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A Question for HP Staff about Comments

  1. paradigmsearch profile image91
    paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago

    Premise

    There are two hubs. Both are on the same, exact topic. Both are targeting the same keywords. Both are of high quality. Both are the same, satisfactory length. In fact, both hubs are things of true beauty in every respect.

    One hub has zero comments.

    The other hub has 20 short comments that only say they like the content of the hub. The comments have no misrepresenting keywords, spam, misspellings, or other flaws. The only thing "wrong" with them is they are short and say nothing more than complimenting the hub.

    Question

    Is Google really going to favor the hub without comments as opposed to preferring the hub with the higher aggregate content and 20 indications of interest?

    1. Christy Kirwan profile image
      91
      Christy Kirwanposted 6 months ago in reply to this

      Yes, that would be the case. Google has stated that such comments are considered "low quality."

      Here's a good way to think about it: When you visit a respected article site (think The Guardian, The Washington Post, or Fox News, for example) and you read the comments section, do you ever find comments that aren't about the article's content? The idea is that the content is engaging and people are commenting because they care about the things discussed, which means their insights are more likely to be of interest to other strangers who care about the same subject.

      If it helps, when you're deciding if you should keep a comment or not, ask yourself "Would this be useful or fascinating to a total stranger who knows nothing about HubPages, Hubbers, or me?"

      1. Venkatachari M profile image83
        Venkatachari Mposted 6 months ago in reply to this

        The point here is to take care that we compliment the content of the hub instead of complimenting the author of the hub. I hope this is the essence of all these discussions.

      2. Glimmer Twin Fan profile image96
        Glimmer Twin Fanposted 6 months ago in reply to this

        Wow - this is interesting.  I have a hunch I'm going to have a problem deleting comments.  Even if it's a just a short, complimentary comment, that person took the time to read my article and say something about it. 

        Also - I like to thank people who comment on my articles.  Are those thank you's also considered detrimental to the hub's comments if they don't pertain to the content?

        1. Venkatachari M profile image83
          Venkatachari Mposted 6 months ago in reply to this

          I am also afraid of this same feeling. Should I or should I not thank them.
          So, I am stretching my thanks with some more sentences.

          1. Sherry Hewins profile image94
            Sherry Hewinsposted 6 months ago in reply to this

            I have been removing my thank yous, unless there it something more substantial to them than that. Those were an easy decision for me. They have served their purpose.

      3. janshares profile image86
        jansharesposted 6 months ago in reply to this

        "Wow" is right, Glimmer. It seems that this policy will lower HP's sense of community and all the graces that come with reciprocating the good deed of commenting. It's sad that we are presented with this dilemma in order to survive the reality of a Google-controlled internet. It's also ironic that we are facing punishment for sharing niceties and hublove in cyberspace. Go figure. hmm

      4. paradigmsearch profile image91
        paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago in reply to this

        As to the above scenario, I think HP's interpretation is wrong at this point. Something is better than nothing.

        Me thinks there are steps before reaching for the stars.

        1. paradigmsearch profile image91
          paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago in reply to this

          And how could 20 interactions not be perceived by Google as a good thing!?!

      5. Sherry Hewins profile image94
        Sherry Hewinsposted 6 months ago in reply to this

        Should we be removing anything that mentions HubPages? I have several old HOTD hubs, where almost everyone congratulated me on the accolade, but many went on to add relevant information.

        Is simply denying the comment OK, or do we have to delete it forever?

  2. paradigmsearch profile image91
    paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago

    https://i.imgflip.com/12k8ie.jpg

    1. Venkatachari M profile image83
      Venkatachari Mposted 6 months ago in reply to this

      That's a great idea!

  3. paradigmsearch profile image91
    paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago

    I just got a hub comment that says "Google knows you wrote this.". That's it. Nothing else.

    Should I really delete it? I can't bring myself to do it, shortness and all.

    1. Jesse Drzal profile image82
      Jesse Drzalposted 6 months ago in reply to this

      That must be your Skynet hub, no? If so, I would keep it.

  4. paradigmsearch profile image91
    paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago

    Well, I went ahead and removed some of the short comments on my low traffic hubs. Figured nothing to lose.

    And it turned into a trip down memory lane.

    1. Jesse Drzal profile image82
      Jesse Drzalposted 6 months ago in reply to this

      I left a pretty silly comment on your Skynet hub..feel free to axe it I would not take offence lol.

      1. paradigmsearch profile image91
        paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago in reply to this

        I loved it. It stays.

        1. Jesse Drzal profile image82
          Jesse Drzalposted 6 months ago in reply to this

          That means a lot to me actually..

          1. paradigmsearch profile image91
            paradigmsearchposted 6 months ago in reply to this

            I wish that hub got more traffic. For some reason Google doesn't seem too enthusiastic about highly indexing it.

    2. Sherry Hewins profile image94
      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 months ago in reply to this

      I agree with that, so many great comments, and very meaningful to me. However, it is hard for me to be objective about whether they will be valuable to others.

  5. SweetiePie profile image83
    SweetiePieposted 6 months ago

    Hubpages should do what other news sites and major blogs are doing with comments. Now you have to click on a link at the bottom that says "comments," and sometimes these will be displayed on a separate page. Other times these are displayed on the same page. The separate page for displaying comments would take away the issue of a large number of comments that are not deemed worthy by Google showing up. The only time I have deleted comments on my hub is when I did a major update to its content, and the prior comments really did not match what I was now discussing in said hub.

 
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