Who's opinion is it?

1. 74

   Dan W Millerposted 10 years ago

   Hey HubPages! Your "rules" are idiotic.
   
   So the only way to get a good rating from you is to publish/write only "how to" articles? (BORING READING! HELL0!!) WHY? Have you ever heard of CREATIVE WRITING? If you want to classify my articles as "acceptable hubs" (that's a joke, too. By whom?) then one can say my articles are an EDUCATION on HISTORY of OUR COUNTRY and one can LEARN from this article.
   
   Why do you only like (BORING) step-by-step guides on elementary projects?
   You're killing a good article to read before it's even BEEN READ because you will give it a less than stellar rating. My hubs are about the most difficult problem of all: LIFE, how to deal with it and here are some instructions from what I've learned.
   Just like jokes and comedians, not everyone agrees on their favorite one. Does anyone appreciate comedy writing over there? I would think NOT!
   Please rate articles in the future from that point of view.
   
   FOLLOW UP:
   What a ridiculous answer I received to this question: 
   Why do only boring instructional and "how to" hubs get higher scores and the ones that are insightful and deep like mine get a low score?
   
   fibo777 says: A lot of text, a lot of widgets and a lot of likes increases your hubscore. It does not matter what niche your hub is in. Hope that helped.
   
   So blah, blah, blah, blah (just more text and mindlessly writing) gets a higher score and a machine is judging the content of the hubs. HOW STUPID! How about CONTENT AND DEPTH OF THE HUB?
   Oh for God's sake!! I need a widget? You mean I need a toy on my stories that I WROTE to be rated higher?! What a joke! Where and when does the journalism, the creative writing, the thought process of a writer ever come into action on these posts/hubs?
   
   So, in an effort to get a higher score, I will copy and paste the same content in the hub and the machine will sense more text just like the rules of HubPages state and what my expert suggested be done in the future to get a higher rating and score.
   That must be the whole concept of HubPages. Just an instructional writing web site. Here I thought it embraced eclectic and creative people and authors that can give an insightful spin on life.  I guess I was wrong.
   How dare you even rate my writings, HubPage! I've won awards everywhere else for my work. What's the matter with you people? My writings and hubs are on life.
   Your ratings are just someone's opinion and mean nothing to the reader that wants to "learn" about life. "How to"... from someone that's "been there" before.
   
   As you can see, I am furious over this. I saw some other people that had 100 or 90 ratings and their articles are on a specific subject and how to do something like (for instance) needlework or some other limited audience subject. Mine are on LIFE which I believe qualifies everyone.

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   1. 67

      tamronposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You can write what you want it just cannot violate Google TOS Hubpages also has a list of topics they do not allow.  I believe its in the learning center.

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      1. 85

         Simone Smithposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Indeed, it is here!
         
         http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/restricted-topics
         
         We have no rules against creative writing; we just find that it does not get much traffic, and our platform is more designed for in-depth, media-rich, informative articles based in fact.

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      2. 74

         Dan W Millerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yeah... uh... I got that part. duh. No violations. No naughty words or subjects even in ANY of my 29 hubs.
         Yes, and I know perfectly well I can "WRITE WHAT I WANT" but my concern is going unnoticed and unanswered. 
         Since only How TO and instructional articles (zzzzzz) follow your unwritten preferences for high ratings then "LIFE" (and how to live it, what I've learned from it and here are some instructions on how to live it) is not an acceptable topic, eh?
         Articles on HubPages should NEVER BE RATED OR REVIEWED. period. Who gave you the "expert's opinion?" Someone else's could be quite different, "EXPERT." (cough, cough)
         
         note: even this site's instructions/rules/whatever are titled LEARNING CENTER. Maybe try GUIDELINES as a title.

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         1. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Dan, HubPages is a platform where writers can make money by writing.  Its rating system is designed to encourage Hubbers to write in such a way as to earn income, because that's what HubPages is for.  If you choose to use it purely for self-expression, that's fine, but it's not reasonable to expect HubPages to change its business model just because you're using it for another purpose.
            
            If you are hoping to make some money, then you need to know how it works.  To make money here, you need readers, thousands of them.  You'll earn $2 to $5 per thousand visitors.  HubPages does not bring those visitors in for you in some magical way.  The vast majority of them arrive because they find Hubs via the search engines (Google, Yahoo, or Bing) - and they find them because they've typed specific questions into the search box.
            
            Ergo, Hubs are only likely to be found if they offer an answer to someone's question or problem.  They don't have to be "How To" articles but they do have to answer a need.  Take a look at some of your Hubs and ask yourself what someone would be typing into a search engine to find them.  If you can't think of anything, then those particular Hubs are never likely to do well, regardless of how they're rated.
            
            I've been here a long time and for most of that time, there was no rating system. The above advice held true then too.
            
            One more tip - this is not a blogging site.  Aim for at least 500 words and preferably a lot more than that.  A Hub should be an article you'd be happy to read in a High Street magazine, so it needs solid content and it needs to be well illustrated.   
            
            And finally - if you don't read instructions, I hope you've at least read the ones on how to make money here.  If you don't sign up for Adsense and do the associated administrative work, you won't earn a cent.

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2. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   Um, so what rule are you having trouble with?

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3. 95

   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   Instead of Dan Miller choosing which hubs are great and deserving of a high score, why don't we let the public decide?  With the #1 criteria being how many times it's viewed - after all that is determined to a great deal by how many organic backlinks are being provided by readers that liked it.
   
   With a million+ hubs to look at and analyze, I think HP has done their homework far more than you have and picked out the factors that are likely to make a good hub by that definition.  You may think everyone will love yours because it is about life, but no one cares.  No one reads.  People do care about "how to" hubs, they read them and they backlink them.  People care about the widgets, the pictures and the research that has gone into them - those things are what people have decided makes a good hub, not that it is a piece of boring creative writing without real value to their life.
   
   Online writing is a business "game" - either follow the rules and match your product to what people want or accept that your work, regardless of any value assigned by you or a handful of others, isn't going to be well accepted world wide.

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4. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   You still aren't making sense.  Many of us don't write "How tos" and have no problems here. Many write fiction or poetry and again have no problems.
   
   So what problem did you have, and what exact infraction did you get hit with?

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   1. 95

      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't get the impression there was an infraction or penalty.  He's just mad because the hub has a low score, probably because it did poorly in the QAP.  And REALLY PO'd because HP has reviewed and rated it, with ratings that don't match his own (really objective) opinion.

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   2. 74

      Dan W Millerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I've had no infractions!  NONE! OY!  There are none in my post here or any of my hubs. Where is wilderness getting this info? I AM following the rules to a "T."
      Yeah, let's do that, Wilderness. Let's allow the PUBLIC to decide if an article is good and not a handful of people at the site to give it a number rating or go by a don't think outside the box robotic QAP system.
      *sigh* AGAIN... It just seems the articles that get high ratings have no creativeness. Also seems like MORE articles are written in how to or instructional form on this site than creative articles and those are the ones that are getting rated high (on a limited interest subject.)
      I'm not saying I'm an expert but mine is AN OPINION (of which I'm entitled to) and a real obvious observance that  I, and many other people, have noticed.
      But what do I know? I was only awarded a comedy writing award that was voted on by literally thousands of people worldwide online in 2012.

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      1. 95

         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         You're right - how to and instructional hubs tend to have higher scores.  Probably because HP finds that they get more traffic and earn more money - the very definition of "quality" in the business world.  Those widgets, pics, maps and charts are what are paying the bills here even though you don't consider them worthwhile.  Should HP change their meaning of "quality" to that used in universities and other specialty forums they will quickly go broke by limiting hubs to that standard.  Using the standard of money, we have a place to write.
         
         In any case, the number assigned by the QAP does not affect your readership appreciably.  You can still write, HP will still provide the platform free of charge even though you won't earn them anything - what more can you ask for?  Remove the quality requirements from HP and we'll quickly slip back into the morass that was here a couple of years ago, google will again slap the site and we'll lose that platform.  Be glad that HP IS reviewing and rating your (and everyone else's) work in an effort to prevent that.
         
         And sorry - I didn't mean to imply you aren't following HP's rules.  Just that you aren't following the unwritten rules on what will bring in high traffic figures or income.  The business rules that work in the free lancing world but that do NOT include poetry or creative writing however much they are enjoyed by a few readers.  I don't even mean to knock those topics - I follow a couple of hubbers just to see their short stories and I can recognize quality in them (your definition).  I enjoy them, but I also recognize that they are unlikely to ever share much in paying the bill for what we have here on HP.

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5. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   Let me try again: what specifically are you upset about? Having low hub scores, not being featured?
   
   If you are upset because your hub's low traffic led to being idled, that has nothing to do with anything but traffic.

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   1. 74

      Dan W Millerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      psych - from my comments:)
      "You're killing a good article to read before it's even BEEN READ because you will give it a less than stellar rating." 
      also:
      "fibo777 says: A lot of text, a lot of widgets and a lot of likes increases your hubscore. It does not matter what niche your hub is in. Hope that helped.
      Me: So blah, blah, blah, blah (just more text and mindlessly writing) gets a higher score and a machine is judging the content of the hubs. How about CONTENT AND DEPTH OF THE HUB?
      Oh for God's sake!! I need a widget? You mean I need a toy on my stories that I WROTE to be rated higher?!"
      
      My complaint is not SPECIFIC to one problem. It's many things about the entire system that I'm having problemS with.
      So uh, in review: How to/instruction articles seem to get high robot/machine ratings (on a whole as compared to creative hubs) and combined with a couple of people at the site determine a number score for public viewing. 
      
      I never mentioned traffic nor being featured EVEN ONCE.  Are you even READING my comments?

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      1. 74

         Dan W Millerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Wilderness for a great follow up comment. 
         I'm not having any delusional visions of grandeur of becoming an author, journalist or even a hack writer. Just wondering how the HubPages system worked and again exhibiting my propensity for questioning authority. 
         I appreciate your clear explanation and for that I am delighted that you took some time from your day just for me.
         thx ~ D.

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      2. 82

         psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I would suggest that your comments are not very to the point.
         
         So you got a low QAP score and are possibly not featured. Yes?
         
         That happens.  The basis for QAP is in the help section and seems clear to me.
         
         I would note that there are fiction writers on this site that sail through QAP with high scores. So you should not assume that is the issue. You might try posting it to the feedback forum and asking for advice from other fiction writers.

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6. 74

   Dan W Millerposted 10 years ago

   Now THAT helped, psych. Thanks for some applicable comments/suggestions. I'll take your advice. . QAP, SAT, USMC, ugh... anything that makes me conform to rigidity bugs me.
   
   note: Yup, I'm the guy who feels there's no need to read the Ikea furniture assembly instructions. Hence it takes me twice as long to get it done as the person that reads the instructions. oy. (hmm, now where do these last two bolts attach to?)

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   1. 82

      Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Lol and sympathy Dan Miller.  I hear exactly where you are coming from.  It is a probably pointless frustration trying to get creative, humor, comment off the ground - unless you get very lucky.
      
      Most people, sadly, want to know how to unscrew that hinge or move the cat to a different place.
      
      Anyway.  Enjoyed your rant - it's healthy to let it go sometimes.

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      1. 95

         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Mark, if you want to move a cat you either pick it up and throw it or, using a laser pointer, point to where you want it to be. 
         
         Do I need to write a hub on using a laser pointer for you?  It would be tough to get enough words, but if I use lots of adjectives and adverbs I could probably get by the QAP.  You know - "The bright, ruby, red, shiny, defined, intriguing, interesting small spot of coherent electromagnetic radiation emanating directly from the highly technical, battery powered slim black metallic tube in the multi-tentacled appendage at the end of  the foreleg of the loving, gigantic, food source called Mark etc. etc.
         
         If you need it I can give it a try - I'm an expert with laser toys even if google hates me for some reason.

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   2. 0

      summerberrieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Dan W Miller,
      Some of my lowest rated hubs bring me most my google traffic.
      
      All I look at and analyze anymore is my organic search traffic. Hubpages system of numbers for rating as far as I'm concerned is a pile of poop in terms of effective usefulness to me. What value it serves them ~ I don't know. Hubber and hub scores go up and down randomly and without any rhyme or reason. We are told they do matter and in the same breath told they don't matter. A hub score can go from a 93 to a 79 in the span of one day and nothing apparent has happened to it.
      
      If I have managed to get it pass QAP and it is featured then all I care about is what google does with it from there on out......who really; cares about the "secret" assessment by hubpages 
      
      If HP wants to be useful to us hubbers then they should tell us how each hub rated in QAP.
      
      Read the instruction manual to organize content( remember to write like you are addressing a twelve year old)  but for real  success with google this is what you need and once you find it it does not matter diddly squat what number Hp puts on it.
      
      
      High popularity + low competition + high $ CPC  = google's attention   
      
      Hubs are not going to be scored on literary style and such.....
      HP is a place where money is the bottom line....
      
      By hub five, I sold my literary soul ;(

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