For goodness sake, newbies...

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   theraggededgeposted 4 years ago

   The forum is full of requests for help with articles but I have never seen such a collection of absolute rubbish. Mostly from people who have been here a matter of hours.
   
   Does it not occur to anyone to do a bit of research before publishing? Find out what works and what doesn't?
   
   Please spend some time at the Learning Center: https://hubpageshelp.com/
   
   Know these pertinent facts:
   
   1. HubPages is not a blogging platform. They don't want anecdotes of your life.
   2. Write in proper English. You won't make it here unless you can put words together in an order that makes sense.
   3. Write articles that reflect the title.
   4. Don't write in upper case.
   5. Don't steal images from the web.
   6. Do your research.
   7. Make sure articles are around 1,000 words long and are well-structured.
   
   If you can't do the above, then go away and learn how to. Stop wasting our time.

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      Tim Truzy info4uposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly. Learn to write right. Not to mention, these guys should probably browse HP and see what long timers, like you, put together. Has anyone ever heard: "When in Rome, do as the Romans?" Although I don't think you are from Rome. lol.

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      poppyrposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I usually don't bother looking at those articles anymore unless the title amuses or interests me. More often than not, the writer deletes the article and is never seen again, so the whole painstaking operation of helping them is thrown out of the window.

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   bhattucposted 4 years ago

   You are very right. This is no place for beginners. I think it is better to practice more in ones blog and elsewhere before coming to this site well prepared.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I respectfully disagree.  Everybody has to start somewhere.  I knew little to nothing when I came here 8 years ago.  I did what I could, but the learning curve is steep.  If it hadn't been for kind hubbers, the team and the learning center, I would have given up long ago.  Writing online is not like journalistic writing, and I think everybody needs help here and there.  That being said, of course people should try to learn what they can, and of course they shouldn't depend on others to do their work for them.  Many have talent, they just don't get the rules in the beginning, so cut them a little slack.

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         mcgreg28posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Applause!!!! My first thought, while reading the comments before embarking on yours, was how obnoxious these responses are. Reminds me of the distain new job seekers encounter in search of a job. How quickly some forget they were once at the bottom of the ladder. Get off your high horses. Everyone needs encouragement. The new writer you look down on today may be the next big thing tomorrow.

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            DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

            You need to step down off YOUR horse and try to help as many people as the OP does. She gives them encouragement, makes helpful comments, and many of them respond with nasty replies.
            A new writer that does not even learn how to communicate is never going to be the next big thing.

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               mcgreg28posted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for your response, but you obviously misread the intent of my response. My response wasn't directed to any one person, instead, it's meant for all negative comments as a whole. The comments read as an attack on new writers.  Hence, why I applaud the one comment I stubbled upon that seem a voice of reasoning. High horse? Not me. I don't consider myself an expert writer. I am still learning. That is why I also ask for help and embrace whatever help expert writers may offer. Funny you should respond because I also remember asking you for help, which you gave, and I made the necessary adjustments. My point is, it is unfair and unkind to suggest that new writers should not post because they cannot provide expert writing. As a veteran ER nurse, that's like expecting a new nurse to be expert at running a code.

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                  Titiaposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  The OP is not referring to new writers like you who are willing to learn, but to a wave of new writers who don't even have knowlegde of the basic English language. You should open some of the requests for help and look at what they have written and the photos displayed are often just stolen from the internet.

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                  DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Sorry for coming on so strong. I feel like all of us need to learn but it is so hard to get on the forum day in and day out, help those who ask for it, and then have them come back with snarky comments.
                  theraggededge, who started this thread, helps newbies all of the time. Her skin is a lot tougher than mine.

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            theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            You miss the point entirely - as do others. Read the thread properly before you make judgements. It's not about new writers learning the platform; it's about people who think that they can come to HP, post a few paragraphs of utter gibberish and make money from it because they have been led to believe there is a pot of gold hidden here.
            
            And it's 'disdain'.

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               mcgreg28posted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you for the explanation. When you put it like that, I admit, I missed the point. In that case, forgive my initial comment. Thank you.

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                  theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Forgiven and metaphorically hugged

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               poppyrposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               "And it's 'disdain'."
               
               OOF.

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                  theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  That was unnecessary, I know.
                  
                  Sorry.

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   Jannat Hossainposted 4 years ago

   I understand what you are feeling. I am a newbie too, I mean, kind of! But I read from hubpages help articles about what to do what not to do before posting. It is really painful when we disturb others instead of finding the solution ourselves.

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4. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 4 years ago

   I hear your cri de coeur Bev. I have often been impressed by the patience you have shown with newbies who have no hope of ever being published. I too am tired of offering the same advice over and over again, and this morning's crop of offerings is a particularly gross example. And sometimes, the folks you have tried to help turn on you rudely.
   
   My wife frequently asks "Why do you keep trying to help the no-hopers?" And, after I've trotted out my there-but-for-the-generosity-others-would-go-I defence I think she might have a point.
   
   You are right too TT2, but English is your mother tongue. I can hold a Grade Four level conversation in French, and I have a little Spanish and German, but I would never dream of trying to write an article in any other language than English. Why someone whose first language of Tagalog or Gujarati would try to get published here is a mystery to me.

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5. 85

   FatFreddysCatposted 4 years ago

   

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6. 85

   FatFreddysCatposted 4 years ago

   But seriously: is it just me, or is the feed exceedingly spammy this morning? I'm used to waking up to seeing one or two new junk pieces when I first logon in the morning, but the number of crappy new "articles" today seems like way more than usual.

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      paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Someone is probably sticking a bunch of referral links in an ESL location.

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         theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         That makes sense. We often see 'waves' of new people.

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            paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I'm surprised HP is still even using the referral program. It was an excellent idea when they started it, but its time is past and is now even a detriment. Not to mention it is costing Maven/HP a freaking fortune in time, labor, and especially money. The HP TOU has said for years that HP has the right to discontinue the program in its entirety at anytime for any reason, so there would be no violation of contract if they were to do so. I wouldn't be surprised if HP were to get a corporate edict from Maven one of these days.

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7. 91

   Titiaposted 4 years ago

   Maybe you should not point the finger at newbies for not knowing exactly how to function as a proper HP writer. I just signed out to look at the homepage as a non HP member to see what newbies see and it dazzled me. Yes every bit of information is there, but there's no order at all in how to start and where to start. Of course one can click around, but nobody is capable of taking in all the information at once.
   
   Maybe HP should borrow your step by step and put it on their frontpage, including something to test the knowledge of the English language. I don't know. English is not my native language either, but I managed to get some of my hubs to the niche sites with a little help here and there from the editors. I'm very grateful when they edit my hubs and I study the edits carefully because they teach me how to write proper English.
   
   Besides that your help is always thorough and great and friendly, nobody is forcing you to comment on all the cries for help. And yes, in my 20 years experience with keeping a national wide sheep pedigree book I have definitely learned that people don't read.

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      poppyrposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      That's a great idea; maybe a small quiz or test to check that people have been to the Learning Center before trying to sign up.

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      theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Titia, what I am railing at is not newbies asking for help. I have absolutely no problem with that. It's the fact that they write their first 'articles' within hours (sometimes less) of joining. No one with any common sense who embarks on an online writing journey launches into it without exploring and researching the platform first.
      
      It's obvious that many just write any old thing because they've been told on some forum that this is the place to earn easy money.
      
      As someone who has reviewed her fair share of articles here, I can say, very confidently, that standards have plummeted.
      
      And I know I'm not 'forced to comment'. But there are very few of us who take the time and trouble to do so.

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8. 91

   Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

   I agree with all these comments. I want to add that  HP disapproval email, which is a form letter, suggests they ask other HP writers for help by clicking on a link.  It is effortless to click, but hard work to study the guidelines, learn grammar and proofread their article.
   I am curious about what the success rate is of decent writers versus what we've seen lately.

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9. 97

   CYong74posted 4 years ago

   I think some newbies are only here because they were impressed into thinking HubPages is a platform where they can earn quick money. Thus, no matter the advice given, they wouldn't do the necessary. They would be looking for quick fixes i.e. people to edit their hubs, to teach them the requisites in point form, to highlight apps that can miraculously correct everything, etc.
   
   IMO, best to just point them to the learning center, and do nothing else. A real writer will take the effort to read and understand. The rest will immediately click away.

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      Titiaposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      HP is giving them the impression that they can earn quick money with writing. When you sign out and then click on Hubpages dot com in Google, first page you get is the HP network page and right there in between the niche sites are 5 examples of HP members (with name and photo) showing their monthly earnings and lifetime earnings. All over the place it says 'start writing'. From there it's rather difficult for a newbe to find the learning center because it's hidden in the top right left three bars saying 'more'.  Of course they start writing right away.

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         theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Yet, right there on the page there are a multitude of network articles. You might expect people to read at least a few of them to see what a decent article looks like before launching into their unstructured, incoherent ramblings.
         
         I am perfectly fine with helping someone get to know the platform, to correct a few errors, point them to the LC, etc., and that's how it is most of the time. However my OP specifically mentions that the tidal wave of crap has increased recently (I'm talking the last few days, not months), and that ANY sensible person would try to find out what is expected of them - even if by just reading a few published articles.
         
         And goodness knows how many of these efforts we don't see because they are not posted here.
         
         And I agree completely - new people should be automatically directed to the Learning Center, or to the FAQs, or maybe to just one LC document that tells them the basics and where to go for more information.
         
         The lack of these visible basics means that more newbies are going to be ignored by experienced writers.

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    FatFreddysCatposted 4 years ago

    Logged in this AM to a fresh tidal wave of short, poorly written and/or copy-pasted gibberish articles in my feed. I'm getting Bubblews flashbacks.

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       paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Good old Bubblews. They died owing me $80, but I did get some decent money from them before the crash and burn.

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       theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       That's exactly what it looks like.

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    Rupert Taylorposted 4 years ago

    FFC you beat me by two minutes. It's only 8 a.m. where I am and already I've reported two spammers, read someone's incoherent musings about something (I know not what), and skipped through a couple of badly written rubbish. More coffee please nurse.

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    FatFreddysCatposted 4 years ago

    ...or made fun of by snarky jerks like me.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    I agree. There needs to be a basic grammar and punctuation test or something that makes the newbies put a little effort into getting accepted by Maven/HP.

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    theraggededgeposted 4 years ago

    Just bumping this thread

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       DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Your should rename this thread "How to succeed with your article about the Kashmir Issue".You are sure to have hundreds of readers.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    You need to direct the issue to the HubPages staff.  It starts there.

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    Internetwriter62posted 4 years ago

    Definitely a wake up call! So true!

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