Sincere suggestion to the HubTeam Re: The rating down of hubs

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  1. profile image0
    cosetteposted 14 years ago

    Dear HubTeam:

    I know there have been a few forum threads about this topic, but hear me out please. By the way, this thread refers to the rating down of hubs, not flagging. I have no problem with the flagging feature and see it as a necessary evil. Even if someone misuses it, they have to go through a chain where HubPages staff reads it and knows who they are, so it can't be misused unless the hub itself is problematic.

    Hubscore is important to me, just as it is to many other people. People who have 100 hubscores say 'pfft, it's nothing really' but they would have a heart attack if their hubscore suddenly plummeted.

    I have suggested in the past that we be able to see the IP address of people rating down hubs, and that was nixed, for valid reasons. I have seen other hubbers suggest that rating up AND down be eliminated altogether, and that suggestion was also nixed, citing peer review.

    OK, I accept that one, even though it is often misused.

    Which brings me to my suggestion. My suggestion is that Hubpages keeps the rating UP feature but eliminate the rating DOWN feature. I had a hub about butterflies that was "lively, informative and colorful". You guys liked it, apparently, since you featured it on the front page. That hub had a hubscore of 94 and then the very next day it dropped to 82 and then to 79. Hmm, not hard to figure out what happened there, is it.

    Disgruntled individuals DO in fact rate down the hubs of people they dislike just because they can. Easily. Many hubbers have complained about this. How is rating down a hub part of a peer review process? If someone wants to offer a constructive critque or even object to your hub's content, they can leave a comment to that effect.

    I will tell you why this particluar feature is troublesome for me, as well as others. That hub I wrote about took three hours to write and format and process. It was a fond rememberance of a happy experience that I wanted to share with other hubbers, as well as part of a whole about who I am and what I am about, AND it was timely and marketable, as it was about Spring. So, when you work hard on something like that, something that has absolutely no objectionable content whatsoever, yet someone sneakily comes along quietly rating it down, it is like leaving your shiny new car or a scultpture you worked hard on out there in the street, unprotected, trusting that nothing will happen to it, yet vandals come in the night and chip away at it. I am sure as members of the HubTeam you have never had this happen to you and I expect you wouldn't like it, but the difference is, you can do something about it - We can't.

    People would still be able to rate hubs UP and lovebomb their pals 'til they are blue in the face - They just couldn't go and mess with other people's hard work with the click of a button.

    You could say something like:

    Rate it [UP] or Leave a Comment.

    Thank you.

    Best regards,
    -me

    1. profile image0
      EmpressFelicityposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Was your hub still featured on the front page when its score dropped?

      I'm thinking that if it wasn't, then the inevitable drop in views caused by its disappearance from the front page would account for the drop in hub score.

      1. IntimatEvolution profile image75
        IntimatEvolutionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        I agree totally with this statement.  I would also like to add that it seems maybe YOUR actions towards others, has apparently come back to bite you in the buttocks.  What did you expect?  You bullied people, you were without a doubt a horrible fellow hubber teammate.  What did you expect? 

        Grow up- what comes around goes around.  As for myself, I just stopped reading your witty and fun reading hubs. I liked your style.  But now- well that is a whole different ballgame.

        I will give you this, maybe other hubbers are rating your hubs down.  Which I personally feel is entirely unlikely.  But also, maybe people coming off google, don't like what you wrote.  So deal with it. However- for you to come on here like this, and cry foul and pretend to be innocence in your own devilish activity............, well is really quite silly.  This post sounds extremely paranoid.  But I'd be paranoid too if I acted as you did.

        There are many reasons why a hub loses a hubscore drastically.  The main and most likely reason is that it was taken off the front page.  I have that happen to myself all the time.  Another likely reason, maybe other hubbers like myself, who enjoyed your work have stopped supporting you.  Why?  Why support a bully?  Why support someone hateful and mean?  Seriously Cosette, that is how life works.

    2. pauldeeds profile imageSTAFF
      pauldeedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Your B is for Butterfly hub has not received a single thumbs down, so I think you've jumped to some invalid conclusions there.

      The thumb ratings only have a small influence on the score of a hub, and the algorithm that we use to tally them up are well protected against fraud and "thumbing sprees" (deliberate attempts to manipulate HubScore are also a violation of our terms of service) .  There are many, many hubs that while, not outside of our rules,  I think we'd all agree deserve a thumbs down.  I don't think we are going to get rid of it.  You'll just have to trust us to do the right thing with the data.

      1. Pandoras Box profile image60
        Pandoras Boxposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        I want to bump this up, because I think the staffer's reply is very reassuring. They are paying attention. This does reassure me greatly, because although i have written a couple of hubs that were spur of the moment type things I dashed off within an hour, I don't think they're that great.

        I've been working on single hubs for weeks. I like to research the crap out of topics. Not the type of topics that are going to be big money makers I guess, but it's the stuff I'm really interested in writing.

        All this fuss lately has had me really considering whether or not I want to post stuff here just to have some bored, vengeful psychopath decide they don't like me and come rate it all down and waste all of my hard work.

        So I think this post from the staffer is very reassuring.

      2. Marisa Wright profile image87
        Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        I understand why Cosette is upset because I understand someone is bullying her, so it's understandable if she starts thinking they may be persecuting her in other ways.  It's reassuring to know that's not the case.

        1. frogdropping profile image75
          frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this



          Really? Bullying? Seriously, whoever's behaving in such a manner should hang their head. And we wonder why we can't educate children *sighs*

          1. IzzyM profile image87
            IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            It's the first I've heard about this! You OK, Cosette? Am sorry to hear you are going through this - you were always a shining light in the forums with a bubbly bouncy personailty - I did notice you've been quiet of late.

      3. profile image0
        cosetteposted 14 years agoin reply to this



        really? well, that is very good to know. thanks very much Paul for responding to this, and for explaining about 'thumbing sprees'. you've laid a frequent concern to rest for myself and many other hubbers. this made my HubDay, actually.

        1. IntimatEvolution profile image75
          IntimatEvolutionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          See lookie there..........

          Cosette, you did some really mean things.  You should seriously find some integrity and apologize.  But as for me, I liked you.  I liked your writing style.  I personally love your Project Runway Hubs.  It is my favorite show, for all the reasons you listed in your hub, http://hubpages.com/hub/SQUEE-Project-Runway.  I've read your other project runway hub too. But Squee, is one that I personally have bookmarked of yours.

          But again, your hateful terrorizing of "sock puppets" and the out and out horrible manner in which you conducted yourself in that mess, simply left this hubber with a bad taste in my mouth.

          By the way- my husband loved your article too.  But will I ever be back to check your stuff out, probably not. Why?  Well really think about what I've written here, and you'll have your answer.  All that crap- was soooo below the belt, and entirely uncalled for.  Why should hubbers support a hubber like you, with that type of integrity?

          Believe it or not, just trying to help.

        2. Jeff Berndt profile image72
          Jeff Berndtposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Paul,

          Thanks for the reply to Cosette's question. I, too, was thinking that someone with an axe to grind might be able to go 'round downrating folks' hubs out of spite. It's good to know that if someone tries that, it will be noticed and acted upon.

          Cheers,
          Jeff

        3. Dao Hoa profile image59
          Dao Hoaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you Paul for the reassurance.

    3. Ohma profile image60
      Ohmaposted 14 years ago

      I do not care for the rate down feature so much my self and have only ever used it once. I think though that one down rating would not result in such a drastic change. I think it takes quite a number of down ratings to translate into even a single point drop in the Hubscore. I could be wrong in my understanding but I hope not.

      1. profile image0
        EmpressFelicityposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        I've never used it.  If a hub's bad enough to merit a down rating, then it's bad enough to be flagged for whatever reason, IMO.

        1. kirstenblog profile image78
          kirstenblogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          That seems a reasonable rational to me smile
          I don't think I have ever used the down rating feature on any hub hmm

          When I first started here I was such a newb that I kept rating my own hubs up! lol roll
          I began to wonder if rating really does much when it did F all for my hubs lol

          Ahhh what a silly newbie I was roll

    4. katiem2 profile image60
      katiem2posted 14 years ago

      I feel if you don't have anything good to say move on till you find something you like.  I agree that the down rate should be removed.  I WOULD never rate someone down no matter how I feel about their work.  We are all working hard with little monitary gain for the same goal. 

      Like My Grandma always said, "If you don't have anything good to say just say nothing at all." 

      Interesting post. and I'm just saying.  But hea all of us are smarter than one of us.  Collective thoughts!  You can all count on me for a Rate Up and Never a Rate Down, maybe no rate at all...live and let live.

      Thanks and Peace smile

    5. skyfire profile image75
      skyfireposted 14 years ago

      Mapping proxy IP's to catch troll who rates down hubs will be one thing HP can look at. Hub hopping allows us to rate down some spam hubs(even flagging will do if down button is removed).

    6. earnestshub profile image73
      earnestshubposted 14 years ago

      Thank you for clearing this up Paul. I was wondering what happens if a hub is given a thumbs down.
      Thanks Cosette for bringing the subject up. smile

    7. profile image0
      cosetteposted 14 years ago

      oh hey Earnest. you're welcome!

    8. mega1 profile image78
      mega1posted 14 years ago

      is there any way, short of going to hub staff, that we can know whether hubs have been rated up or down and how many times?  It would be interesting to know when I'm doing something right or wrong.  Just knowing the number of views doesn't tell me what percentage of those viewers like it or didnt - not everyone leaves a comment, that's for sure.

      1. relache profile image67
        relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        That info used to be available, until site users became obsessive about them, and then it was removed from the stats dashboard.

    9. Sally's Trove profile image79
      Sally's Troveposted 14 years ago

      Hub scores are a mystery to all of us (except to the team, of course). That any one Hub goes from 94 to 82 and then 79 the next day means nothing that any of us can decipher regarding what HP does with scoring.

      If you have a quality Hub that violates none of HP's rules, then let its score land where it will.  Chances are, over time, that score will come to be where it should be.

      1. profile image0
        cosetteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        thanks Sally. now that i read Paul's comments it's not going to be a concern of mine anymore.



        'k, now that is an interesting question. maybe it could be included in the hub stats. (?)

    10. hypnodude profile image60
      hypnodudeposted 14 years ago

      "The thumb ratings only have a small influence on the score of a hub, and the algorithm that we use to tally them up are well protected against fraud and "thumbing sprees" (deliberate attempts to manipulate HubScore are also a violation of our terms of service) .  There are many, many hubs that while, not outside of our rules,  I think we'd all agree deserve a thumbs down.  I don't think we are going to get rid of it.  You'll just have to trust us to do the right thing with the data."

      Does this also apply to rating up hubs?

    11. susanlang profile image60
      susanlangposted 14 years ago

      Hello Hubpage Staff, I would like to report a problem with your flag a hub option. In all honesty I saw a hub which gave instuctions on how to use a rope and a plastic bag in order to kill children. When I tried to flag it, the flag option didn't load on my screen correctly and therefore I couldn't flag it.

      1. susanlang profile image60
        susanlangposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        It seems the hub can no longer be found.

        1. tantrum profile image59
          tantrumposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Of course not ! lol

          1. Dao Hoa profile image59
            Dao Hoaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            and rightly so.

          2. susanlang profile image60
            susanlangposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            so are you suggesting it was removed ? If so, by whom? Thank you.

            1. tantrum profile image59
              tantrumposted 14 years agoin reply to this

              I'm not suggesting that.
              It's not the first time it happens.

            2. kirstenblog profile image78
              kirstenblogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

              I expect that a person could have copied the URL and sent one of the staff members an email (avoiding the report button). If I found such a hub and couldn't report it thats what I would do! Send someone like maddie an email with url and why I think it should be looked at asap.

              1. tantrum profile image59
                tantrumposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                I would do that as well, if I find a hub like that. Which I haven't

                1. kirstenblog profile image78
                  kirstenblogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  seems logical. I wouldn't bother for something harmless but crappy, but something like what was described is not something I would want my writing associated with.

              2. susanlang profile image60
                susanlangposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Thanks, good idea Kirstenblog.

            3. rebekahELLE profile image84
              rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

              maybe the poster decided to take it down, or someone else successfully flagged it, or the staff saw it.

              1. susanlang profile image60
                susanlangposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                could have, rebekah.

        2. kirstenblog profile image78
          kirstenblogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          and the hubber who wrote it? I am sincerely shocked that such a hub would be written and wonder about the writer hmm

          1. tantrum profile image59
            tantrumposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            You will never know ! lol I have never seen something like that in here, and I have been nearly 1 year. lol If you know what I mean

            1. susanlang profile image60
              susanlangposted 14 years agoin reply to this

              send me an email and I'll send you the name of the hub member as well as more details about the hub in question. Oh..by the way, do you have a another hub profile name?  Is it "BlondPoet" ?  wink

              1. tantrum profile image59
                tantrumposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                LOL! No, I'm not blond poet. My other profile name is XTASIS

                Send the links to HP

          2. susanlang profile image60
            susanlangposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I agree with you on that Kirstenb. It so violates the hub rules and shows that the huber has NO FEAR or respect for anyone else's rights. What if a young child happen to see the hub in question?

      2. Jeff Berndt profile image72
        Jeff Berndtposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Susan, I'm glad you called this out. If you see something similar In future, I suggest that you start a new forum topic; it's more likely to get noticed quickly.

        1. Uninvited Writer profile image77
          Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Actually, the quickest way is to send an email to team@hubpages.com

          1. Jeff Berndt profile image72
            Jeff Berndtposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, that would be a better idea, wouldn't it? smile

    12. marinealways24 profile image60
      marinealways24posted 14 years ago

      I think there are flaws in the rating system as well, for example, write a religious hub that disagrees with a persons religion, some will vote it down just because it disagrees with their belief.

    13. profile image0
      Audreveaposted 14 years ago

      Hey Cosette, hope all is well? I didn't realise you'd been through the hub-wars recently. I don't spend much time in here.

    14. Maddie Ruud profile image71
      Maddie Ruudposted 14 years ago

      Thread closed at request of OP.

    Closed to reply
     
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