Explanation for the Videos above Articles

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   Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

   Is it possible to request an explanation from the Powers that Be, so we can understand their reasoning for placing a video at the top of all the network sites?
   
   Over the years, one of the best things about HubPages was that when contentious features were introduced (or removed!), a senior decision-maker would come to the forums to explain why they had done it and the benefits they expected it to bring.
   
   You do a great job, Samantha, but the best you can say is, "Somebody high-up has decided to put a video on the layout and there's nothing HubPages staff can do about that, so we're trying to make the best of it."
   
   I know Paul is not involved in HubPages any more, but is there no one who can give us an explanation?

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      Shesabutterflyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I agree, I'd love an explanation as well. I also do not like that they say HubPages on them. I thought the whole idea of the migration was to get rid of the HP name completely, not only for keeping everything on the Maven platform. I think it's confusing that the video is made by HP, but the site is "monitored" by Maven.
      
      Our network sites are not run in the same way as SI for example. SI still has it's name all over their site, so it makes sense that their videos are SI content (Their videos also pertain to the articles they are on from what I saw). All of HP's sites are simply known as Owlcation, Dengarden, ect. HP's name no longer shows anywhere on the site, so it seems odd to put it in the video.
      
      In my opinion, it is not a clear way to show that the content is not provided by the author either. Even if they watch to the end the readers will not know who or what HubPages is unless they were a follower of the former sites or they were following particular authors. I don't think Owlcation, Dengarden, ect on the video instead of HubPages is helpful though either.
      
      I agree with what you said on another post. There simply is way too much content on the network sites, that I do not see how this is going to be benefical either.

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         samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         As I've said in a previous thread, "We are trying to replace the absolutely unrelated content that appeared previously. We understand that our videos aren't relevant to every article, but that's because we've only made one for each Network Site so far. Once the player functions as it's supposed to and we have more content, it should be a much better user experience."
         
         That is the explanation. We had video content that was not curated for any of our Network Sites, so we are making content that is. But as I mentioned in that last thread, it's a work in progress. The goal is to have multiple videos for each site that relate to articles better than what we had before. The higher-ups won't be able to tell you more than that.
         
         I recommend keeping these thoughts all in one thread, as information/updates can be easily lost if there are several.

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            Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Could you please read my question again?  You haven't answered it anywhere.
            
            You say "We had video content that was not curated for any of our network sites". 
            
            My question is, WHY did you have that video content?  What advantage is it expected to bring, once it's all fixed up?
            
            The answer might be something like, "Maven research has shown that a video at the top of the page reduces bounce time" or some such.  We may not agree with their logic but at least we'd know why.
            
            If the answer is just, "Maven gave us that layout, they haven't told us why we've got to have the video, but we're stuck with it and we're trying to make the best of it", then I would be very disappointed.

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               samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               I'm not talking about the HubPages videos. We had content before from Maven because we hadn't yet made our own. You did not specify whether you were talking about the Maven or HubPages videos. And yes, the goal is to reduce bounce time. That was also mentioned in the original forum post.

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   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   Could the videos be upbeat humorous animations, reflecting site content or would it cost too much to commission an animator to produce them?

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   Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

   Thank you for the clarification, but the videos were not referenced in the original post because the videos did not exist at that time.
   
   The media player started appearing late in the transition process, with no announcement that I'm aware of - it certainly took other Hubbers by surprise, too.  Given that it was turned on some time AFTER sites had been transitioned, one wonders why it can't be switched off given the current problems.

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      Shesabutterflyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      It was briefly noted on the migration of 8/31-9/4, but it was not explained in great detail.

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   Jodahposted 4 years ago

   I actually took time to watch the video about Writer’s Block on Letterpile. Just seems a video for the sake of having a video there, but that’s not the point. You can’t even view it properly on a laptop or computer because it is too big and the top letters are cut off so you can’t read all the words. It fits fine on the iPad or phone...but shouldn’t a video be made to suit any format it is viewed on?

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