Do you often flag content on HubPages?

1. 77

   internpeteposted 12 years ago

   Do you often flag content on HubPages?
   
   I see a few hubs everyday that are in English, but poorly written. I hate to flag a hub if someone is just trying to start on HP, but I don't like reading poorly written hubs! What are your thoughts?

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2. 64

   rutleyposted 12 years ago

   A pet peeve of mine is spelling incorrectly.  Poorly written hubs....well who cares I guess as long as your own name isn't on it!  I don't flag anyone..... we all could use more practice to make perfect!  Happy writing!

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   1. 77

      internpeteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I do get annoyed when hubs have a lot of errors. But everyone makes mistakes, including me!

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3. 60

   forallposted 12 years ago

   I have never flagged any content on HP. If a hub is poorly written, I think its writer deserves an advice at least for the effort he did. It looks effortless maybe because of its bad quality, but for a non-native speaker it requires a big effort to have it done.

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4. 0

   Starmom41posted 12 years ago

   I've never flagged content for poorly-written hubs, as I feel everyone deserves the chance to "speak," even if they aren't well-versed in the English language or aren't good at writing.
   I've only flagged three hubs since I've been on Hubpages--  two were promoting illegal drugs, and the other was promoting pornography (child pornography, actually).

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   1. 0

      Starmom41posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      this is an example of the misuse of "vote downs."

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   2. 77

      internpeteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yeah, I hesitate to flag hubs that are just poorly written - like someone isn't very good at English/writing because I don't want to discourage them. At the same time, HubPages is about writing quality original content.

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   3. 72

      Jeff Berndtposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Why is this a misuse of vote-downs? What is the proper use of vote-downs? (note: I've voted neither up nor down on your answer.)

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5. 68

   relacheposted 12 years ago

   There isn't a single day that I'm on the site where I don't find content that fits the reasons that admin lists for flagging.  Most of what I flag qualifies for two or more violations (mostly low-quality and overly-promotional).

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6. 66

   leroy64posted 12 years ago

   I once had a hub that had to be brought up to Hubpages standards.  The rewrite was one of my more successful efforts.  I don't think anyone is doing me a favor by letting me slide.  Personally, I would rather have a notice from the administrators that I need to work on my hub than someone leaving a public record of my mistakes on the comments.

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7. 92

   JKennyposted 12 years ago

   I tend to flag, only if a Hub has been written a different language. Other than that, I leave it alone, as I'm not the best person to judge what needs to be flagged.

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8. 61

   xanzacowposted 12 years ago

   I never flag any hub. Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean no one else does. Some are more grammaticly gifted than others. We all are trying to share and grow. I would hope that instead of flagging my hub, one would give me constructive criticism to help me improve it.

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9. 67

   Mazzy Boleroposted 12 years ago

   I've flagged hubs while hub-hopping because they were basically just gobble-de-gook which had been churned out by a piece of software, with keywords deposited in it every so often. I.e. none of it made any sense whatsoever.
   
   A lot of hubs are promotional, but what is "overly promotional"? The borderline between acceptable and unacceptable isn't quite clear. If it's too blatantly just an advertisement, it can be annoying.

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   1. 77

      internpeteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yea, I agree the line for overly promotional hubs is unclear.

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   2. 72

      Jeff Berndtposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, the official line, I believe, is three or more links to a single website.
      That's probably why there are so many short 'review' hubs that have exactly two links to the same site.
      I think these violate the spirit of the rule, so I flag 'em.

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   3. 77

      internpeteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Jeff - exactly, when I read a hub that only has the two links but is short, poorly written and clearly only promoting the website, I just don't think that adds any value to HP.

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10. 76

    Anishpatposted 12 years ago

    I don't usually flag content but in the past I have come across some hubs that are extremely low quality and overly promotional and down right offensive (mostly to women)... You know the kind... 'find single south indian girls' etc.

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11. 95

    rajan jollyposted 12 years ago

    No, I've done it maybe just once or twice while hub hopping. That too, when the content was not related to the hub or it was a spun hub.
    Regarding poor quality and grammatical errors, I try to play it down. I've found spelling mistakes and grammatical errors even in hubs by native English speakers. I thus feel, it is better to give a fair playing ground to all. The good ones will survive. Also that a writer who is just starting out has a lot to learn and deserves a break in period.

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12. 62

    WebsiteConfettiposted 12 years ago

    I am very careful about flagging hubs and only do s0 on rare occasions. I have had hubs flagged before for reasons such as 'unrelated products' where the product was absolutely related. An email to Hub Pages got it published again quickly

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13. 72

    Jeff Berndtposted 12 years ago

    I flag hubs that look as though they're 'spun,' or look like they're deliberately skating the "no promotional hubs" rule: the really brief ones that have two links to the same site.
    
    I also flag hubs that are poorly written, but only if they're so bad that they're difficult to understand. If I have to ask, "What did this writer mean by X?" more than a couple times, it gets a flag.
    
    I am not ashamed of this, and it has nothing to do with not wanting HubPages to be open to people who speak English as a second language (heck, many of the hubs I've flagged seem to have been written by native speakers). I just think that hubs that are so poorly written as to be unclear are a detriment to the site as a whole, and I wouldn't be doing any of us a favor by tolerating them.
    
    I also flag hubs that are very brief, unless they're specifically labelled as poetry.
    
    I tend not to bother reading poetry or fiction on HubPages, as most of it is, in my opinion, pretty bad. But this is subjective, so I don't flag or down-rate it.
    
    In fact, that's my touchstone on whether to flag and/or downrate, or leave it alone: is it objectively bad (promotional, spun, poorly translated, too brief, bad grammar/syntax, etc) or subjectively bad (I just don't like it)? If it's objectively bad, I'll probably flag it. If it's subjectively bad, I /might/ rate it down, but I'll probably just ignore it.

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    1. 77

       internpeteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah, I agree with you.

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    2. 69

       The Blagsmithposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       It is a pity you don't read fiction as the best stuff that is written takes into consideration factual possibilities to make the story credible. Also specifically science fiction has led to discoveries that have become reality.

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14. 63

    Ramsa1posted 12 years ago

    I have never flagged a hub. It would have to be something really, really awful before I would flag it.

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15. 0

    mjkearnposted 12 years ago

    As a newbie I was nervous at first but considering the effort I've put into my hubs and trying to be a good hubber, when I see someone who I feel is not trying or as I put having a laugh, I jump on it.
    
    I could say stronger but I really don't like the type "I don't want to work and I want it for free",
    MJ.

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16. 60

    littlepiggyposted 12 years ago

    I haven't flagged anything, but I only stumbled onto HubPages in the last week or so. Generally, though, I would avoid flagging anything for reasons like "poorly written" or anything like that. The only thing that really bothers me is the super-spammy stuff that clearly isn't here for anything but shallow monetization. If I come across some of that, I would consider it.

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17. 73

    Jean Rogersposted 12 years ago

    I flagged a hub once when hub hopping. The hub had no text whatsoever. It just had a movie you could click on with no description of what it was.

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18. 52

    starstreamposted 12 years ago

    I only flagged a hub page one time. It was because of a photo which just didn't belong on this site.

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19. 60

    Vegas Eliasposted 12 years ago

    In the last six months I have come across many hubs which I either do not like or I feel they are sub-standard. I have not flagged them for the only reason that I personally feel that every member of Hubpages has a right to write whatever he likes and in a manner he likes.
    
    I don't feel I will ever flag any hub unless it is unethical or provocative to any community and aimed at encouraging undesirable debate.

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20. 77

    joanwzposted 12 years ago

    I have only flagged a handful of stories (maybe 5) and that was only because it seemed obvious to me that these stories were either generated by a writing program or were written in a foreign language and translated by a translation program that did a deplorable job. Either way, the "writer" who submitted them didn't do any proofreading and didn't have anyone who speaks English proofread the stories. The grammar errors were so egregious that I couldn' make heads or tails out of a single sentence. They were just a bunch of words thrown together with a little punctuation thrown in willy nilly for good measure.
    
    Other than that I haven't flagged anything.

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