited with my traveling. This has been a great place for launching ideas, learning to write, and meeting people.  I would love to claim that money has kept me around, but even with the vast array of topics I write about, I don't make enough to live on. If I wanted to walk away...which I did for a year...I couldn't leave forever because of all the interesting topics to read about and the people I have met here.

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17. 0

    ahorsebackposted 12 years ago

    Here I am , come and "read" me   , my new friend !LOL ,  I have asked myself this same question , I think people are just toooo busy to be [re]  creative !.......sad isn't it !

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18. 60

    readytoescapeposted 12 years ago

    As for me, Hub Pages has lost its luster. Forums that used to be entertaining, witty and filled with camaraderie are now hate fests dominated by Politics, Religion and trolls.
    
    I never expected the HP “come-on” financial reward promises to be a boon and though I’ve made some cash it barely amounts to beer money. HP is however a good platform to be used as an online portfolio of writing styles for my freelance work.
    
    I spend most of my time now working on my novels, the first of which generated more income in a month than my entire stint on HP.

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19. 57

    Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

    I haven't quite lost complete faith in HP. I still post a Hub now and again, just not as often. It's hard to figure out who's going or doing what it's been difficult with all the algo's the big 'G' has been doing but as mentioned above, I still manage to gather followers also and not just on HP but also the social networks. It's a interesting journey and one that shouldn't be judged too harshly

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20. 74

    Mom Katposted 12 years ago

    I don't stick to any one certain topic when I write, so I like HP better than having my own personal blog because of this.  Same with having my own website.  I never stick with one topic passionately enough to just stay focused on it.  Not that I couldn't... I just don't want to
    
    I've tried other writing sites that allow a range for the writer, but I like the way HP is set up the best.  There is more community involvement & better feedback options.  (in my opinion)
    
    I know I'm never going to get rich here, but I would go crazy if I couldn't write & share my work with others.  It's a much needed outlet for my over-active brain.
    
    Maybe after all of the adjusting and tweeking HP is doing it will end up more lucrative than before... right?  There's always hope.

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    1. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       If you don't want to stick to one subject, then there's no point in maintaining your own website or blog.  Google is strongly favouring "authority sites" these days - i.e., sites about one specific subject.  If you use your blog to reflect on life in general, it's unlikely you'll ever get much traffic. 
       
       That's where revenue-sharing sites like HubPages are ideal for you - but it is a good idea not to put all your eggs in one basket.   You never know when a revenue-sharing site may close down, or be sold to another company, or change its rules to an unacceptable degree.  If all your articles are on one site and something happens to it, you've lost the lot.  If your work is spread across several sites, it's not such a disaster.
       
       Don't think it can't happen.  Excerptz.com was a great site, but it closed down.  Today.com was sold to the Today program, who didn't want any of the articles, just the name - so it closed down.  Helium.com has changed its rules to the point where it's exploiting writers. 
       
       Therefore, by all means write on HubPages but also write on Wizzley, Xobba, Infobarrel, Zujava, Seekyt, Squidoo etc.  And don't forget to hyperlink between articles on the same topic on different sites, as far as you're allowed by each site's rules.

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21. 90

    Cardisaposted 12 years ago

    As for me, I haven't written anything in two or three weeks due to personal issues and the cold and flu. But as far as people not writing for months could be due to various reasons such as school, 9-5 work life, illness or even death in the family. It doesn't bother me and I always look forward to when they have something new to share. Sometimes the hubs that come once in a while are more inspiring than those that come regularly

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