Keeping Community Alive

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   Pamela99posted 2 years ago

   John has written an excellent article about the sense of community, especially at Hubpages.
   
   https://hubpages.com/community/Keeping-Community-Alive

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      Al Stineposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      So much truth in John's article. I joined Hubpages 2 years ago and it felt like a community. Writers would comment on articles, the forums were always busy with new writers getting help from other writers. Everything I learned about Hubpages was from the community. The changes they made negated the whole aspect of the community. Most writers don't even know other writers they share common interests with. It was very encouraging to write articles knowing that you have an audience of writers here that will interact with you on your articles and offer writing tips.
      
      It feels like a ghost town.
      
      On the plus side, the community of poets seems to be thriving. It is the only community I see sharing poems and interacting.

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         Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         I agree with everything you say, Al. I too miss the old HubPages. New hubbers are constantly asking why they don’t have comments on their articles and where is the comments capsule etc. In fact the Learning Center and HubPage blurbs still speak of the community and commenting as an important part of the site…this seems somewhat hypocritical at the moment.
         As you say, on the plus side poetry does seem to be thriving. Others are leaving because they are making less money her now. I write mostly poetry, and my earnings are the highest they have ever been.

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      DreamerMegposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, an excellent article.

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         Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, Meg. Much appreciated.

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   Pamela99posted 2 years ago

   I really like this article and relate to so much of it. I check social media sites the same as you. I spend time reading articles and writing. There is a good sense of community at Medium, but like you I do not want to lose the sense of community at Hubpages. I sure hope they make some changes. Thanks for such a heartfelt article, John.

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   ravirajan01posted 2 years ago

   Thanks, John, for sharing this important message. You are correct that we need to take all possible steps to save the Hubpages community. I just hope HP takes some action to preserve the same. Thanks for sharing.
   
   Thanks, Pamela, for sharing John's message.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, Ravi, I hope HubPages (Maven, the Arena Group) want to preserve the site and community as much as we the writers want it, and do something to ensure it. Thanks for the support.

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   Jodahposted 2 years ago

   Thank you for sharing this article, Pamela. I appreciate your kind comment and am glad you can relate to my sentiments. I am gradually getting used to Medium, but it will take time for me, so I am not intending on leaving here anytime soon. Yes, it does seem to have a good sense of community though.

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   surovi99posted 2 years ago

   Thank you, John, for writing this article. Yes, you are right we need to preserve HP community. I also hope HP takes some measures to keep HP writers happy. That way it will be a win-win and both the parties benefit. Thanks for sharing.
   
   Thanks for sharing John's post, Pamela.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Rosina, it seems simple doesn’t it..if HubPages and the writers can come to a happy compromise that benefits all. I hope continue to hope that all the changes they are making are experiments to find out what works and what doesn’t and that eventually they make the right decisions.
      Thank you for your continued support.

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   Carb Divaposted 2 years ago

   John, I share your love of the HP community, but I find it cumbersome to use the forum to communicate. It's difficult to find articles, and even when comments are made, they are eventually lost to the ethernet, not tied to the original post by the author.
   
   It's a conundrum. On one hand, like you, I want to remain in touch with my HP friends. But, if we use this "workaround" method, where is the incentive for HP/Maven/The Arena Group to reinstate comments?

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you, Linda. When the forums workaround to commenting was  first brought up, I said the same thing. There's no reason to restore comments as they were (directly on each article with notifications of same) if people are finding a way around it. Commenting in the forums does nothing for visibility of the actual article(s) as far as SEO leading to organic search ranking. The forums have become more of a social media center rather than what they were intended to be.
      
      I appreciate your thoughts, John. But HP will never be the same again. Setting aside the cumbersome, nearly invisible, and completely useless commenting compromise, the articles themselves are becoming more and more buried inside ads and pop-ups. If I were a new reader and happened upon one of TAG's HP pages thru organic search, I'd click out within seconds.

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         Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Shauna, thank you for your valued input. I do hate how ads and pop-ups are ruining the reader experience of our articles at HubPages. While Matt keeps saying they are still working on a viable comment solution to both comments and ads, I still have hope..as naive as that sounds.
         
         There is another viable alternative to commenting other than forums of course..simply email the author. I probably get half my comments that way. Who knows, maybe HubPages will be sold again to some more community minded entity.

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            bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            John, email is fine and dandy, but that takes time and only boosts the author's ego. It does nothing for search engine recognition. I, frankly, don't have the time to leave HP, find an author's email address (if I don't already have them as a contact in gmail) and send them a note. I'm still working full time and don't have time to bounce around. I don't want to come off sounding cold, but when it comes to the theme of this thread and your article, "It wasn't broken", so why did HP think they needed to fix it? Now, it's broken. Period.

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               Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               All good, Shauna. For most authors you don’t have to leave HP to look for their email address, you just click on “contact author” (if they have allowed emails) and can email them from the site about that particular article. True, it may just boost their ego, but I wasn’t sure comments on the hubs really helped search engine recognition anyway.

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                  bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  I know the Contact Author thing, John. But you have to leave the article to do so. Comments do count towards articles ranking in the search engines. Google has an article that talks about ranking, bounce rates, etc.
                  
                  Once upon a time ago when I Googled myself, quite often comments I've made on articles would show up in addition to my own. Now not so.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Linda. You are right about comments on forums being lost to the ethernet after they are made rather than tied to the actual article, however at least the writer gets some acknowledgement from their peers and it does let us keep in touch.
      I am the forever optimist and I just see this as a workaround until there is a fix, and a string to keep the community connected. It maybe that this is the place I started writing and I am just too stubborn to give up.
      Maybe, I will be more inclined to write more on Medium when And if I become a paid member there, but I won’t commit to that until I am making at least $5.00 per month to cover the subscription. Thank you for your views.

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   Brenda Arledgeposted 2 years ago

   John...
   A wonderful article which I hope someone from Hubpages or the power to be might take the time to read.
   
   It's awful logging onto Hubpages & seeing many of my friends no longer here.
   
   I love having a place for my articles to have a home.  A place where others can read some of my work.
   
   But all the things you mention are valid concerns.
   
   Especially breaking up our poetry.  Quite frankly...a poem needs to be kept together. 
   Not broken up into bits with ads.  I personally have lost readers who have told me The ads pop up.
   
   But as for the Community...Hubpages is the best.
   
   Even those who only jump on occasionally, are still part of my family.
   
   I honestly don't know how I would have survived without the kindness of my Hubber Friends.
   
   As far as the forums...I'm glad we can post there and get feedback.
   But...I do wish they would let an author post his/Her own work I steady of waiting for someone else to post it.
   
   Then again.. when someone else post it, you get an immediate feel of what your article means yo them.
   
   I love writing.   I love my Hubber Friends.
   
   I won't abandon ship just yet.  Who knows....maybe we can surpass those other sites with a little bit of help from Hubpages.
   
   Personally...I think we can accomplish anything we want...if they only give us the right pathway.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Brenda, thank you for your valued contribution to the discussion. I am one of those stoic individuals who doesn’t give up easily. I can tell you are too. I hope someone from HubPages reads this, they have to don’t they to decide if it can move to a niche site, Discover or whatever? But, whether it makes a difference is another story.
      I must say the few staff members I have had the chance of having dialogue with over my articles etc have been very amiable, they just don’t seem to get involved of these type of debates (other than the occasional short statement by Matt that all will be okay, or they are working on things.)
      I just have a feeling their hands are tied to follow the Maven or Arena Group directives.
      It would feel weird sharing my own work on a forum. I find it a compliment if someone else does, but do wish it wasn’t necessary. They still have the original HubPages format available (where comments did work) because old hubs and those not seen as suitable for Discover or the niche sites are still languishing there.
      I keep hoping they will realise it wasn’t broken back then and that the changes aren’t improvements. Then common sense may prevail and they will move everything back to that platform. How’s that for wishful thinking?

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         Brenda Arledgeposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks John...
         I do imagine their hands are tied.
         
         Matt seems to care.  At least that's always been my opinion.
         
         It is a great compliment when others post our work.  I've actually come to enjoy the forums so much more lately..
         
         But watch out...when we like something, it disappears.
         
         It would be great if they could conjure up a few incentives for us writers.
         
         Toss us a bone.  We get hungry for writing opportunities.
         
         Take care & keep smiling.  We'll make it.

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   PurvisBobbi44posted 2 years ago

   Amen to everything you said. Dear Brenda,
   
   I am one of the hops on and off people---I have family that needs me at times, I do read many hubs, but they do not know it because I could not comment. This no comment is strange to me and frankly I do not care for it. One can either comment or not--at least we have a choice. We are all busy I know but we need the human communication. I love the new hubbers, but I still want the ones I follow to know I am reading and still care about them. Now, I will be silent for a while.
   
   Bobbi Purvis

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      Brenda Arledgeposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Bobbi...
      I am so grateful you are one of my Friends.
      
      See ya next time.  Take care.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for reading and commenting on Brenda’s response, Bobbi.

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   AliciaCposted 2 years ago

   John has created an interesting article, especially with respect to the problems that we are facing. I hope the situation improves, but I’m not convinced that it will. It’s a sad situation.

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      Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Hello Linda, yes it is indeed frustrating with the current situation. I remain hopeful, but this will probably be the last article I devote to this subject..especially in regard to comments.

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    ChitrangadaSharanposted 2 years ago

    Hello John!
    I liked reading your thoughts about keeping the community alive! I feel the same as you and it's the members who can keep this going, inspite of all the unpleasant changes!
    Many thanks for sharing the feelings of most of the HP writers!
    Thanks for sharing this Pamela!

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       Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Hello Chitrangada,
       I know a lot of us feel the same, and value community greatly. Some have given up and gone elsewhere, but those who stay need to continue to fight to be heard.

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    MsDoraposted 2 years ago

    John, thanks for speaking what I'm sure many of us also want to say. "A true community is . . . about feeling connected and responsible for what happens." (Yehuda Berg) You validated that in your article. If only this owners how much more the writers (and they in turn) would prosper if they allow us that connectedness.

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       Jodahposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Hi MsDora, you hit the nail on the head:
       "If only these owners how much more the writers (and they in turn) would prosper if they allow us that connectedness."
       I couldn't agree more. How do we convince them?

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    Kathleen Cochranposted 2 years ago

    I've been here for 12 years and can tell you the steady decline of the owner's concerns for the writers has been evident the entire time. You can't comment on an article any more? How are you supposed to interact with your readers? They edit hubs at will and often for no obvious reason? Hubs are no longer shareable? I have more than 150 articles here and have not written a new one in years. The only way to connect with the community is via discussions. The owners must be making money off the site or it wouldn't still be here, but every change they make diminishes the community.

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