What does "Hot" mean on HubPages?

1. 98

   Sally's Troveposted 16 years ago

   First and most important about the thread I'm starting:  I am not resurrecting an old argument about family values or morality on HubPages (that's been beaten to death).  So, let's get that straight.  What I want to know is why "sexy" Hubs get precedence in the "Hot" pages over Hubs with "green", timely, and meaningful content. 
   
   I am amazed that my most recent Hub on charitable giving, at this moment, occupies the first page of "Hot" hubs, right along with 5 "sexy" galleries.  (All of this grading and scaling is, as you know, subject to change every few minutes.)  Is my Hub on charitable giving (along with stevemark's and constant walkers's Hubs which are not in any way related to sexy galleries) to be equated with the content of sexy galleries? The way it looks in this snapshot, is that my hub on charitable giving has the same worth as a sex gallery.
   
   So, I've come up with a thought to share with you, and I am guessing that you have had this thought as well.  In our times, sexy galleries and galleries of the mind compete in the same territory of attention.
   
   In the internet world, perhaps sex is more valued than history, tradition, creative promise, and introspection.
   
   Where does HubPages fall into this dynamic?

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   1. 58

      Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      As opposed to the "real" world, where history, tradition, creative promise, and introspection are much more highly valued than sex?
      
      Everyone knows you can sell anything using creative promise

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   2. 66

      relacheposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      HubPages definition of a hot Hub refers specifically to Hubs with more recent traffic.
      
      http://hubpages.com/faq/#hot_best_latest
      
      IMO the "precedence" you speak of is really just a reporting of popularity with the HubPages audience, and not something that is purposely being done by HubPages admin.

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      1. 98

         Sally's Troveposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I know that, relache.  And that is not my question.  My question is, where does HubPages fall into this dynamic of going along with what the traffic is.  And how does HP assign a grading system, based on what?
         
         Can I say to my friends and colleagues, join HP, and as long as your writings fall into internet "popularity", you might see some benefits for you.
         
         What still remains is, where does HP fall into the dynamic that sex is more valued than history, tradition, creative promise, and introspection?
         
         HP is taking the pulse of the culture out there, and making their site work for them.  Who wouldn't?  But, as a Hubber, I have to wonder how my writings get evaluated against the sexy ones, and how that makes me appear as credible.
         
         Let's not get into old misunderstandings and arguments...the question is, where does HubPages fall into the dynamic where the commercial exploitation of sex is more valued than history, tradition, creative promise, and introspection?
         
         This is not a question for HubPages to answer, it's a question for Hubbers.

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         1. 58

            Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            The simple fact is that you need page views from outside of hubpages.
            
            Hubscore is directly related to traffic from outside the site. 90% of my traffic comes from out side, and to a large extent, that is up to you to generate.
            
            Don't worry about individual scores or being on the "hot hubs" list. I can promise you it makes no odds. No one cares about the hot hubs.
            
            Generate traffic from outside the site and you will be up there.

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         2. 66

            relacheposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            Sally,
            
            You said in your opening post that you aren't resurrecting the old argument on morality, and yet when I read the above, it just sounds to me that you are.  So I'm going to stop at this point.
            
            
            
            Thanks, Misha! It was taken at the Folsom St Fair some years ago.

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2. 98

   Sally's Troveposted 16 years ago

   Mark, a wonderful quip, but also a wonderful insight.  So, please define creative promise as a sales tool. 
   
   I think we all know how creative minds can make buyers make purchases without thought.  That's where we live today.  Please give us more of your thought related to  HubPages defining what is "HOT" and what is not.
   
   Regards, S.

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3. 98

   Sally's Troveposted 16 years ago

   Mark, with all respect to you, I am not asking about page views, traffic, hub scores and how to make them work for me.  (The conversations in forums and Hubs are rich with good advice about these topics and concerns.)
   
   I am asking about, if you will, the state of our human culture today which values sexy galleries above the kind of thought that might one day save humanity from extinction.  And what place does HubPages have in that state of affairs? 
   
   Maybe I'm missing something...maybe sexy galleries are all that matter?  Maybe they are the reasons for economic strength, peaceful existence, and global anti-warming?
   
   So we partake as Hubbers in this exchange, and we see our thoughts and words weighed unfavorably against sexy Hubs (unfavorably in terms of advantage, where being number 1 on the Hot List is pretty important, because it means more traffic to a Hub, and sexy galleries get more than a lot of number 1 positions).  Is that OK?  Is that right?
   
   What did we do as humans to let this state be what it is?
   
   My question is about social responsibility.  I don't think HubPages has social responsibility.  They are in it to make money, and that's OK with me.  But we as writers have to answer a few questions, such as, do we want to be measured against sexy Hub writers, do we want to showcase our thoughts and ideas in a forum where we are rated by economic gain instead of human conscience?
   
   I'm not here to assign right or wrong.  I'm here to ask a question.

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4. 68

   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   Sally,
   
   I join the chorus trying to answer your original question. Term "Hot" on Hubpages in relation to hub lists means just hubs getting highest traffic. Make a historical hub turning 2K visitors a day and watch it on the first page of Hot Hubs list.
   
   Again, it is not about values or human culture or sex, it is about traffic. No more, no less. If sexy gallery gets more traffic than a historical hub, it holds higher position on this list. Well, it's not exactly that straight forward, but exact technical details are unknown and would just unnecessary complicate the picture.
   
   PS Relache, love your new avatar!

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5. 68

   DJ Funktualposted 16 years ago

   Hot hubs means the most traffic?    Cool.

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6. 98

   Sally's Troveposted 16 years ago

   You're right, relache, it does look like this thread would go the way of the others, and there's no point in that.
   
   As for *hot* being primarily a measure of traffic, most people probably understand that.  Any other exact technical details that are unknown, as you said, Misha, would complicate the picture.  Maybe that's what I'm looking for, the complicated part.  And I don't mean that I'm interested in knowing the algorithms that create this scoring, because I'm sure those are trade secrets of sorts, and should remain so.  Rather, I'm interested in the reasoning behind them, if that reasoning is a social reflection of the Internet community as a whole, and if so, what does that mean to people who write here.
   
   Anyway, I think I'm talking myself in circles now.  So, like you, relache, I'm going to stop at this point.
   
   Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!

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7. 74

   spryteposted 16 years ago

   I know you intended for this thread to end...but I feel compelled to add something.  I'l admit that I was also a bit confused by exactly what you were looking for Sally...so if what I say is  totally irrelevant, just ignore me. 
   
   I'm pretty new here...still trying to get a feel for the place, but I have seen the Hot List.  I also wondered what made up the criteria for this list as it seemed to change radically from moment to moment.  The first time I saw the list, it was comprised of all advice posts.  I remember telling the friend that lured me to this site that I really wasn't sure it would be right for me since I wasn't an advice writer.  He assured me that it wasn't just all about advice...so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and began to add my work.
   
   Looking back, I have to wonder if I would have had a similar response if I'd seen the Hot List with just erotica listed.  I probably would have felt a bit uncomfortable...although I know a bit more about erotica than I do advice. 
   
   What it boils down to for me is this...it's not something you can fight.  When my own husband is more excited to see the Victoria's Secret catalog arrive in the mail than I am...I came to realize how deeply embedded into our culture the image of female nudity and sex really is.  Rather than take the low road...I chose the high one.  Now I bury the catalog deep in the garbage can before he sees it. 
   
   As for writing...well I write because I love to write.  Even if my musings generated no traffic...I would still write, because I have to.  And to be honest, I really don't want the sort of traffic that makes a specific point of searching out sexual content.  It would be like leaving my high school yearbook in a porn parlor.  *blech*
   
   Peace out...I empathize
   
   spryte

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8. 79

   Shadesbreathposted 16 years ago

   Sally,
   
   Just write.  Of course boobie hubs will get more traffic.  At no point in history have the contemplative members of a culture been counted a majority.  If it were so, the great names of the ages would not be memorable at all; they merely would have blended in with all the other great minds.  Insight, wit, profundity, pursuit of truth and meaning, and any number of life's larger things remain the demesne of the few.  I have read a number of your hubs.  The things you write may not be seen by as many eyes as will those hubs with sumptous cleavage and upskirt shots, but those who see the pretty girls will have forgotten those girls the moment their eyes move on. 
   
   Unlike those galleries, your hubs have a chance to move people beyond the moment they spend reading what you have said.  Perhaps its only one person or two on any given hub, maybe it will be a lot, but if just a smile and a lingering sense of self worth can be taken away by someone, you have done more with your words than any panty picture can.
   
   Sex is always going to sell; humanity is just too hardwired for it to be any other way.  But trust the ones who need more than simply that to seek out hubs like yours, Sally.  They will come.  Don't measure yourself by the mindless waves, but by the trickle of intellect.

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