How does someone on hubpages get a large following without writing hubs?

Jump to Last Post 1-9 of 9 discussions (20 posts)
  1. btrbell profile image89
    btrbellposted 12 years ago

    How does someone on hubpages get a large following without writing hubs?

    When I am hub hopping, I have noticed that there are many people with little or no hubs and they have hundreds of followers. I see that some of them are following many people and I understand the reciprocity factor but I don't still don't understand the why and how of their fanbase.

  2. profile image0
    JThomp42posted 12 years ago

    Neither do I, and what's the point? If you are not passionate about writing, why be on HubPages? Great question. If I know they are just spamming for followers, I normally will not oblige.

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      See, that's part of my concern. It just seems strange to me.

    2. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Me as well btr.

  3. internpete profile image64
    internpeteposted 12 years ago

    It could be from a variety of things.

    They could have been on hubpages a long time, and thus, over time, they have built up a large following.

    They could have had many of their hubs unpublished, or they even unpublished them to put them elsewhere online.

    The hubs they have written may be of such quality that many people want to follow, or they might be very good at visiting other people's hubs and commenting and interacting.

    it could also be because people don't follow based only on the number or quantity of hubs but other factors.

    I have seen some of the hubpage employees profiles and some of them only have a few hubs, but because of their connection to hubpages, thousands of people follow them.

    Many people are on hubpages not because they love writing, but because they want to make some money on the side, and they are good at marketing.

    Hope this gives you some possible answers to your question.

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, it does give food for thought.

    2. J.S.Matthew profile image83
      J.S.Matthewposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'd also like to point out that some Hubbers don't write a lot of Hubs but may be very active with the forums and Q&A sections, thus getting followers. Just something I noticed...JS~

    3. internpete profile image64
      internpeteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I have noticed a few people who are on here just to discus things in the forums and they sometimes develop a fallowing too. Good point.

  4. dashingscorpio profile image74
    dashingscorpioposted 12 years ago

    I've noticed the same thing on Facebook. Some people have more than 5000 "friends". The same can be said for Twitter as well. I believe (ego) is the driving force. If none of these social networks (publically) showcased the number of friends or followers one has there would less of a competitive.
    Clearly a lot of "followers" aren't actually "following". I suspect a lot it is as you described as the "reciprocity factor". I personally don't believe in following someone simply because they are following me. I tend to follow (subjects) more than writers.
    Sometimes for the hell of it I will check out a person's (activity) who is "following me" and see that they just signed up to follow 50 other people within the same hour, made no comments on any hubs, nor answered any questions or posted anything on a forum. There are some that will unfollow you after a week if they notice you are not following them back! LOL!

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have seen that on Twitter also. In an attempt to build a business, I am on most of the media channels but....I do not advertise or follow just to follow. I also don't "collect" followers. That is why this baffles me!

  5. Scott Mckinzie profile image60
    Scott Mckinzieposted 12 years ago

    Funny, I was thinking the same thing. I am new here and trying to understand it all, and when I have seen hundreds of followers with just one or two hubs, I was kind of confused, as I am now..LOL...But I will learn:)

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I know, right?!?! I have been here 4 months, writing diligently, forming a small but worthy following and then I see someone with 500 followers and no hubs or another who asks several questions a day and no hubs. I don't get it! thanks for answering,

  6. Goody5 profile image61
    Goody5posted 12 years ago

    A lot of people are following back to be polite, and there's nothing wrong with that. My favorite is a hubber by the name of pinetreehugger. They have well over 500 devoted followers while bragging to be the uncover hubless hubber!

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I have encountered them!

  7. Marisa Wright profile image86
    Marisa Wrightposted 12 years ago

    There should not be a "reciprocity factor", although unfortunately, the following system has degenerated to that point.

    When HubPages first started, you didn't "follow" someone, you became their "fan" - which made it clear you were joining their fan club to read and enjoy their writing.  You didn't expect that writer to return the favor, any more than you'd expect Beyonce to join your fan club if you joined hers.

    The idea was that you were picky about whose fan club you joined, because you would be an ACTIVE fan, and read all their Hubs - something that's clearly impossible if you follow lots of people.  So although I have over 2,000 followers, I follow less than 100 Hubbers myself. 

    But to get back to the point - there are two possible explanations.  One is that the person had lots of Hubs before the Great Panda Disaster of 2011, but has deleted most/all of their Hubs since then.  The other is that the account belongs to a spammer who thought the secret to making money on HubPages was to network like mad.  They soon found out that doesn't work, and abandoned the account.

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You are right. We should follow hubs that are of interest to us (whether they follow us or not) I feel the same way about comments. They should be left when they are sincere.

  8. catgypsy profile image71
    catgypsyposted 12 years ago

    btrbell, I'm so glad you asked this as I have wondered the same thing! I always go to a persons profile page and read some of their hubs before I will follow them too. I have never just wanted a ton of followers who don't truly want to read my hubs. I don't follow people whose work I don't like or who have subjects I'm not interested in at all. I'm glad to read the answers here! I, too, am leery of some who want to follow me and think we should all be careful to some extent as to who we follow back. Thanks for a great question!

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for answering. Sometimes I tend to be impulsive. Someone follows me, I follow right back. Now, like you, I stop and read their profiles, check out their hubs!

  9. Sherry Hewins profile image90
    Sherry Hewinsposted 12 years ago

    You have figured out how they get followers, by following other people. A certain percentage of those you follow will just automatically follow back.

    The thing that is less clear is why. If you have no hubs, what do you need with followers? I guess some people just like to see a high number there.

    Or, maybe some day they will write a hub, then, in theory, lots of people will see it.

    1. btrbell profile image89
      btrbellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Sherry! I love the way you put it, kind of stockpiling for the future!

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)