New Terminology

1. 87

   Marisa Wrightposted 14 years ago

   In the past, HubPages has changed the terminology for things.  I'd like to suggest another change for the next upgrade:
   
   1.  Change "followers" to "subscribers"
   
   (thanks to Ryankett for this one).  This might reduce the amount of spammy followers or the annoying pressure towards reciprocal following.  It is a much more accurate word for what a follower should be.
   
   2. Change "elite" to "volunteer"
   
   3.  Change "Answers" to "Requests", so it's clearer that questioners are requesting a Hub rather than just asking a question.

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   1. 67

      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      My thoughts:
      
      1) it doesn't matter what you change the word to be, it's always going to be a spam-laden contest due to the use of similar features on social networking sites and the fact that it's on public display.  Making it so that the follower count didn't show to anyone but the author alone would be a better fix.
      
      2) The Elite titles should instead reflect what those folks actually do:  Greeters, Mob, Challenges and Nuggets.  That way you'd know who you were talking to and what their affiliation is.
      
      3) Answers should go back to the original "Hub Requests" as just plain "requests" still leaves the door wide open for the endless stupidity we have now.

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      1. 0

         Michael E. Hortonposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hello, hope you are having a great day.

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      2. 87

         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I don't remember it being called "Hub Requests" - perhaps before my time. What a sensible title, let's have that back please!   And if HubPages admin doesn't like that title, could they please explain why???

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         1. 85

            Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Maybe they want those inane questions.  No, I cannot imagine why either.
            
            If they were supoosed to be hub requests, why allow answers? 
            
            Why have any of it anyway?  You could have a forum for hub requests and a forum for brainless questions if we need it (and again I do not know why we do).

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         2. 83

            Whitney05posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            It was 'Requests' before, but 'Hub Requests' would make the section more clear.
            
            
            I don't mind about the first two, but something needs to be done to better define the answers section to reduce the spam and crap.

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   2. 98

      Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      I 100% agree with these suggestions - good job Marisa (and Ryan). I had my elite badge removed because the word didn't sit comfortably with me and I always preferred volunteer.
      
      The changes to subscribers and requests I prefer as well.

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2. 71

   KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

   All very good suggestions. 
   
   I turned in my "elite" badge.    Now I'm just me....KCC.

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   1. 0

      shazwellynposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi KCC... Im surprised you are just you again   but then there will never be another you and a title hasnt changed who you are either.  Do you think the elite title has value?  Do you get more exposure?  Would you rather have had 'greeter' as a title?  I am just interested  
      
      In fact... why not write a hub about it?  I love to see an alternative perspective!

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3. 87

   rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

   I don't really have a problem with 'followers'. it's already been changed within the past few months, I don't see a reason to make another change.
   
   the labels don't bother me. elite is somewhat misinterpreted, but not a big deal. 
   
   my 2 cents.

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4. 72

   thranaxposted 14 years ago

   I like Elite. I dont see any problem with that. Followers isnt really as bad as it was. Im afraid that if its labeled "Subscribers" then people will think Hubpages is a BLOGGING Platform.
   
   The reason why Elite Fits is who new to hubpages would listen to a Volunteer? The word does give more emphasis for a positive response. It also makes me feel happy. I told all my Friends "Hey Im an Elite here, I made my Mark Somewhere!" Just being a volunteer isnt really that special. "Oh hey I volunteered on this website" "Oh cool..."
   
   Everyone who uses Hubpages is essentially a "Volunteer" because they arnt paid directly to be here.
   
   Answers should be Requests, this is the only one I agree upon.
   
   ~thranax~

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   1. 74

      sofsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know about the others but I am with you Marissa on the followers bit.  Yup and  the answers to request, I don't  know how to answer these questions to the person who asks them. Some are not worth making a hub about.
      Is there a provision for this , I don't want to write personal mail to everyone.

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   2. 85

      Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I think it stops some of us.  I know it stops me.  I would be happy to volunteer for anything, but I would NOT want that "e" thing.  A "v" for "volunteer, fine, but as long as it is "e", I will not volunteer.

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5. 64

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   "subscribers" does seem more grown-up and more accurate.  After all, we all know a lot of those "followers" aren't really "following" (and in the case of some who follow out of less than genuine motives, "followers" seems creepy, to boot).
   
   I can see how "volunteer" makes sense.  On the other hand, I don't have an "issue" with "elite".  People can look it up to see what it means; and if they do, they ought to just think, "Oh.  So that's what that means."  In a way, though, "volunteer" suggests anyone can do it, and aren't "elite" supposed to have x amount of traffic?  I always thought the combination of volunteering and traffic was made up "elite".
   
   Either way, I like the suggestions (for that's worth or not worth).

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6. 81

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   Thats the first I have heard of  a traffic component to the elite programs.
   
   I have no issue with the "e" myself, I think the ability to live life, write hubs AND volunteer time selflessly to these volunteer programs is an "elite" activity.
   
   Offline and On - volunteers are the most elite of people in my eyes.
   
   elite "the best of class" - superachievers
   
   but the more specific title of each volunteer program does make the most sense ( as suggested above )
   
   But it would be hard to create an identifiable icon for each facet of the volunteer programs

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   1. 64

      Lisa HWposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I just looked it up.  Apparently I'm wrong about the traffic thing.  I could swear that when I first saw the "strange e's" showing up and looked it up, there was something about "x number" (in terms of traffic).   Maybe I'm wrong, or else maybe they changed it ages ago.   Either way, ooops.   

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7. 76

   skyfireposted 14 years ago

   Whoa. Up vote to all 3 suggestions.

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8. 64

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   I missed that Number 3 about "questions versus requests".  I liked the old, "requests" better.  I think that whole question thing needs a complete make-over anyway.  It's horrible (IMHO  ).  I "love" "is my boyfriend coming back to me?" and "what's this thing on my arm?"   

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9. 84

   wychicposted 14 years ago

   I don't really have an opinion on followers or elite -- I tend to ignore anyone pressuring for reciprocal following anyway, I only follow the people I'm interested in -- but I also definitely agree about changing answers back to requests. I really like being able to put a short answer in, especially for questions that I've already answered with a hub and would like to let them know about it (alternatively, I wouldn't mind just being able to enter the URL for an existing hub and have it show up in the responses rather than having to write a new one), but it does seem like there's a lot more complete garbage there now than when it was simply requests.

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   1. 85

      Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Wouldn't  answering with existing hubs possibly lead to self promotion abuse?
      
      It's unfortunate, because often an existing hub IS a good answer for a question, but allowing that could lead to too much abuse, perhaps?

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      1. 84

         wychicposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         It could, but we're allowed to do it now with a copy/pasted URL...there is a flagging system in place that attempts to eliminate/hide unrelated answers, which may very well work better if there's not hundreds of complete junk questions in there every day and people can actually see the value-adding requests. I personally really like being able to do this because a) after I see the same question a certain number of times, I write a hub about it even if I was only short-answering before (stand by for a hub on "Do people actually earn money on Hubpages") and b) if it's something that I know well and, therefore, am qualified to answer...I've often already written a detailed hub on the exact thing they're asking for.

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      2. 83

         Whitney05posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         They started the section intending for it to be an ideabank from hubbers to hubbers. It was a place to get ideas for hubs.
         
         That's why there's an option to answer with a short answer or answer by writing a complete hub.
         
         No self promotion, it's just fulfilling the original intent of the section, although, not many people realize that was the intent.
         
         
         
         You can post a link to a hub answering the question if you already have a hub on the question's topic. I asked that when the section was revised to how it is today. They said that was fine.

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   2. 64

      Lisa HWposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I kind of don't like that we can't do a REALLY short answer, though.   Some questions are things like, "How old is Queen Elizabeth?" (or something like that), and you can't just answer with "250" ().  Instead, you get the "your answer it too short."  Lots of times I'll just skip the question because I don't feel like trying to think up "padding" over a question that only really requires a two-word answer.

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10. 77

    Aficionadaposted 14 years ago

    I'm musing on another idea about the answers/requests section.  Could there be a way to vote the question itself up or down, and if it received a certain number of down votes, it would be hidden (not actually deleted) the way the answers are?  I'm sort of thinking out loud here.  Not sure of all of the possible implications.

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11. 75

    Mighty Momposted 14 years ago

    I preferred when followers were fans.
    Followers seems too "Twitter like" to me. But this is not a big issue for me.
    
    Ask a question is a tough one. One of the techniques of HubGreeters is to ask newbies a question. The intent is to encourage them to write a hub. It gets weird (I feel) when 6 OTHER people answer the question but the newbie doesn't!
    I think I much prefer "Request a Hub" and dispense with "Ask a Question."
    
    As to Elite vs. Volunteer. It is true there are quite a few Hub Pages programs for which Hubbers volunteer their time. They are not all the same. And a little script "e" in the corner of a Hubber's profile pic doesn't tell you whether they are a Greeter* or Challenge, Mob or Nuggets. I suppose a good way to handle that is to have a central repository list so if you were curious you could click on the "e" and see which hubbers are doing which volunteer work.
    There ARE codes of conduct and standards to participate. In other words, volunteering is not wide open to anyone.
    If the word "Elite" is offputting to people,perhaps we could put a "C" for "Challenge" an "M" for "Mob" an "N" for Nuggets in the corner of people's photo/avatar.
    However, if we are going to go with this, I (personally) would prefer that the *Greeters revert back to our old name -- HubFREAKS . And I would want "sf" for Super Freak

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    1. 64

       Lisa HWposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Mighty Mom, I've seen that thing where a question is directed at one person.  If I see that I'll ignore it, but I've always assumed it happens when someone requests a Hub from a specific Hubber (I've gotten those e.mails), but the question is "up for grabs" because someone asked it.
       
       In other words, I've never really know how some stuff works on the questions thing.  I've seen that you (and some other "frequent-question people") ask a lot of questions and say things, "write a Hub about _____", and I've just always thought, "Wow.  This person really likes trying to come up with ideas for other people."      I've even wondered, "I wonder why they just don't write the Hub themself."         (Now I know - live and learn.       It's just that I've never really had reason to look into that "behind-the-scenes" kind of stuff if it didn't apply to me.     )  (Some things we learn when we sign up.  Then some new things happen, and if we don't have reason to look into them, we never learn how they work on here.)

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    2. 87

       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I LOVE the idea of Hubfreaks!

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12. 74

    Hauntyposted 14 years ago

    When we ask a question it's always intended to fuel the creation of a hub. HubGreeters don't really want quick facts in the form of short answers.
    
    Consider this. Some Greeters will even research keywords for the topic of their question and deliver it correctly worded, packed with these keywords. This question can then transfer into a great hub title. When this is done and you receive a short answer or no answer at all, it's rather disheartening.

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13. 60

    Jane@CMposted 14 years ago

    I'm don't like followers and never have. I'd like it to go back to fans.  Subscriber is a nice word too.
    
    As far as the "e", we are still hubbers, normal everyday people.  I like the super freak name for greeters .  When we greet, its not as easy as just seeing a list of new hubbers who have joined and saying welcome, we have to weed through a good deal of stuff!  I don't want people to get the wrong idea of the "e" either, I'm still just me.
    
    The answers page could use an update.  I like Hub Requests!

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14. 77

    Aficionadaposted 14 years ago

    I have wondered a little about followers/fans/subscribers too.  Is there any actual benefit in knowing who it is who is a fan?  For me, there is a bit of an ego boost, for sure.  But in sort of comparing it to subscribers of a newspaper or magazine - would the writers really need to know who the subscribers are?  Does that help them to write better?  I don't know... again, just musing....

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15. 0

    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    I really dislike Elite. In fact I dislike the whole notion of special hubbers, who are more important than others. Everyone contributes in their own way to make HP what it is. (Like KCC I also turned in my e.)

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    1. 82

       habeeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I pretty much feel the same about the "e." It doesn't bother me for others to have it, but it just isn't me.

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16. 0

    khmohsinposted 14 years ago

    Well, I agree on new terminology. I dont know when i follow someone whether he follows me or not, so subscribers is more suitable.

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