My wish for 2015: Allow author to disable HubberScore on profile

1. 96

   sallybeaposted 9 years ago

   
   I would like to make a formal request to Hubpages staff for an option to switch off our profile score.  Lets start off the new year afresh without the need for anyone ever having to waste their time discussing this subject ever again.

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   1. 83

      Faith Reaperposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That is a nice thought, Sally.  If they are always saying for us to not worry about our score, then why have it?  However, those who have 100 for a score may not appreciate it going away.

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   2. 79

      Sed-meposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You know *I agree!
      Plus, I want my own personal football shaped bubble.

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   3. 81

      peachpurpleposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      i don't mind the hubscore, mine always fluctuate. I want the unfeature function vanish!

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   4. 90

      Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I like the score.  How else can I tell who is worth talking to?

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      1. 96

         sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         In the end of it I think looking at some of the views expressed here, there is some merit to the score if it is indeed a judge of writing ability rather than character.

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         1. 90

            Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I was kidding, but it does help you distinguish who you are talking to.  When I see a low hub score, and someone is asking for advice, I assume they are new (either to the site, or haven't been around much), and can make sure I present my advice in that manner.
            
            If they have a low score, and there is spam or jibberish, it makes it easy to report them, knowing they set up their account to post the spam or jibberish.

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            1. 96

               sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I know you were kidding and you do give good advice so keep it coming.

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   5. 94

      Stove And Homeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I don't pay attention to my score at all.

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      1. 96

         sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         It is not worth your attention as it is pretty meaningless but there are people who really see it as demotivatingm  which is why I would like an on and off switch.  We need every bit of encouragement, not discouragement.

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         1. 92

            LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I'm hearing you, Sally. But we also want to encourage readers to rely on HP, not discourage them.
            
            To remove hubber scores from view may encourage writers who still don't 'get' what is required on hp to keep creating many more pages that lower the quality (and value) of the site in general. Is that a good thing?
            
            You have a 96. You know how to write. What about those whose hubber score remains at 60 or less? Clearly there are issues in their construction of hubs that need addressing. I'd view a very low hubber score as 'encouraging' me to fix my hubs and improve my skills.

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            1. 96

               sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               You have a valid point and I do agree with you.  I definitely want to encourage writers rather than have them feel discouraged.

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               1. 92

                  LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Sally, I suspect there are fewer things more discouraging to writers than having nobody read what they've written (and on hp, therefore, not making any income).
                  
                  Hiding scores won't fix hubs that need improvement ... but displaying scores gives writers a reminder of how they're doing.
                  
                  New writers suffer low scores at first, and then the satisfaction of seeing their scores rise as they publish more hubs and fine-tune their writing skills.
                  
                  At some point the emphasis (and satisfaction) should shift from pursuing a higher score to enjoying/pursuing increased traffic and earnings. A score of 100 does not guarantee readers or income, just as a score lower than 100 does not prevent readers or income.
                  
                  There are plenty of websites and forums where people can write without a number linked to their names. Of course, you won't have a clue whether they write something useful or just write complete crap until you click on their posts ... which is what makes hp refreshingly different (in my view).

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2. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

   I like the profile score. It gives us something to rant about when we are bored.

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You see, there is always one:)  Bored!  You, Never!

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      1. 60

         paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         I do indeed believe 2015 is going to be a very interesting year.

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         1. 96

            sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I hope so, I think the stage has been set to make it so.  I have great hopes.

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3. 91

   Jodahposted 9 years ago

   Sally, I agree it would stop a lot of complaining in the forums. Maybe they could make the profile score private so we can only see our own..but then that would not stop us complaining would it?

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly, a button which allows you to either display or not display your score.  Wonder how many would display theirs if they were under 90 for instance, especially if they had a choice.

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4. 91

   Michael Kismetposted 9 years ago

   As long as we're making formal requests, let's bump the 60/40 impression split to 70/30. I don't think it'll ever happen, but it's nice to think about.

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      One can dream, pie in the sky I think.

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   2. 60

      paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, in conjunction with getting rid of the author referral program, that is a darned good idea.

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      1. 96

         sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Sounds good, shall we propose it on the suggestions page?   What a shame it was not a question on the HubPages survey this morning.  Actually I would like to see a meaningful survey with lots of questions on it.

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5. 92

   jansharesposted 9 years ago

   Bonuses. First one if you make 3 years and 50 hubs (700+ word count), second one at 5 years and 100 hubs. Incentives work wonders for employee morale and motivation.

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It sure does Jan - in all honesty could you recommend HubPages to a friend!
      On a community level I give HubPages top marks but there it stops.  For me the best thing that ever happened was when I won one of the competition prizes - that made up for months on low earnings.  It would be great to have one of those again.

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      1. 94

         DrMark1961posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         My earnings are okay, and I probably would recommend this site to friends but none of them speak or read English. HP has this funny policy about not allowing hubs to be published in other languages!
         As far as bonuses, I have seen a few hubbers that publish 1oos of articles but none of them are even worth reading. I would not want to share my earnings with them, nor do I think they are reading forums and learning how to perform better.
         So should the bonuses just come from HP side of the business? I think they earn their percentage of the split. My wish is that HP stays active for another year, and continues to improve and find ways to attract more traffic from the search engines.

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         1. 96

            sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I do agree that this is a great platform to write on and like every business it has to pay for itself.  I also agree that it is far better to write great hubs over a much longer period than just churn them out for the sake of it.  I very much hope HP stays active for a very long time.  It has been interesting however for me to see that my own site is performing well within just a few weeks of starting it.  My Adsense earnings stats tell me I am doing a lot better from my own site than I am from HubPages.

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      2. 92

         jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         When HP asks that question on their survey, I've given it a 7. It depends on a person's individual goals. If they are into community, I'd say by all means join, 10++

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         1. 96

            sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            You nailed it:)

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6. 72

   Marie Flintposted 9 years ago

   I admit that I enjoyed the brief moment that my hubber score reached 100, but I could certainly live without a number pasted on my picture (I'm not a criminal, and it detracts from my lovely selfie--ha! ha!).
   
   If I had one wish, it would be to have the enthusiasm I had for Hub Pages when I first started. At that time, HP was paying people a little bit to take the Tutorial, which has since vanished.
   
   I'm also getting a little bored with the same old capsule setup. We still can't left flush a text capsule--and do we really, really have to strive for that stellar hub? I, for one, could use a change.
   
   One thing I must credit Hub Pages staff for is the promptness of a response when I email the team with a problem or question, which is relatively rare, but when I do ask, I get an answer! So, thank you, Hub Pages Team!
   
   Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year to all!

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I so agree with you, you sum up the situation perfectly.  HubPages staff has always responded quickly and even acted on suggestions I have made. 
      My score went up to 97 and stayed there a week or so and then I published another hub yesterday.  It immediately went down two points, rather disappointing, much nicer to reward people for effort rather than take away a couple of digits!
      You have a great Christmas.  You deserve it.
      Sally

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7. 92

   LongTimeMotherposted 9 years ago

   To be honest, I find the hubber scores are generally pretty accurate at indicating the likely quality of a hubber's hubs. (I'm grateful for being spared the frustration of visiting a 30s or 50s hubber who may appear in my feed, and I can approach an 80s or 90s with confidence there'll be a good read to be found.)
   
   Let's not forget, this is a writers' site. HubPages promises readers they can "Discover a wealth of genuine, unique information" ... and it invites writers to "Create original, in-depth, useful, media-rich Hubs."
   
   Writers who meet that description in their hubs find their hubber score rises. Those who choose to disregard elements (including 'useful' or 'in-depth') are unlikely to hit 100. I think that's fair. It doesn't prevent most hubs from being published, and writers are still able to be creative and present different kinds of hubs.
   
   I write what I write. HP assigns me a hubber score. It fluctuates, but I'm not going to stress about why. I'm happy to be viewed as less than perfect.

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I think you have a point though I find that the hub score and the profile score certainly don't match up.  I am fortunate enough to have a reasonable profile score but my actual hub scores went down about ten percent when Panda struck and have never recovered.  The interesting thing is that since the new look older hubs of mine are right at the top whereas they seldom got a view before.

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8. 82

   Shades-of-truthposted 9 years ago

   That number is a score? I thought it was my number for my HP mugshot! No wonder it keeps changing!

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Problem is, no-one really knows why it changes because there really is no logic behind it.

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9. 92

   LongTimeMotherposted 9 years ago

   So, just out of interest, when you (any hubber) look at another hubber's score and see 96, what do you think? And when you see another hubber's score at 86, what do you think it says about them?
   
   Then tell us what you think other hubbers/readers are thinking when they see your hubber score at 86 or 96? (In other words, are you as judgemental towards others as you think they are towards you?)
   
   Once I start reading a hub, the score of the hubber has nothing to do with how I react to the content. In fact, from the moment I spot a title that interests me I don't pay attention to the hubber's score. My enjoyment of any hub has nothing to do with hubber score.
   
   (Anyone thinking a good New Years Resolution might be to stop stressing about hp scores?)

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   1. 96

      sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I think it is possible to prejudge someone who has a low hub score but you are so right, an eye catching title and and interesting subject can quickly win one over.

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10. 60

    paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

    "My wish for 2015: Allow author to disable HubberScore on profile"
    
    Ya know... Being able to turn that thing on and off could have its uses...

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11. 96

    sallybeaposted 9 years ago

    ++++++

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12. 96

    Sue Adamsposted 9 years ago

    It wouldn't work because
    
    a) The assumption could be that authors with switched off hubber scores are hiding / ashamed of their low scores.
    
    b) As mentioned before, very low scores are a good indicator for giving advice to new comers and flagging spammers.
    
    PS: A new hub's score will not be very high because the new hub needs time to gain views and to mature. Because part of the hubber score equasion is the average of all hub scores, a new hub may bring down overall hubber score.
    
    Keep the scores, they keep us on ball, but don't worry too much when they fluctuate.

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    1. 96

       sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I agree with you except for one thing.  When Panda struck my own hub score went down by about ten percent without any reason.  I was doing what I always do - striving to do my best.  I don't think I am the only one who had this same experience.  Hub scores also went down ten percent but these have never recovered.  They remain low.   I would love someone to explain exactly how these scores affect one another.
       The way I see it is that if a hub score is low, I need to do work on it but in effect what really happens is, the more work you do on a hub score. the lower the score drops. as does the profile score.  If I write a hub and publish it my profile score drops.  I think that is very discouraging, especially to new people who are just starting here.  I want to maintain a high standard and want others to succeed.  At the same time, I like you, don't want people to think that they don't have to strive to be their best.

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       1. 96

          Sue Adamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          As I tried to explain earlier, your hubber score (which you call "profile score") is partly affected by the average of all your individual hub scores. I.e the sum of all your individual hub scores devided by the number of hubs you have published.
          In theory therefore, deleting the lowest scoring hubs should increase  your hubber score.
          But I would not delete very young hubs as they need time to mature and gain traffic.
          My bottom line is to have no mature hubs scoring below 80.

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          1. 96

             sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

             There lies the problem, whereas before Panda this would have been nearly every hubs I have.  After Panda hub scores did not recover in spite of editing and instead of having most in the high nineties and high eighties I now have ten percent less across the board.  The profile score inexplicably recovered.   Does one want to delete hubs, all of which are still getting traffic just to keep a profile score high?

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             1. 92

                LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                I do hope you are not serious about deleting hubs that receive traffic. (You already have a 'high' profile score. Is having a 'higher' profile score so important that you would delete work you should be proud of?)
                
                This feels unsettlingly similar to a conversation I had with a girl who was already 'skinny' but wanted to be 'skinnier'. She was severely anorexic.
                
                Come on, Sally, your score is 96 and your hubs are getting traffic. Don't be so hard on yourself. How 'perfect' do you expect yourself to be?

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                1. 96

                   sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                   Definitely not. I will keep my low score hubs as they are still getting traffic and some of them are really low.

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                   1. 92

                      LongTimeMotherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                      Good. Hang onto them. Low score and traffic wins hands down compared to top score and no audience.

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13. 60

    bBereanposted 9 years ago

    I used to be at odds with my Hubberscore, but now we are friends. 

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    1. 96

       sallybeaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       That is nice - great Photoshop skills - perhaps a tutorial is in order!

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       1. 60

          bBereanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          HP is very clever in that the Hubberscore does not scale proportionate with your avatar.  What looks in proportion for the size of the avatar used in the forum, will be completely wrong for what shows on your profile or elsewhere.  Makes it impossible to have a supplement align consistently.  Crafty bunch, I tell you.

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