Excellent. My Latest Hub Fails to Pass HP Qualification

1. 81

   Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

   So my 'article' on Stellar Hubs failed to get past the MTurk QAP whatever.
   
   Even though I stuffed it full of all those lovely maps and things.
   
   No explanation of course.  Just the whirly thing changes to a space and you are left wondering what to do.
   
   In the middle of a Panda upgrade - with 6 million pages to sort out - and endless spam and illegally copied material entering the site...
   
   ... they think that my 'humorous' comment on stellar hubs is not fit for publication?
   
   You know.  Somewhere in my magazine reading life I recall reading satire, humour, sharp barbs - and enjoying them immensely.  Such a change from the boring and frankly insulting 10 best toasters masquerading as an article.
   
   Truth is - it would have been idled anyway after a few Hubbers had read it.. and perhaps enjoyed it.
   
   What really really really hacks me off is that every word, apart from the cliched hackneyed repetitive 'jokes' is my own.  I didn't nick it, copy it or scrape it from some other site.
   
   And if you... Mturk, HP, whoever - think that my stuff is pulling the site down - well maybe you're right.  Get rid of my hundred pages and see if your traffic comes back.

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   1. 88

      GinnyLeeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I thought the article was funny!  I am sorry it did not get featured.

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   2. 81

      snakeslaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I can understand your frustration Mark. I have only ten Hubs left (that are featured). I thought I would just leave everything idled until the dust settles, but it's not looking good.

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   3. 57

      MelissaBarrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If it was rated as creative writing, it should have passed.  If it was rated as a "normal" hub, I can see where there would be problems.

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      1. 81

         Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Fair point Melissa.

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   4. 87

      Jason Marovichposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      For me, titles of articles I have written that are obscure or overdone are getting idled.  For instance, my Occupy Wall Street article, something I put effort into, is idled, and probably rightly so.  For Mark, "How to Write" anything, as we all know, is going to have a real hard time getting Google views (because of all the competition for that key phrase).  Add in 'stellar hubs' and it becomes even more obscure to search engines.  Your material is fine, you just might have to think more like a search algorithm when writing titles and keywords.
      
      I realize not all of us write for Google, but getting past HP's idled article feature might make you rethink that, at least where keywords and titles are concerned.

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      1. 81

         Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Jason.  I will put a lot more effort into keyword research in future.

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   5. 88

      Dorsiposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm a rater for HP and that's weird that your hub didn't get through. Maybe it should have been rated as "creative writing" when it was rated. I don't disqualify any hub because of subject, it's based on Substance (polls, words, maps, media, links, etc.) Grammar and Mechanics (self-explanatory) and Organization (can you find info easy, are sub-headings appropriate? and is the layout good?) I'll pop over to take a look at your hub Mark...

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      1. 81

         snakeslaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         +1

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2. 0

   EmpressFelicityposted 10 years ago

   I can only assume that the MTurkers don't understand your humour. Or perhaps any form of humour.

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   1. 81

      Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      So they not only want 1150 words and assorted capsules - they also need content written in such a way that even someone with their head up their ass can understand it.
      
      This is so much like school / life - where the system combines to squeeze every single little bit of creativity out of you - until you toe the party line and produce the dead dullsville on message garbage that contrives to spoil life for anyone with half a brain.
      
      I would be less annoyed if there was a reason given.  Wrong category, incorrect use of the punctuation mark - that sort of thing.  Something.
      
      What I am not going to do is appeal my case and say "please tell me oh writing gurus what you deemed wrong with my attempt at creating a stellar hub".
      
      Too much time and effort for too little reward.
      
      I wonder how that Panda recovery is going.

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3. 87

   rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago

   I read it yesterday during my lunch break, lol funny!  I don't know what to say, maybe it's the new content quality specialists, or a new algorithm.  I noticed one of my very unique, one of a kind hubs is now rated in the 60's, still featured.  It used to be in the 80's.  While right now it may not be receiving much traffic, it goes in spurts, like many topics/niche hubs do. 
   
   You're probably the funniest writer I've read on HP.  Satire is much more fun to read than straight up, boring, how-to hubs.   Your additional capsules are hilarious!

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   1. 81

      Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Rebekkah.  I appreciate the feedback, it's what makes HP fun to write on and useful too in terms of seeing what works.

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4. 71

   sunforgedposted 10 years ago

   I think it is a bit of a reach to call anyone who would be motivated by mturk level pricing to be a "specialist" at anything.
   
   
   Drone, robot, automaton, unemployable .... that seems more apt.
   
   Brings to mind the origins of "mturk"
   
   
   
   
   The original "Mechanical Turk" from the book Inanimate Reason

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5. 87

   rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago

   Hey, SF, check out the our team page, that's the name given.    I don't know if they're MTurkers.

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   1. 71

      sunforgedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I see, I did not realize that. Out of curiosity I did a LinkedIn peek (Paid Accounts don't require "connection" status) and a quick glance at some previously published works and Education.
      
      What I found seems to be fitting with that title. Wouldn't be befitting of "Editor" and don't see much evidence of domain knowledge but certainly a far cry above a "mturker" and would certainly be qualified to follow a checklist of "quality" standards.
      
      I wonder if Mark's works were human reviewed?

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6. 0

   summerberrieposted 10 years ago

   Maybe the Mturks don't know that Ya'll is a real word.
   
   Maybe they thought you wasted the word asshole. If you are going to use that word I think they'd prefer
   it go under the heading of male grooming tips and please include a video (I posted a link to this hub in the the forum thread: Is this necessary? But don't go looking for it it lasted a mere minutes before being taken down). To be fair to the Mturks- maybe they thought the information and graphics of a male showing all his goodies useful)
   
   Also, the MTF laurel is too close to the word asshole so maybe they thought it meant "where to f...." and thought again it would be better under a different heading and better graphics to be considered useful. And then there is the doggie style- not enough useful information- content way to thin.
   
   But it would be easier just to tell you so hubbers like me don't jump in and pick your little hub apart and tell you what they think Mturk might think makes your hub so bad it did not meet the QAP "standards".
   
   Too bad you did not write it a few months ago. Then it would be safe in the backlog.....

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7. 73

   LauraD093posted 10 years ago

   Satire and sarcastic wit here seems to fly only on some particular forums not with quality inspect on hubs .I've had several "non-qualified" which I believe were flagged for content not for missing to cross a "T" or dot an "I" Writers in general are as the song goes "32-flavors and then some," how commercialized and boring if we were not? I don't get it. My advice- target other markets/venues for specific work of satire I see it very little here. There is an audience as I am one of them.

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8. 87

   Will Apseposted 10 years ago

   Write a page about how pathetic those mTurk sub-humans are.
   
   Win: they are obliged to pass it.
   
   Win: the sub-human gets pissy, won't pass it, and you get to complain in the forums.
   
   A triumph.
   
   We all need our windmills, even if we have to make them ourselves.

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   1. 81

      Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Point taken.

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9. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

   Hey, Mark. Ya made The sunforged Daily. http://paper.li/sunforged

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   1. 81

      Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Some people are just too good to me.

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10. 55

    prettydarkhorseposted 10 years ago

    
    
    from https://www.facebook.com/DuchessofDarkHumor

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    1. 81

       Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Lol PDH.

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11. 77

    WriteAngledposted 10 years ago

    Mark put the hub in the "Satire and Parody" section. Perhaps MTurks don't understand what those words mean.
    
    http://markewbie.hubpages.com/hub/How-t … tellar-Hub

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    1. 81

       Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks WA.  I put NOT in the title too.
       
       I am an idiot anyway.  I should have spent my time doing 500, sorry 1150 words, on a straightforward how to move a capsule from one place to another.

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12. 81

    Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

    I put the hub into the correct category - humor (who knew?) - and it passed.
    
    So a lesson learnt for me with my misleading nonsense.
    
    I think my thoughtful approach to this misunderstanding has helped to build a strong bridge of trust and friendship between myself, HP and MTurk.

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    1. 57

       MelissaBarrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I can feel the love

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