A House Full of Great People in this Once-Beautiful Home

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   boxelderredposted 11 days ago

   When I joined and started writing on HubPages five years ago, I was welcomed first by a guy named Bill Holland.  From what I could see at the time, he was kind of a patriarch for a vibrant community here at that time.  He sent me my first Fan Mail - “Welcome to HP!” he wrote, and man was that a thrill for me—a fan!  Are you kidding me? 
   
   And then next in line was Jodah, John Hansen: “Welcome. I like your writing.” 
   
   Annart embraced me immediately, too, and I developed a super special writing and correspondence relationship with the BraveWarrior.  The friendship I had with her was just what I needed when the world was going to sh*t in a Covid-19 hand basket. 
   
   There were many, many more great friends and acquaintances, too, of course.  And the community was grand, the relationships were special, there was lots of encouragement for each others’ writings and there was abundant and positive daily interaction…it was in my view the superior predecessor community to places like Medium and Substack.
   
   Both of those platforms have long since eclipsed this place, though, becoming the “suburbs” while the inner city here at HubPages began to wither and rot and move toward falling off the vine entirely.  Long neglected by ownership, this closure message we received today was all but inevitable.
   
   To wit: 1-day, 7-day and 30-day numbers on my account have been the same for an entire third of a year now:  “Includes data from 4 months ago and earlier” it says at the top of my stats page.  Haha!  Awesome. 
   
   I’m the fool, here, though, because when I wrote personally and asked the HP team if that stuck odometer was going to be unstuck, I believed it when they told me, “Yes.  We are working on it.” 
   
   I’m going to salvage my goods over coming days.  I don’t expect to be here at all by the Feb ’26 deadline, most likely even sooner than that. 
   
   In my view, it didn’t have to end this way, of course.  HP could have beaten Substack to the punch in the long-form writing platform area with just a modicum of vision and drive.  My assessment, though, is that whoever owns vision at The Arena Group has none.   
   
   Maybe, too, though, they grew weary of all the partisan political bullsh*t discourse that comprised the vast majority of the activity on this site for the past year or longer.  Decided to move away from that, rinse the hands and start anew.  Who knows?
   
   Speculation won’t bear any productive fruit, though, so I’ll stop there.  Time for me to start sweeping up the wreckage in front of my account’s house and start putting stuff that’s still useable somewhere else.

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      Jodahposted 11 days agoin reply to this

      I just read that “inevitable” email, Greg. We have all seen it coming for sometime. It was obvious from the start that TAG were not invested in HubPages from the start of the takeover. Every move they made diminished the once wonderful site. I have been slowly copying and moving content, but I still have a lot to either copy or delete.
      What I miss most is communicating with many of the friends I made here. Fortunately I still have contact elsewhere or at least through email. You being one.
      I always had hopes that HubPages would be sold and resurrected, but unfortunately that was a pipe dream. I wish everyone I have ever had contact with here very well in their future endeavours.

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         bravewarriorposted 11 days agoin reply to this

         Amen, John! I wonder if Bill has seen the notification. I know he's been busy doing his own thing the past few years and hasn't popped into the forums in a long, long time. With all the friends he's made here, I'm sure one of us will let him know that a funeral is in order.
         
         Keep in touch, John!

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            Jodahposted 11 days agoin reply to this

            Thanks, Shauna. I will notify Bill, just in case no one else has.

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               boxelderredposted 11 days agoin reply to this

               Thanks to both of you, Sha Sha and John!  My time here was made immeasurably better by the friends I made, you two at the top of the list.  I hope you both find joy and happiness in your other endeavors, and I hope we keep in touch on the odd occasion as time marches on.

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                  bravewarriorposted 11 days agoin reply to this

                  +1000%!

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                  Jodahposted 11 days agoin reply to this

                  I am sure we will!

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               bravewarriorposted 11 days agoin reply to this

               Thanks, John!

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      bravewarriorposted 11 days agoin reply to this

      Those were the days, huh Box? We haven't touched base in a while. We need to fix that, doncha think? I'll be in touch.
      
      Love,
      Sha

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      Kenna McHughposted 10 days agoin reply to this

      Yup! We had a thriving community of writers. It's officially over. It's about time they told us because we already knew the elephant was in the room.

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         Jodahposted 10 days agoin reply to this

         Yes, Kenna, it was just a matter of when.

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   Genna Eastposted 11 days ago

   So as predicted, the end is here.  I agree with John that HP was once a wonderful site, with a unique, supportive and engaging writing community that has been truly missed.  And I join him in wishing everyone luck and future success.  :-)

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   Rupert Taylorposted 11 days ago

   I suppose I'm kind of used to this sort of thing. As a journalist by trade for more than half a century I've seen many newspapers, magazines, etc. fold under me. In such crises I've tried to maintain a Wilkins Micawber belief that "Something will turn up." And, something always has. Although, now at 82, I'm less optimistic than during previous publishing calamities now that AI writes without the need for compensation.
   
   I've got an article in the hopper ready to go, so I'll post it. It's about Gustave a humungous crocodile in Burundi with a taste for human flesh. Perhaps, there's a metaphor there for what's happened to HubPages, although it might require setting a new world record in stretching a link.
   
   I am particularly sorrowful for all those people in the Indian sub-continent selling digital marketing courses. How are they going to rustle up new clients without HP's forum?
   
   I have 60 or 70 article ideas ready to be worked up. Anybody want to buy them? Anybody? Thought so.
   
   So, farewell and remember to keep your stick on the ice.
   
   Rutabagas rule.

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      bravewarriorposted 11 days agoin reply to this

      I'll miss you and your rutabagas, Rupert!

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      Jodahposted 10 days agoin reply to this

      Don’t let those rutabaga’s rot, Rupert.

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   quotationsposted 11 days ago

   This is a sad end to a once great site. I will miss the genuine authors and quality articles, which existed in spite of the Indian spam. I learned a lot from you, even though I often just lurked.
   
   Goodbye to Hubpages and to all of you.

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      Jodahposted 10 days agoin reply to this

      And you.

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   billybucposted 10 days ago

   It has been an honor to interact with all of you. If not for the support of so many on this site, my writing career would have ended before it began. I wish you all well and thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

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      Jodahposted 10 days agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Bill. You too.

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      Genna Eastposted 10 days agoin reply to this

      You as well, Bill!  :-)

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   vidsagsterposted 9 days ago

   I will miss my HubPages friends, especially Bill, John, Brenda, Chitrangada, Vanitha, Pamela, Ann, Liz, Nithya and others. I have learnt a lot and have grown as a writer in the past six years. It was a wonderful platform for budding writers. HubPages fostered connections that transcended geographical boundaries, including the Indian Subcontinent and other continents as well. The unique blend of writers with their contributions helped us have a glimpse of the rich and varied traditions and culture from all over the world and enriched us. HubPages valued the contributions made by every member, giving importance to quality and excellence of work and without disparities of any kind. I am grateful to the platform for the opportunity to write and publish, for the friendships made and the wisdom shared by the writers. I wish the very best to all my writer friends here.

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      bravewarriorposted 9 days agoin reply to this

      Well said!

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 days agoin reply to this

      Well summed up Vidya ji.
      Thank you for the mention.
      For the last 14 years HubPages has become an important part of my life. Grateful to the platform, for giving us the opportunity to grow and learn as a writer and the best part, making friends with like minded people, all over the World.
      Best wishes to everyone!

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7. 86

   Jodahposted 9 days ago

   Thank you so much for your kind words, Vidya. Yes, it is a sad day, but I too am grateful for all the wonderful friendship made here with great writers like yourself. I also wish only the best for you.

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   Nell Roseposted 9 days ago

   This is going to feel really weird. I've been on here since well 2009 if I remember correctly! I have many of you on friends at Facebook but I did have to change my account last year, long story, so if I've missed you give me a yell at Nell rose on there. Sad to see this go. I'll be saving some articles for ebooks

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   wildernessposted 9 days ago

   A sad, but not unexpected, notice that I'm just now seeing.  It has been interesting to look over the names posting here - names I haven't seen or conversed with for years now.
   
   HubPages has been good to me over the years, and I am sad to see it end.  I shall miss the friends made here, and I shall miss the income HP provided at a time I needed it.  I had rather hoped to see 6 figures as an all time income, but that is not to happen - still, I would not be where I am financially without HP. 
   
   Best wishes to my fellow hubbers - I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.  A special "Thank You" to Paul and Robin, for none of this could have happened without them.

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    Janda Rakerposted 3 days ago

    I too am sad that the time has come for HubPages to fold. I appreciate suggestions and models from several of you! I had written for several years for Examiner, had 29 travel articles on it and was still contributing, and I got paid a small sum every month. Then the site went to all pop culture, and I had to start over. I chose HubPages. But I soon realized that it wasn't going to pay even as much as Examiner, and I lost my enthusiasm. (Though the main goal wasn't monetary but reaching an audience.)  So I only published 7 articles on HubPages, while trying to bolster my enthusiasm. But it's not to be. I never even made "pay-out." I've enjoyed having a site to refer potential fans to, and I hope to find another that will suit the purpose! Good wishes to all of you!

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       boxelderredposted 3 days agoin reply to this

       Best wishes to you, Janda.  I hope you find exactly what you're looking for.  I'm heartbroken to have to have pulled my writings from here, but over time I'll rebuild elsewhere.  For me it also couldn't have been about the money, but more about 'sharing my art' than anything else.  Good luck!

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    Janda Rakerposted 3 days ago

    Thanks, boxelderred! Sounds like we're in the same boat. I hope other folks on here will share what they know about other venues for our writing! I've had my material online to share for about 15 years, and I hate to give it up now!  Good luck to you too!!

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