What is the purpose of Hub Of The Day?

1. 69

   Aneegmaposted 9 years ago

   For the last two months I have been monitoring hubs that are awarded HOTD and several things puzzles me..
   
   Most of the hubs chosen have been written well over two or three years ago, some of them barely get any traffic and some of them are quiet frankly boring topics that are not hot topics or trending topics (Few of them are actually excellent) Some of them have no comments, and there was even one that had only one picture and nothing else.. no videos, no additional images or stats or all that. They were even some hubs that had horrible grammar, and don't get me started on spelling mistakes! There was also one hub that had less than a thousand words.
   
   So my question is.. what is the purpose of HOTD?? For me I thought it was hubs that are fantastic hubs that have high views and high level of reader engagement and ranks well on search engines and those that have been recently written and also some sort of  cash prize is given. How does a hub qualify for HOTD and what criteria do the staff use to choose a particular hub? Shouldn't readers decide which hub should be HOTD??
   
   Help me out here.. just trying to understand how it all works.

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      Melissa A Smithposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I think it's a good thing that they pick hubs with less attention. Don't you think they should help their writers get exposure? They should however be high quality. By the way, if there's a cash prize I certainly never got mine.

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      1. 93

         Suzanne Dayposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         After my last HOTD, I got lots of traffic from it - but then it was copied all over the place, so it looks like HOTD is for exposure and many people are careful about putting good hubs there because it leads to massive content duplication elsewhere...

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         1. 94

            Melissa A Smithposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Just as I was about to say I haven't been copied, I looked up one of my hub of the day articles and found it posted on a blog that is related to the subject. It doesn't appear to be a malicious intent. Should I care?

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            1. 93

               Suzanne Dayposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               If it is copied in entirety and not just a paragraph then yes, it is probably taking traffic from you to some degree.

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      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      What an interesting hub idea. The history of HOTD . . . I'll ponder. Anyway of discovering past HOTD's?

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2. 74

   Abbyfitzposted 9 years ago

   I have noticed lately that several had very poor grammar and spelling mistakes. You would think that HOTD would have higher standards that the rest of us should try to achieve.

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3. 78

   Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years ago

   I'm surprized to hear about poor quality HOTDs.  I only read one or two a week, but I can tell you they are of better quality than they used to be under a different staff person.  Used to be, if it wasn't a "How To" it wasn't a HOTD.  Nice to see some variety. 
   
   I have no idea how they get picked.  I know many great hubbers who've never had one.  But if they are getting copied, HP might need to apply the same standard they did to having a list of hubbers by hubber score.  They said the practice targeted those hubbers to be copied.  I was sorry to see that list go when I was new here, because it was a good way to learn from what HP considered to be the best.

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4. 0

   calculus-geometryposted 9 years ago

   Non-users aren't likely to even visit the front page of the site where the HOTDs are showcased, so I doubt poorly written ones reflect badly on the site or make people not want to visit anymore.
   
   I had one once and I got a bump of internal views for a while and then the traffic went back down to its usual low levels.  The question of whether getting HOTD recognition results in higher traffic has been asked before, and I don't recall anyone reporting sustained higher traffic after making the front page.  In a nutshell, who cares?

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5. 80

   zsobigposted 9 years ago

   One of my hubs has been selected HOTD almost 2 years ago.  but noting else since.
   That hub is still moderately popular, so I am happy about it - and I was over the moon when it was selected 2 years ago. Still, it is true that it has been copied like a hundred times ever since. It was even included in 2+ presentations on sites like Prezi and with this, anyone could have downloaded it freely as well. Sometimes I keep thinking whether I should cry or be honored .
   Anyway, I agree with Aneegma that some of the latest HOTDs seem to be much poorer quality than the others. And I am not only talking about the grammar, but I remember seeing a few HOTDs with no proper picture attributions, more than average ebay/amazon capsules, etc. So they were not Stellar hub materials at all. And seeing this is discouraging, I have to admit.

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6. 90

   Thief12posted 9 years ago

   I will disagree with the statement about them being "boring". Obviously not every topic is for everyone, but I've stumbled upon a lot of interesting gems on the HOTD that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

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7. 92

   Phyllis Doyleposted 9 years ago

   There is a notice on the right of the news feed where hubbers can nominate a hub for HOTD.  So, those hubs are chosen by readers.

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      Melissa A Smithposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Actually that's 'Editor's Choice'.

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      Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If you can track down the current HOTD staff member, you can email mail them suggestions for HOTD.  I've done it many times, and they've actually been featured.

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8. 92

   Phyllis Doyleposted 9 years ago

   Oh, dear! My mistake here. The nomination form to the right is for 'Editor's Choice' hubs, not HOTD. sorry about that Aneegma.  As to my correct reply then, I have no idea how the HOTDs are chosen and often wonder why some were chosen.

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9. 0

   Colin Nevilleposted 9 years ago

   You ask "Shouldn't readers decide which hub should be HOTD??". 
   
   No.  It would turn the site into a "I just LOVE your articles", kissy-kiss-arse-'Squidoo'-like place, as people vie for popularity.   It is best that someone outside the situation decides and picks a balance of majority and minority topics.  As to grammar and spelling, a large numbers of members use English as a second or third language and do their best to communicate. I don't see why they should be excluded from the running.

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10. 91

    Jodahposted 9 years ago

    I have no idea how the HOTD is chosen but I was surprised to see some older ones chosen. I too thought it would only be chosen from recently published hubs. Some I have read have been really interesting and high quality, others left me wondering how they were chosen as the titles weren't engaging and the content very meager to say the least. It's on of those questions, like hub scores, that we may never know the true answer to.

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    1. 94

       sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       You can find the answer in the Learning centre:-
       
       How is the Hub of the Day Selected?
       
       Hubs of the Day are chosen by HubPages staff members based on their interesting subjects, beautiful formatting, and high quality writing. New Hubs are most frequently chosen, however old Hubs may also be selected and showcased.  I saw nothing about a 'cash reward' - now, that would be nice.

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11. 87

    DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years ago

    There is now actually link to nominate a Hub for HOTD; it's right below your profile photo, and above the current HOTD on your feed page.

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    1. 94

       Melissa A Smithposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Again, not HOTD, that's Editor's Choice.

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12. 0

    LisaKeatingposted 9 years ago

    Newbie here-- How do you see traffic on someone else's hub?

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    1. 94

       Melissa A Smithposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       You don't...

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