What is with all of the poorly written hubs?

1. 73

   Mom Katposted 12 years ago

   Holy cow!  I've been hub hopping and looking through a few freshly written hubs today and I am blown away by the low quality!
   
   The thought hadn't even crossed my mind before now to add "flagging" to my list of things to do while hanging out at HP as part of my daily ritual.  I'm thinking now that I might need to.
   
   If getting rid of the low quality helps those of us with higher quality, then I say we need to all make an effort to start doing it.  At the very least do some hub hopping and vote some ups and downs....
   
   If you can't tell the difference between: their, there, and they're  or granite and granted... you've got issues.  Also, the use of "I" needs to be capitalized because it's a proper noun.  Running around using "i" in your entire hub when speaking in the first tense is just lazy. 
   
   Errors in Q&A or in the forum are one thing... you aren't publishing it for the world to see.  You're simply hanging out with other hubbers "back stage".  It's fine to be relaxed with your typing when it's casual.
   
   Ugh, alright, so that's my vent... anyone else have any thoughts on the issue?

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      madelineyochumposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Although all writers have access to information that will keep them grammatically informed, some choose to write bad on purpose. Their reasons are unbeknownst to me. Last I heard, libraries were free.

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         Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Right?!  It's just mind boggling...
         Forget the library even, if you write for HP you HAVE internet access ~ use it!
         There are dictionary websites available.

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2. 59

   ITcoachposted 12 years ago

   It does not matter a lot. You must publish them accordingly after checking some mistakes. When ever they will be published. Take the different readers feedback that come to your hubs regularly. I hope you will get fruitful results

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      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      My feedback and results are just fine ITcoach.  I know how to write a high quality hub.  I'm talking about those here who write poor quality hubs.

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3. 67

   fancifulashleyposted 12 years ago

   I would say give the readers feedback. English may not be their first language or there could be some other issue affecting how they write. It will also improve the quality of their hubs as well as their overall skills. I think they would be grateful for the help, but that is just me.

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   1. 73

      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If I'm floored by the poor quality of a hub the first thing I do is click on the person's profile to see what country they are from.  If they are from an "English" speaking country, they should know better. 
      I guess I could write hubs on how to write a higher quality hub, but I'm not going to spend all my time "grading" other people's work in the comments section of their hubs.

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4. 69

   GiblinGirlposted 12 years ago

   I've definitely come across some fantastically poorly written hubs - sentence fragments, run-on sentences, extra words that never got deleted...  It's frustrating to know that these hubs may get just as much traffic as a very well written one because search engines are trolling for keywords, not grammar.

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      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      And let's not forget about and... the constant use of "and" in nearly every sentence is enough to drive me bonkers!  Expand the vocabulary people!
      

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5. 60

   Ana Teixeiraposted 12 years ago

   Well, although I'm forced to agree with your point, you should remember that not everyone on hubpages has English as a first language (I'm portuguese). The funny thing is, most people I see making those mistakes such as "they're / there / their" are people with english as a first language. Before you flag a hub you should first check if the person is a native speaker (I usually do it) In any case, you have a great point regarding grammar use and even obvious editing mistakes. I've flagged a few hubs myself simply because I couldn't understand anything.

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   1. 73

      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      As previously mentioned above, I do check to see what country the hubber is from.  I overlook some of the mistakes typically made in translation. 
      
      Most of the truly heinous ones I've come across are actually from USA writers, which offends me personally because they are setting a very poor example. 
      
      From the business end ~ it doesn't matter where you're from, this is a writing website of which the primary condition is that it be written in English.  If you can't write or can't write in English, I think it's best you look somewhere else to publish your work... maybe a personal blog.
      
      Anyway, thanks Ana.  I appreciate your input on the matter.

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6. 94

   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   I wish there was a program that I could run that would tell me if any of my hubs are poorly written. I'll admit I am by far not a professional writter. I use spell check.I always worry that I am one with "poorly written hubs" I wish there was a rating capsule for the quality of the writing instead of just an up or down button. This would be helpful for people like me who really have no clue what is considered quality in the eyes of professional writers.

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   1. 73

      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I just picked one of your hubs to look at ~ the 5 home remedies for sunburn jumped out at me.
      You are doing just fine.  You break things up using a number of capsules.  I saw one or two punctuation errors, but nothing huge.  You have correct spelling. 
      The thumbs up & down, plus the feedback buttons are a great way to see how others rate your hubs.  If you weren't writing quality you wouldn't have as high of rating numbers.

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7. 0

   Sarra Garrettposted 12 years ago

   Maybe they are beginning writers like myself. (I hope I'm not that bad)  I do use spell check .Not capitalizing the 'i' is just laziness.  There are many here who are not from English speaking countries therefore what they write down doesn't come out in their translation.  I have a friend who is a good writer however he doesn't use any punctuation which drives me crazy.  I've told him so many times about it he stopped writing which I feel so bad for.  I've even tried working with him on it.  Remember, some people want to write or learn to write but may not have finished school. Just a thought.  Iliteracy isn't against the law and unfortunately in America 1 in 5 people are iliterate.   We are all here to critique each other and offer advice or thoughts.

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   1. 73

      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I look past a certain amount of error when English is not the first language of the person writing.  I understand things get lost in translation and I appreciate the efforts they put toward learning another language and sharing what they know.
      
      Yes, it is sad that so many American's are illiterate.  It's still just an excuse.  To say it is acceptable to be illiterate because so many other people are is ridiculousness.  If anything it should be less acceptable! 
      Being, acting, speaking, or writing "stupid" isn't something anyone should strive for or find acceptable because 1 in 5 people are too uneducated to know better.
      It isn't against the law, you're right, but there are plenty of things that aren't against the law.... it doesn't make it "okay", it just means there isn't a law against it.  It's not against the law for someone to hork down 3 pounds of bacon every morning for breakfast either ~ does that mean it's a good idea or that everyone should start doing it? Nope.

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         Sarra Garrettposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Iliteracy is a huge problem not just in America, but all over the world.  If someone is iliterate due to the fact they never had the proper education and are trying to learn on their own because they can't afford to go back to school I give them a kudos.  However, maybe I need a better explanation of the 'poorly written hubs', of course without picking on someone.  Then again, there are people on here that do write willy nilly and don't care about the content or how they are coming across.  These I don't even bother to read or comment on.  You posted a good question Mom Kat.

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8. 83

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   I honestly think that anyone with a poor command of English grammar and spelling should find another hobby, and not be writing informative articles online at all.
   
   If they are professional marketers, or really want to get a message out there, they could pay writers to write for them.
   
   If they are ESLs, they should stick to writing articles in their own tongue online, on sites that allow them to do so.
   
   This is not the place for learning English.
   
   As a searcher, sites that have poor writing on them turn me off completely, and I certainly wouldn't buy any of the products they recommend, nor believe that what they write is correct.
   
   Poor spelling has been shown to cut online sales when it happens to the big boys.
   
   I also think Hubpages as a domain is harmed by poorly written hubs. While many people with poor or no education do not notice, many more do and will set their browser to skip all search results with Hubpages in the url.

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      Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      So true IzzyM, so true....

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9. 63

   hecate-horusposted 12 years ago

   I just read a hub that was all in caps.  I couldn't flag them because everything else seemed ok, but it made my eye twitch.  Why do people write like that?  Just a pet peeve of mine....
   Anyway, I have no problem flagging hubs that are too short or riddled with errors.  Hey, I miss stuff too, but some people don't even bother with spell check.  Geez.

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10. 83

    IzzyMposted 12 years ago

    I just found someone who has been hubbing for 14 months and has 75 hubs, each of around 100 words.
    
    It must be acceptable or they'd have been removed by staff before now?
    
    Then I found a hub by someone who forum posts a lot, of only 200 words.
    
    Thought there was a minimum word count, if its not a poem?

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    1. 73

       Mom Katposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       So did I.  I was under the impression that hubs needed to be at least 500 words.  Maybe the moderators are really over-loaded or people aren't flagging these hubs.  I'm not sure, but that really bothers me.
       I take writing here seriously. 
       This isn't some place to just blog about what you had for lunch or how mad you got when some guy cut you off in traffic on your way to work this morning. 
       
       Poetry, yeah, there are different guidelines for that because most poems aren't 500 words long.  But the rest of the hubs... come on... let's get some quality here people.
       
       It doesn't matter how many crappy hubs you can pump out in a day ~ it's about quality and making HP a respectable place to find information.

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11. 92

    Dolores Monetposted 12 years ago

    A lot of what you are talking about is spun content - when the article uses words that just sound off. If the hub is written by a non English speaker and uses inappropriate or ridiculous sounding words, it may be spun and certainly flagged. A fellow hubber has a wonderful article on spun content:
    http://cardisa.hubpages.com/hub/What-Is … n-Articles

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    1. 83

       IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Spun content is easy to spot and I don't need to read a hub to recognise it. Same with translated articles.
       
       Sadly there are too many people who simply can't write, but 'have a go' anyway. Their work may be original, but it is still dreadful when riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. In some ways it is a blessing when they only write short articles.

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    livinggoodposted 11 years ago

    Not everyone in this world is a writer. Some people just enjoy having a place to vent. I could see someone using a Hub as a form of therapy. You know, like someone's personal diary that the whole world can see. I say keep it like it is that way a person like myself will still be able to enjoy all the benefits of having a Hub. Were else am I actually going to get published.

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       sleepylogposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Sorry, but HP is not a personal blog.

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    janesixposted 11 years ago

    You just got to take it for granite that there writing the best they can.

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       relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I don't have to take it for granted that their writing the best they can when it's perfectly clear that people aren't.

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          janesixposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Did you actually even read the original post?

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       calculus-geometryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       And we can't let them loose faith in they're ability to right. Everyone deserves to be herd!

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          janesixposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          

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