Awful quality of hubs that show up in my feed

1. 81

   Shades-of-truthposted 9 years ago

   I am not positive that this is the proper place to ask my question. If not, would someone from the HP team please move it to its proper "slot"?
   
   When I signed in this morning, I took a few moments to look at some of the hubs that showed up in my feed. I rarely do that, but thought it might prove interesting.
   
   I would imagine that the hubs are featured, or I would not be able to see them. A couple of them were awful. They were empty of any informative content, lacked any elements other than one photo and a few paragraphs, used inappropriate language, and were very poorly written.
   
   After reporting them, I decided to ask the HP Community why those hubs were published at all?
   
   If articles have to pass through a quality assessment, how could the ones that I am referring to, have made it?
   
   So many excellent writers here strive to provide exceptional content, and agonize over getting featured - yet - the hubs I viewed this morning would not have passed a 4th grader's quality assessment. I do not understand.
   
   Any ideas?

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   1. 80

      frantisek78posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You should just skim past the ones that you aren't interested in. It's just like a magazine or newspaper, some articles are "interesting" to an individual and others aren't. It is personal taste. Just because you find some Hubs sub-par does not mean that everyone else does too.

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      1. 81

         Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         frantisek78,
         This was not an issue of whether it interested me or not. It was a matter of quality and content. I would not criticize an article simply because I was not interested, or because it was not written as I might have written it.
         
         The ones I referred to, were atrocious. I do not believe any of the seasoned writers here would disagree. I am not a "seasoned writer" here on HP, but have been online writing for many years. I often use pseudonyms in the online arena, too, for privacy. Frequently, I serve as an editor for others. Hence, I am really not concerned about whether the hubs in the feed were "interesting"; my concern was purely about the existence of them here on HP.

         replyreport
   2. 89

      NateB11posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, this morning I just had several very bad articles come up in my newsfeed, though from the same user; spun or badly translated for sure. In a way, I think it's good because it gave me a chance to report it so we can keep the bad stuff off the site.

      replyreport
2. 91

   Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years ago

   The feed includes all hubs that have been published by Hubbers you are following and about topics you are following. They haven't gone through the QAP yet.  I routinely find hubs on my feed that I report to the moderators for a closer look, and most of them do get unpublished.

   replyreport
   1. 81

      Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Millionaire Tips! The clarification helps.
      
      However, the ones that I saw had nothing to do with any topic I am following, nor were they written by a Hubber I am following, so I am still a bit confused.

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      1. 91

         Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not sure, but I seem to remember that they also add hubs in the feed about topics that they think you might be interested in, say if you read a hub about a particular topic a certain number of times (maybe even once), they may give you more on that topic.

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         1. 81

            Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, MT. I don't think that is it, though, as I had "zero" interest in the topics. Hm....

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      2. 91

         MelRootsNWritesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Were they shared by a hubber that you are following?  I get some odd hubs in my feed this way.

         replyreport
         1. 92

            Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I think you've solved the problem. I'd completely forgotten about the share button.

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               Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               That is interesting. I thought it could be from the share button, but I didn't think anyone would share a bad quality hub.

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         2. 81

            Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            MelRootsWrites, Apologies for the delayed reply; I had customers to wait on.
            
            No, they were not shared by anyone. I just double-checked. They were simply in my feed.
            
            Millionaire Tips - True, and I highly doubt anyone would share those hubs.

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            1. 92

               Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               You can tell which of those you follow has shared a hub that is not their own? I had no idea.

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               1. 91

                  Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, right underneath the title. It says who wrote the hub and who shared it.

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                  1. 92

                     Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks, MT. I've never noticed - or those I follow don't share very often.

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         3. 83

            Marcy Goodfleischposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            The 'share button' is a likely culprit.  Some (very sweet) members on this site share many, many hubs each week.  I've started unfollowing people who spam my feed with three or more 'shares' every day.  I know there's some sort of friendship reciprocity going on, but my guess is that this helps lowers HP's stock with Google.
            
            Sharing hubs creates incestuous traffic, and it's not the type of traffic that will improve rankings in Google searches.

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            1. 89

               NateB11posted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I've had the same feelings and thoughts about this sort of spam sharing that happens.

               replyreport
3. 92

   Jayne Lancerposted 9 years ago

   I end up reporting 95% of the hubs I see on my feed when I sign in each day. As far as I can tell, all hubs on my feed are by authors I follow, or are categorized in topics I follow.

   replyreport
   1. 83

      Marcy Goodfleischposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Question - how many of those you report get unpublished?  I log onto the 'latest' feed sometimes, and based on the weekly reports we get, I don't think that many of the ones I report are deleted.  They definitely violate TOS or quality standards.

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      1. 92

         Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Good question. Historically, 11% of my reports result in moderation according to 'HubPages Weekly'. Not a lot!

         replyreport
      2. 91

         Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Marcy,
         
         I think it depends on what types of hubs that are reported.  I only report hubs that clearly violate the terms, i.e. over-promotional, spun, wrong language, etc..  Others may report more hubs that are suspect.  According to my weekly report, most, if not all, of them have been unpublished, for example, I have reported 10 hubs and 9 have been unpublished. 
         
         The percentage number, however, hovers around 47-50%. I believe this is an error, since the very first report started at that low number, and my stats should go up much more since most of the reported hubs are unpublished.

         replyreport
         1. 91

            Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I don't generally report quality problems since QAP takes care of those, and those tend to be unfeatured and not unpublished.

            replyreport
   2. 93

      SmartAndFunposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I see lots of bad hubs on my feed, too. Most of the notices on my feed are irrelevant, so I don't go to that page much, unless I feel like hub hopping, which is what I mainly use the feed for (I don't use the actual hub hopper). My advice for those who see poor quality hubs in their feed is to report them and keep calm with the knowledge that hubs hit the feed immediately after the writer hits the "publish" button. They have not yet been assessed for quality.
      
      I find that by default I am subscribed to lots of topics I am not that interested in. For example, I love dogs, but in order to get notices on that topic, I am apparently subscribed to the general topic "animals." I get tons of emails enthusiastically telling me "a new hub has been published on the topic European Birds!"  Apparently there is a hubber here who publishes an article on that topic just about every day. (Nothing against this writer -- in fact more power to them.) I tried to unsubscribe from "European Birds" as well as snakes, farm animals, etc., but as far as I could see, I had to unsubscribe from all animal-related topics, so I just left it as-is. No big deal. It takes less than one second to delete an email.
      
      The other day, I had to laugh when I got an email that said "A new forum thread has just been started in the topic Male Genital Issues!"  I guess I am subscribed to the general topic "health?" That exclamation point always makes me laugh, and I found it especially funny in this case.
      
      Sorry this is so wordy; I've had lots of coffee this morning

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4. 92

   Jayne Lancerposted 9 years ago

   From HubPages' FAQ section:
   
   The Feed shows activity by Hubbers, Hubs, Topics, Questions, and Forum threads that you follow.
   
   http://hubpages.com/faq/#hubtivity

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   1. 81

      Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I see that, Jayne, but honestly - unless I am missing something - I do not follow the Hubbers, Hubs, topics, questions, or forum threads related to the hubs to which my original post was related.
      
      In retrospect, I am glad they showed up, as it gave me the opportunity to view them. They were truly awful, but it was an experience!

      replyreport
5. 93

   SmartAndFunposted 9 years ago

   I wonder if HP has the feed algorithm set up to show something/anything during those times when nothing of interest to that particular hubber is currently being published or discussed?

   replyreport
6. 0

   moviesreviewsposted 9 years ago

   I am surprised people critique people's writing skills so hard. We all have different writing skills and last time I checked there are not many Danielle Steele authors within hubpages. If so they would not be writing here.
   
   Obviously some hubs are just horrendous but within my outlook on writers this is rare because others that may seem horrible are actually not horrible. It just lacks the school way of grammar, punction etc but it does not mean the meaning/research behind the article has no substance.
   
   Sometimes the article may need a second or third look and you will find it might be one of the best pieces you ever read. Or you can do what I do when I find something uninteresting... just ignore it.

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   1. 92

      Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      "... there are not many Danielle Steele authors within hubpages. If so they would not be writing here." This is nothing more than an excuse to publish exactly that which is bringing the site down - substandard hubs.
      
      And for as long as there is a report button, I will report every substandard hub I encounter.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         moviesreviewsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I think your missing my point.

         replyreport
   2. 91

      Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I report all hubs with bad "punction".  If someone has something of substance to say, he or she need to be able to communicate it clearly with proper grammar.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         moviesreviewsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Again I think your missing my point

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   3. 81

      Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      moviesreviews, we all want HubPages to succeed, as a venue for people to create content with substance. If we help to monitor the site ourselves, it will take a load off of the HP team's shoulders.
      
      In addition, those of us who strive to use proper grammar and punctuation, wish for our readers to view articles here written by others, that are credible.
      
      In my opinion, it drags down the credibility of HP as a writing site, to have sub-quality articles here as a representation of the site as a whole.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         moviesreviewsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I am not disagreeing with what you do. All I am saying is if you re-read certain folks pages even with bad grammar, it may be better than pages with better grammar.
         
         The problem with the English language is all the rules. Many slaves used to speak in what would be called bad grammar but they were able to read and understand each other fine.
         
         I was not trying to start anything except to let people know that maybe people could write in better grammar but leave it like that on purpose.

         replyreport
7. 93

   SmartAndFunposted 9 years ago

   Moviesreviews, I don't think the OP is saying she reports hubs that are uninteresting to her. I think she is tired seeing just plain terrible writing in her feed, and is wondering why those articles are there in the first place, because the articles are on subjects that she is not following, and by authors she is not following. I think she is wondering why those hubs are turning up in her feed to begin with.

   replyreport
   1. 81

      Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      SmartAndFun, thank you - that is exactly what I meant.
      
      On the other hand, having them appear gave me the opportunity to use the report button, rather than "Hub Hop".

      replyreport
8. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

   We always try and put content in the feed and yes, hubs show in the feed before they pass the qap. We are getting pretty good at unfeaturing/unpublishing lousy hubs, but it can take a day or so.

   replyreport
   1. 96

      Sue Adamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Any particular useful reason for putting hubs into feed before QAP? Seems to me a waste of people's time reading and reporting.

      replyreport
9. 85

   firstcookbookladyposted 9 years ago

   punction? Are you making a joke or did you really mean to write punctuation? And, he or she 'needs' to be able to communicate it clearly.

   replyreport
   1. 91

      Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The "punction" spelling was from the preceding post. You're right, it should be "needs". 
      
      The point I am making is not that we should be reporting everything that isn't perfect.  Humans will make errors.  But if a hub is rife with errors to a point that it makes it hard to understand the substance of the hub, then it needs to be reported.

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      1. 77

         colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         +1
         "Humans will make errors."

         replyreport
      2. 81

         Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         MT, that is correct. The hubs were not only rife with errors, there was no substance to them at all, and the language was inappropriate, "to boot".

         replyreport
   2. 0

      moviesreviewsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Why do you say they must speak clearly? Why not just ignore it all together. Why say" they must use correct grammar, or they must do this, or it must be like that?" Why not just ignore the bad grammar posts.

      replyreport
      1. 96

         Sue Adamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Now you are missing the point:
         Bad hubs bring down the whole site. That is why they must not be ignored but must be reported.

         replyreport
         1. 81

            Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            +1!

            replyreport
10. 85

    Robert Sacchiposted 9 years ago

    You can do something to help the situation by chosing the option to rate the new Hubs.  I know it's not much but it is something positive.  Keep in mind for many of the Hub authors English isn't their primary language.  Other than that keep in mind there is alot out there and many of them are very good.

    replyreport
    1. 81

       Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Robert, I agree. However, in this case, English obviously is their primary language.

       replyreport
11. 71

    Aneegmaposted 9 years ago

    I was just about to publish my next hub then I came across this! Now I'm frightened and going through spell check and grammar like crazy!

    replyreport
    1. 81

       Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Oh, Aneegma, I am glad you are here. I was not referring to you, or your hubs. Rest easy, my dear!

       replyreport
12. 53

    paradigm searchposted 9 years ago

    This is a former hub of mine that I'm thinking of republishing and submitting for Editors Choice. Comments?
    
    I Like to Pretend I'm a Carrot
    
    Do you like to pretend you are a carrot?
    
    Sometimes I like to sit in the corner and pretend I'm a carrot.
    
    Sometimes I like to sit on the floor and pretend I'm a carrot.
    Sometimes I like to lie on the floor and pretend I'm a carrot.
    Sometimes I like to lay on the floor and pretend I'm a carrot.
    
    Sometimes I like to crawl under my bed and pretend I'm a carrot.
    
    Sometimes I like to dig a hole and pretend I'm a carrot.
    
    Why?
    
    Because carrots are loved and I want to be loved.
    
    Because carrots are hated by bad people and left alone and I want to be left alone.
    
    Carrots are my friend and I want to be my friend.
    
    Carrots stand up for what they believe in.
    Carrots lay down for what they believe in.
    
    Carrots have a reputation for being good. No carrot has ever been arrested.
    
    Carrots are popular. People take carrots wherever they go. This is because carrots are good company.
    
    The list of carrot goodness is endless.
    
    And that is why I pretend I'm a carrot.

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    1. 31

       Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I think you'd make more money on YouTube with that:
       http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic … lions.html

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          paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Is that the carrot guy? He's even got a google auto-complete.

          replyreport
    2. 77

       colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Carrots will make a stubborn mule walk when one is dangled in front of them on a pole.
       
       * Carrots help eliminate mulish stubbornness.   
       * Carrots help make good friends out of mules.

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       1. 53

          paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          I posted this masterpiece as what would have to be the worst hub on the planet. It was an SEO and google auto-complete experiment from way back. Amazingly, my current website version of this gem actually made it to page 4 of Google. Probably on the list when I decide to do my next round of website page deletions.

          replyreport
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             colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

             See!

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          2. 81

             Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

             paradigm search,
             That was MUCH better than the hubs in my feed that I reported!

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             1. 53

                paradigm searchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                

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             2. 77

                colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                Just think of all the possibilities, Shades.
                @paradigm could shift things on the world wide wide with that carrot topic.
                
                I would like detailed information and photos on How To Turn Skin Orange With Carrot Juice.  Could be a hot new trend coming out of that. Then, combine it with the Best Fake Orange Tan Methods, etc.
                
                Seriously ~

                replyreport
13. 85

    firstcookbookladyposted 9 years ago

    Yeah, because if Mark Twain ever listened to people who decided that anyone who dared write without the greatest grammar ever, WE wouldn't have Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, NOR would we have TAWT WE SAW A PUDDY TAT either... Face it, a writer is whatever THEY choose to write... not what YOU choose for them to write.
    
    MOVE on!!!

    replyreport
    1. 91

       Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Mark Twain was an excellent writer.
       
       In my schooling, I was taught to always try my best.  What I was asking for was not even the best, but simply a good effort.  But apparently, you would prefer to make this a war. YOU WIN.  You can write your hubs as you wish.

       replyreport
14. 85

    firstcookbookladyposted 9 years ago

    I often thought I'd like to be a tomato.

    replyreport
15. 78

    Uzochukwu Mikeposted 9 years ago

    Those hubs you saw might not have passed through quality accessment process. After QAP, they will be unfeatured if they are of poor quality.

    replyreport
16. 61

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    Nate: I saw same thing, it is either spun or copied content they tried to do some sort of rewrite.  Either way, it is total garbage from same hubber as Nate posted.

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    1. 85

       firstcookbookladyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       The No Longer Published file is getting bigger and bigger....

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       NateB11posted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah, it was really bad; I reported the Hubs and the user. Unfortunately, such content is damaging to the site and I think needs to be reported.

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          Shades-of-truthposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Agree, Nate!

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