How many of you Hubbers have been here two years or more?
- sandra rinckposted 14 years ago
0 Been here for over 2 years but did not even notice until just 3 months ago
lolI've been here two years, but I apparently did the reverse thing most people do: I stayed away from the forums for long time unless I had a specific HubPages-related question. Somewhere along the way (I think when the work I do online changed) I discovered the forums are a handy way to take a break from whatever I'm doing and generally get an idea of what's going on HubPages. (Sorry for the following long post, but this thread triggered my urge to verbalize what a lot of people probably have noticed about the forums.)
There's a "dynamic" that kind of goes on, though, I think, when it comes to "older" Hubbers. Some stay in the HubPages-related threads and try to help answer Hub-related questions. Some just get sick of the forums and either stay away or only pop in every once in a while, because they find a lot of stuff that isn't all that interesting, fun, or worth spending time on.
I think that's because a lot of people only come to the forums to get attention for their own Hubs, so that's often new Hubbers. If they weren't trying to get noticed they wouldn't come to the forums at all. They pop in, write the obligatory two lines on a few threads and leave again. (There's nothing wrong with being new or only adding only two lines to a thread, but sometimes a thread is nothing but a bunch of one-liners, so there's not much of a discussion going on.) When you have an ever-changing parade of people and one-liners, though, it doesn't do a lot for a sense of community. Then you have people (new or not) who like to stir things up by posting something outrageous (also to get attention for themselves, and often in the religion forum). Then you have the people who genuinely just want to "spread the word" about their own religion. Then, too, you have the people who don't care about trying to contribute anything to HubPages or the forums because they just sign up to chat about their personal dilemmas. And, of course, there are spammers and trolls. Then there are the people who don't know the difference between difference-of-opinion and personal attacks, or the people who think disagreeing equals too disagreeable. (Let's not forget the "count to a million", "words that end in 'r'" and "last one to post is the winner" threads which can have their place but which aren't likely to interest any one person for too long.
)
On the one hand, that's the nature of a forum like this. You have a big mix of people with different aims and reasons for being here. On the other hand, you have a high percentage of threads that don't catch the eye of a lot of new Hubbers (who might like to have good discussions/debate or have some laughs) and that a lot of older Hubbers have just gotten sick of. So, a lot of new people don't participate much (if at all), and a lot of older ones go away. That leaves that high percentage of people who aren't really interested in good discussion/debate or in having a few laughs, contributing anything to the "community", or in interacting with other Hubbers. Sometimes, more than others, it shows, even though there's usually the occasional thread that's interesting or fun.
I, personally, don't care if the forums seem to turn into one, big, religious forum; or else nothing but spam, because if I'm looking for a way to take a break from working there's always something (here or somewhere else). Still, if people don't come to the forums (or stop coming) "because of what goes on" staying away isn't going to make anything different go on. I do think it's kind of too bad that people who want real debate/discussion or want to interact with fellow Hubbers as a community give up on the forums. Nobody's ever going to contribute something everyone else thinks is "wonderful", but it does show when people don't have a shred of interest in anything but getting attention for themselves, their Hubs, or something else they've got going. The general thing these days seems to be that the HubPages-related forums remain very useful, Hubbers' Hangout seems to be kind of going downhill, the religious forum seems to be the big thing (for one reason or another), Politics is "for fighting", and the rest of the forums often sit for days without anything new.
Besides finding that break from working, I've gotten good information, lots of laughs, and ideas/inspiration for Hubs from the forums. They could be better, though - but that will only happen if people who see the potential benefits of "better" and aim to kick in a little something more (ok, maybe not as much "more" as this particular post I'm making, by any means, but something beyond just obligatory "participation" because "everyone says it helps your HubScore"). Sorry for the "rah-rah" speech, but it looks to me like there's been increasing disenchantment over recent months. (Again, sorry for the length of this post. Think I'll go find a thread where I can do a one- or two-liner and prove that I'm only this long-winded sometimes. )Ms Chievous, that's pretty much what I do (which is why I only post Hubs "every so often" but am on the forums pretty regularly (at least most of the time, and at least for now). I think if you're at the computer for work, and then writing your own stuff, you have to take a "frivolity break" if you're not going to have all the life drained right out of you.
I've only been here a few months, but enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to comment briefly from a newcomers perspective. The older hubbers who do participate in the forums have been a huge resource for me and others and I appreciate the time and effort put into their helpful comments.
I do agree with Lisa in regards to many of the forum personalities, but I guess that's the world we live in. I don't often say too much because it seems when I do want to engage in a decent conversation, there are a certain few who find great fun in adding nonsense or attacks to the thread and it's soon debilitating and not worth the effort to remain. I've been surprised by some of the hubbers comments, seems many start threads for nothing more than attention and fans, so I'm learning to pick and choose carefully, otherwise it can be a huge waste of time. I work on the computer, so I too, sometimes take a 'break' and add a few lines and go back to whatever I'm doing. (this is more than I usually say.)
I have been here for over two years now and I still love it. Never used to go on the forums in the early days, but have done a little bit more recently
Hi Ms Chievous, good to see you
rebekahElle, I know what you mean about those "smart" answers. Some of them are intended to be funny. Some are just rude. Some look rude because people can just be blunt. There's a little of everything on here, though, and I guess everyone just ignores what they want to ignore and does their own thing.
Ms Chievous, I agree that there's lots of good information on the forums. Sometimes having people comment, in "plain English", about some of the "Internet aspects" of Hubbing (like SEO) can be really helpful.
mistyhorizon2003, it never really occurred to me to come to the forums for anything other than Hub-related questions. Somewhere along the way a thing or two caught my eye, and I found myself laughing hysterically at how bizarre some threads can get. That's when I started clicking on more often "just to see what's here". Usually, I'm not "the forum type" - so I'm kind of surprised to find this method of "taking a break". It's kind like a tv show: once you get to know the characters and story lines it gets a little more interesting.Yep Lisa, I reckon that sounds much the same as how I found myself on forums.
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