Why would I receive this, your article wasn’t cleared for publication

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 23 months ago

   Humor is a difficult topic for your first article. What one nation finds hilarious, another will find not only NOT funny, but downright insulting. Remember this is an American website and anything published here must be acceptable to an American audience. 
   
   Rather than just retelling anecdotes that you've heard from other sources, why not write an article about something that happened in your own life that you found funny.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 23 months ago

   There's a lot to learn on here. HubPages might seem like they accept anything, but they actually have some pretty specific requirements.
   
   Subject matter, style, and many other factors make the difference between success and failure.
   
   An example of this would be your paragraphs. HubPages recommend a maximum of three sentences. Yours are too long.
   
   Most people are reading articles on their smartphones, so the writing has to be phone-friendly.
   
   It took me around a year to even begin to understand how to write for HubPages and that was at a time when it was easier.

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   theraggededgeposted 23 months ago

   "When you order a veggie pizza and get ham pizza instead, that is irony!"
   
   It isn't It's a mistake.
   
   Irony would be if someone insulted vegetarians and then received a veggie pizza.
   
   I'm very sorry to tell you, but those aren't very funny stories. I struggled to find the humour in them, to be honest.
   
   Also, there are tell-tale signs that you used AI to produce the article.
   
   Here's one I often see..."If you like reading funny stories, then you can also read our other articles that have similar content." It's a dead giveaway.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

      Generating humour with AI! Now there's an interesting concept!
      
      I must confess that I didn't bother reading the article, as the layout was so awful!

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         theraggededgeposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         There's also a numerical discrepancy. I can't be arsed to count them as they aren't numbered but are there eight or ten?

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            PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

            I count seven! But does it even matter?

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         greenmindposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         Oh you should definitely read it.

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            PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

            My estimate was that it would be 5 minutes of my life that I'd never get back.  Funnily enough, whenever anybody promises to "keep me laughing all day" I always run in the opposite direction!

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               Stephen Tomkinsonposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               And you were right, Paul.

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               greenmindposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               It probably should read "keep you scratching your head all day."

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   AliciaCposted 23 months ago

   I found the section about dog lovers and cat lovers very strange. I have a dog and cats. I have no problem expressing my love for all of them and publicizing this love.
   
   The person who assessed the article must have liked it because it’s now on LetterPile.

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      theraggededgeposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      Good grief!

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         DrMark1961posted 23 months agoin reply to this

         Yeah, that really left me shaking my head.

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            PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

            If it really is AI-generated, then it should be reported. Editors don't have much time, but even so, it's somewhat shocking that it's gone to Letterpile. I still haven't actually read it.

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               DrMark1961posted 23 months agoin reply to this

               I didnt even smile, much less laugh all day. It would definitely be 5 minutes lost never to be regained.

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               theraggededgeposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               The programs are so good these days that it is hard to tell. Although it is easier when you see those stock phrases, especially when the word, 'we' is included.
               
               There is a skill to editing the text to make it more personal and relevant, but people with less-than-fluent English think they can simply paste in the generated text.
               
               I've been looking into this lately as there has been a lot written about AI text generators on Medium.
               
               So here's an example of 'raw' AI text based on the topic in the article:
               
               "If you love to read, but don't always find yourself laughing, then this post is for you. Here we share funny stories from real life. These are funny true stories that will help you stay entertained and amused. They range from silly to sad, and they're sure to bring a smile to your face. So if you need some laughs, then you've come to the right place!
               
               To start off, let's take a look at the story of a man who tried to quit smoking for good. He wanted to become smoke-free so he decided to give up cigarettes and join the Smoke Free program. But it didn't turn out quite how he had hoped..."
               
               We've all seen stuff like this on HP lately. And there's the give away 'we' again. It's okay if you just need a start. It can help break 'writer's block' because you have something to edit. However, if it is left as-is, it's pretty crappy.
               
               Also, check the 'Conclusion', they are almost always introductions

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                  PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

                  As long as the writing is still crappy, we're fine. It doesn't pose an overall threat to writers.
                  
                  HP letting iffy stuff through onto the niches is worrying, though. It undermines the credibility and integrity of the site.
                  
                  (Discover and HP.com don't matter, of course, but Letterpile is a "proper" niche, as far as I'm aware)
                  
                  I can see a day coming where they only allow work by "authorized" writers, people who've proved they're honest and of a sufficient standard.

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                     EricDockettposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                     I hope you are right, but to me, it seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
                     
                     The first thing readers see when they come to an article is a video telling them they've arrived at a site for writers (not readers), so come on and join up.
                     
                     When they go to the home page for a niche site, they are greeted by a button encouraging them to "write for us".
                     
                     If the goal is to improve EAT, how about getting rid of both of those things?
                     
                     Instead, it seems they are casting as wide a net as possible to bring in anyone who can mash their palm on a keyboard.

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                        PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

                        It's definitely been moving in a stricter direction. When I joined HP, there was all sorts of shadiness and substandard stuff going on and it was at epidemic levels. They literally published pretty much anything that wasn't obscene or hate speech.
                        
                        HP always defended it on the grounds that some people needed "time to learn," which could often sound disingenuous. The truth is that people who, say, cheat using software have no intention, or sometimes ability, to become good writers.
                        
                        HP still need to encourage new writers, though, especially in the current climate where many seem to be drifting away.

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                           tsmogposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                           On the note of new writers years ago I use to track silly stuff because of boredom. At that time there was access to hubbers with their stats like current score, how many hubs published, the Topic Tree, and etc through links no longer active. When I use them now they default to just HubPages. I also tracked the About Us page stuff.
                           
                           Anyway on June 23, 2015 from the About Us page there were 63,514 Published Users. Today it is 34,712. There were 851,648 Published Articles. Today it is 627,870. Staff members were 23. Today is 28.
                           
                           I am only offering that info that definitely something has occurred with writers and articles. One could speculate some are gone, yet how or why I dun'no. An interesting other thing to note is Forum Posts back then were 2,733,454 and today is 4,257,908.

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                              PaulGoodman67posted 23 months agoin reply to this

                              Those are very interesting figures, thanks for posting them! I think the quality of the site has improved over the years, but there are less writers. These figures appear to back that up to some extent.
                              
                              I suspect that less new articles have been written in recent times, though, with morale being a key factor.
                              
                              I've kept writing myself, despite losing around 40% of my traffic and 50% of my income over the past 16 months, but I don't think I'm typical.

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                                 tsmogposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                                 Thanks for the info and observations. I should for fun track the About Us page again to see what happens with total published articles and published users to see the trend over month-to-month.

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                     theraggededgeposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                     Re your last paragraph... all I can say is, 'If only'.

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                     Patty Inglish, MSposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                     +++ agreed

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   Jodahposted 23 months ago

   Sadly, none of these stories are even vaguely funny.

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      DrMark1961posted 23 months agoin reply to this

      I like Beth´s comment above; maybe it is cultural. Perhaps in Afghanistan these anecdotes are funny.
      When I lived in Africa many years ago people would tell me a joke that I did not find funny at all. It is like Seinfield--only funny is some areas. When translated his jokes fall flat.

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         Jodahposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         Yes, that is certainly a possibility, DrMark.

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         AliciaCposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         That’s an important point to consider. Thank you to you and Beth for sharing the idea.

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   Misbah786posted 23 months ago

   I'm sorry that no one found your stories amusing; perhaps you have a strange sense of humour, which is fine. I'll take a 360-degree turn and tell you that my stomach and cheeks are aching from laughing so hard. Thank you for making my day brighter.
   I hope you find my comment entertaining. Lol!
   Best wishes and welcome to HP!

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      Jodahposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      

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         Misbah786posted 23 months agoin reply to this

         Perhaps it made someone smile

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            Jodahposted 23 months agoin reply to this

            You make me reflect, and try to be a better person, Misbah.

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               Misbah786posted 23 months agoin reply to this

               John, you are the kindest person I have ever met online! You are an inspiration, my friend!

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