Better Organization Tool For Followers and Hubbers Following.

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   BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

   We need a better way to classify and group our followers and the people we are following,here is my suggestion at the very least.
   
   For Followers.
   
   A way to determine follower loyalty levels,perhaps a simple scoring system only to be seen by you that will tell you how many times a follower has commented on your Hubs and how many times they have shared them by using the share tab.
   
   Add to this the ability to group your followers in a way that you see fit,but at the same time to others your followers will still appear the same way they already do.
   
   For Following.
   
   Again just a way to be able to group them so that you can have easy access to your favorite writers once you are following tons of people.
   
   It's unfortunate,but we reach a point where it becomes too hard to comment on Hubs of every person we follow on a regular basis.It's only natural that there will be a select amount that we tend to read more often and share what we like of theirs.
   
   With systems such as this in place it will also be easier to determine which followers and people that you are following are actual worth your time to be involved with in an internal unique just to you sort of way.
   
   Get it done please Hub Pages,thanks!

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      Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It sounds to me like the follower loyalty you suggest is just another way to check how popular you are among your followers and to see exactly who it is that's reading your hubs.  I don't like it - makes no difference to me who's reading my hubs.  What I enjoy most is the comments, and I know who leaves comments.  Doesn't change how I feel or think about the rest of my followers...but if it looked like a competition or a popularity contest......

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         BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Has nothing to do with popularity,consider it a way to identify who your best friends are in the context of following. No different than a phone plan where you can choose your favorites. Yes you have 500 phone numbers on your phone but only a handful of them are going to be your go to numbers so to speak.

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            Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            (I didn't say I thought it was a popularity contest, just that it sounds like one, to me)
            
            Why would I need an "organizational tool" to tell me who my best friends are on HubPages?  I already know whose writing I like to read, (except those I haven't discovered yet!!)  and they're not difficult to find.

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   maruthirpposted 14 years ago

   We must be able to display hubbers we are following. And that tool must allow us to categorize them. Showing our followers is not our intention actually. hubpages must allow to show them that are of our intention.

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      BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry maruthirp,could you clarify for me. Are you agreeing with me for the need for such abilities?

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   lrohnerposted 14 years ago

   Personally, I think it's a total waste of time and resources. I mean, what difference does it make how many times a follower has commented on your hubs? I just don't get it. And why would you be following anyone that isn't one of your favorite writers? I don't get that either.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I have to agree. I know I have followers but I could not possible keep up with over 1,000 of them.
      
      To me, following someone means you like their writing and the same if someone follows you. It doesn't come with conditions on how many times they read or comment on or pass on your hubs.

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   BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

   So you are going to tell me that you read every bit of material for every single person you are following,I seriously doubt it unless you only follow a handful.
   
   I don't follow a ton,but there are only a handful of the people I follow that I usually like everything they publish,because of the current system where the people I'm following are in no particular order i am forced to waste my time scrolling down through the list of them and checking their newest hub titles 1 by 1.
   
   With the system set up the way I suggest rather than the ones I favor their works more often being mixed in with the ones who only on occasion write something I fancy, I could more easily determine what I want to read.
   
   As for being able to see who commented on and how often they commented and shared your work,that again would be a tool to save you time. Personally I don't want to follow anyone that isn't going to scratch my back on occasion when I go out of my way to scratch theirs.
   
   Can you do this tracking with the current system? Certainly you can,but not in a quick enough manner for my liking. I don't want to go through and correlate all of this info all of the time by jumping from profile to profile and page to page,it's just a pain in my ass.

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      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That is completely not the point of following, and I find it repulsive that you are suggesting admin make that the focus of the follower relationship.

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         Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         agreed.  (thanks for putting it into words - I was having difficulty with it)

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         wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Well put.  I always find it funny when my hubber scores hits 100 - I always get a handful of new followers.  Ones that, strangely enough, have very recently followed a bunch of other high hubber scores. 
         
         Somehow it doesn't seem to be the point of following, at least to me, and I don't think it is the point from admin either.  These forums are as close to facebook, twitter, etc. as I would like to see HP get.

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            BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thus the need for my system where you could group the people following you just to follow you into one category and always be able to easily identify them. Exactly the point of what I'm aiming at here why should your true followers be mixed into one list with those types!

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               Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               How do you know someone is following you just to follow you unless you turn around and look them in the eyes?
               
               
               (sorry, couldn't resist!!)

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                  BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Exactly what the part of this system I recommend would indicate in a clearer light Rafini by showing only you (not everyone else) what a follower has done in relation to commenting on and sharing your hubs.

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                     BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     And as for if they are following me just to try to gain a benefit of me reciprocating to them the same service then more power to them!

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                     Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     can you not see whether or not your followers have commented on your hubs when you approve your comments?
                     
                     can you not see whether or not your followers have commented on your hubs when you visit your own hubs?
                     
                     can you not see whether or not your followers have commented on your hubs when you look over the list of hubs YOU have commented on? (because surely you reply to their comments, right?  If you don't - How Dare You?  I want everyone to reply to the comments I make, otherwise I'm gonna make a threat back at them!!)
                     
                     I addressed my thoughts on sharing in another post.
                     
                     How do you intend to turn around and look another Hubber in the eyes?? 
                     
                     Seriously, what you're asking to be able to do, you must remember Everyone would be able to do, and it could backfire on you.  Say you followed me and I followed you, okay?  And I shared 5 of your hubs but you shared none of mine.  I'd then choose to stop following you because you refused to share my hubs, but, at the same time, 35 hubbers you follow (who also follow you) stop following you for the same reason.  Wouldn't your organizational tool then be backfiring on you?

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                        BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        I have covered this from every angle and made a clear cut case for the need of this type of change. Now you are just repeating over and over again the same thing and making my case for this change stronger.
                        
                        As there is nothing new to say,I am done!

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                           Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                           lol   apples and oranges, I guess.  I thought it was making your case weaker.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I have an idea...don't do any tracking... then it won't be a pain for you.
      
      I don't read every thing everyone I follow writes, as they all don't read everything I write. I also don't follow 1165 people...
      
      When you follow someone you get an email of what they have posted, if it looks interesting to me I will read it if not I will pass. And I don't always comment after I read. I will comment when I think I have something to add.

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   BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

   Sorry you are unable to see the big picture,but personally I will not follow people for long for example that don't take the time to read and comment on some of my hubs or will not post a reply comment to my comments on their hubs.
   
   Different strokes for different folks I suppose,but I consider my time and efforts to be of value and like in any aspect of my life tend to not waste them on non fruit bearing situations.

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      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      From where I'm standing, the big picture is that followers are free to follow whomever they wish for whatever reasons are important to them, read whichever of my Hubs they wish and engage in whatever commenting behavior they choose.
      
      If you want to play tit for tat, go to a social networking site.  That's what they are there for.

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         BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         This is no different than a social site it's just wrapped in a prettier wrapper!

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            Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Actually, you are wrong. The vast majority of users never visit the forums.

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               BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               But even with the abilities afforded to a hub such as commenting and sharing it is still just a different form of a social site.

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            Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            How many social sites encourage you to write articles, sign up for AdSense, Amazon, and Kontera or eBay?  How many social sites allow you to earn money?
            
            I honestly don't have a clue if they do or not...lol...the only social sites I'm on are Facebook and MySpace - and neither of them offer revenue sharing.

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               BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               There are a ton! Just a couple  YouSayToo and Xomba.

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                  Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  do they do revenue sharing?  where you write articles, like here on HP?  I've heard of them, here in the forums, but I'm not interested in them.  Do they have a system of followers?  Do they allow you to 'organize' your followers however you choose?
                  
                  The point is, what's the entire point in being able to organize your followers?  You can get a daily email telling you who wrote a hub within the past 24 hours, so you can read it, and if you already know who your favorites are you're able to go right to their hubs and read.  Same for your best friends on HP.  Then, of course, on your HP home page is a collection of recently published hubs from your favorites.  And another list, of hubtivity, on your profile, to tell you who's published a hub recently - and it can include all hubbers, not just the people you follow.  So, why an organizational tool?  Why another tool to search recent hubs?  It seems unnecessary.
                  
                  As for the thought of knowing who is sharing your hubs...why is that so important?  I mean, the sharing option is a recent thing, isn't it?  What if nobody ever shares your hubs, then what? 
                  
                  As for the intention of followers, I can't answer that question, considering the fact I didn't create the system.  But, I can honestly say I don't care if anyone shares my hubs or not.  It isn't being hypocritical, considering I don't write my hubs just to have them shared.  My purpose in writing hubs is to write, to learn, to create, and to gain experience.  Where does sharing come in?  It doesn't.  Not everyone here, on HP, cares about how much money they could possibly earn.

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                     BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     Yes they do all of those things just in a different format,and no none of them that I'm aware of have any sort of system of sorting your followers and those following you. So in a way this could also be a selling point for why Hub Pages is better by differentiating themselves by being the first to have this system.
                     
                     No matter if there is a thousand new tools on here it does not mean you have to use them.

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                        Rafiniposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        You didn't answer the questions:  The point is, what's the entire point in being able to organize your followers?  So, why an organizational tool?  Why another tool to search recent hubs?
                        
                        With so many tools already available, why another?

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            relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Actually it is different. 
            
            And as someone who successfully pays the rent writing here, I'd like it to not degenerate into one of those social sites.

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               BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               How would my suggestion degenerate it in any way. You attack without reading the whole thing. I am suggesting a means for people to arrange their followers in the way they see fit only to be seen by you on your pages.
               
               As for it encouraging people to do anything you disapprove of it would not. Are you naive enough to believe that mutual benefiting does not already occur here on Hub Pages.
               
               If you choose to not sort your followers in that manner then that would be your choice or you would have the ability to sort them in any manner you see fit based on any criteria.
               
               Why is it so hard to understand that it would just be more convenient over all to be able to have the people following you that you choose to have at the forefront rather than having to scroll through a list of many to find them.

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   GmaGoldieposted 14 years ago

   BenjaminB,
   
   I like the general concept.  What about a turn around - where there are accolades or merit badges given to those that help.  For instance, if someone has good Hubs but cannot spell or type - if you help them out and they follow your suggestion you gain points or badges for helping.
   
   All of us need help - it would need to be anonymous on both sides.
   
   You are right, if we spend the time we should have the reward.  If content is king, maybe we could have a reach out program that rewards the helping elves - if you will.
   
   Just a crazy suggestion.

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      BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting concept Goldie but not really the aim of what I am getting at. If I took the time to help a person in that manner I would just hope that they would take it upon themselves by helping me on occasion by sharing my work with others.
      
      Call me greedy,but I just don't believe in participating in one way streets too often. Not to say I don't on occasion,but when it comes to a money making venture the majority of the time it needs to be reciprocal to an extent in my opinion.
      
      Thanks for the added suggestion

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   BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

   This will be the last post I make on here because I should have realized this thread would once again bring attacks from the elitists.
   
   There is no one on here that can say that the intention of followers is not  the hope that they will share your work with others. If you do say you don't care then you are just being hypocritical as that is the intention of every following program on any site.
   
   If you follow people and don't at times share their work with your friends on other sites then simply put you are a worthless follower.
   
   If this offends anyone I really don't care because I've always been the kind of guy to have the courage to point out things that most people don't have the courage to, and I fear no retribution fro m having the balls to do so.
   
   Ultimately this is online marketing and as such I treat it like a business. Just like with a real brick and mortar business the people that I do business with should be willing and able to help me build my business when I go out of my way to help build theirs.
   
   It's not an issue of like or dislike on a personal level and I'm not saying that I'm going to share everything I read of the people I'm following or expect them to do the same. I just want an easier way to identify those people who hand in hand we have chosen to help each other out more often than the other followers and people following.
   
   If this offends you then more than likely you fall into the category of not being a worthwhile follower,or don't take the proper time to ensure you reciprocate to your loyal followers.
   
   Peace out!!

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      Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not an HP elitist.
      
      I agree with you only out of a sense of curiosity and not for any tit for tat.  I follow people who interest me. That doesn't mean I read every post they create, but it does mean that some of what they do will interest me. I do not care at all whether they follow me or leave comments or even know that I exist - I am following them because I am interested in them, not because I may get something else from them.
      
      Yes, I hope MY followers will sometimes share my hubs, but I share exceptional hubs because they are exceptional hubs and for no other reason.  I would hope that anyone sharing mine would be doing so for the same reasons. I detest the kind of mutual stroking you suggest.
      
      So, I'll join in the disdain for your motives, but support the idea because you never know what you might want to know. I'd like to be able to list followers by date. I'd like to know what hub they read just before following. I'd like to know the last time they read any hub of mine. Those are things I could use to improve my writing.  Some of your ideas could serve the same purpose.

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         BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         For people being great writers I'm often shocked at their inability to read something and understand it for exactly what it says. My suggestion is not based on shunning people for not doing what I want them to do.
         
         It is simply a suggestion for a way to categorize my followers in the way I see fit,only to be seen by me on a page to be used as I see fit.
         
         If for any reason anyone could imagine would it not be better to be able to take your absolute favorites and pluck them from the list and have them and their Hub activities more easily viewed by you. Yes it would be.
         
         Or say you have actual friends on here and would rather see them in a separate group rather than mixed in with the masses of your followers or the people you follow.
         
         See there are many reasons why this would be a great change for everyone.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   This is not an attack...geez. People disagree with you...
   
   
   

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      BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Was not really aiming that at you Uninvited Writer,lol. Just a couple others that in the underlying text of their disagreement I could tell that they were insinuating that i was some kind of slimy creature for suggesting this.

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   Pcunixposted 14 years ago

   It just happened that as I finished my previous post, I got my 299th follower.
   
   You might not understand this, but I was actually a little unhappy about that because it was a back-follow from someone I had followed this morning.
   
   Now, if that person checked me out and found me interesting, I'm happy he followed. If not, I'm unhappy because I would rather have ten people who really are interested than three hundred or three thousand who don't.
   
   So, for my own reasons, I'd like to know who is real and who isn't. I'd like to know if I have ten real  people or a hundred. So again, I support your ideas, though for very different reasons.

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      BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Pcunix you just made the break through here,that I had just stated above!

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    ADDHomeposted 14 years ago

    I'm not very active here, and I have few followers.  But I can see some good value from BB's idea, for a lot of reasons - the ones he mentioned, the ones PCUN mentions, some reasons I don't know how to put into words, etc.  Just like any other tool, the people who find it useful will?wd use it and the ones who don't won't.  Does everyone use all of the other tools here?  No.  Maybe those other tools don't steer them towards their goals, or maybe they just haven't learned of their usefulness yet.  Anyhoo, I kind of really like this idea - especially for the day when everyone on hubpgs loves me and becomes my followers.  :0

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       BenjaminBposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks ADDHome you put it very well.

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    wildernessposted 14 years ago

    For myself, I don't need to categorize my followers into those I like and those I don't read.  It is already done in my "following" list - those writers that write hubs I might be interested in are listed there, along with a very small number that I have followed for other reasons.
    
    Nor do I need to categorize my "following" list - I do not follow people just because they followed me.  I follow because I like their writing.  Nor do I use links to their hubs because they followed me; any links I leave are because I believe the reader will have an enhanced experience.

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