Observation of Comments on Hubpages

Having been on Hubpages for 9 months, I'm beginning to understand a bit more about the dynamics of feedback in the comment modules. I have a few observations and some suggestions.

-July 2015

On Commenters - Of course it is hard to generalize on a whole group of individuals on Hubpages. Most are very respectful and just want to air their differences. Some do let their emotions get the better of them. Some will descend to name calling and personal verbal attacks. In general, most are quite stubborn in their beliefs. I see very few people change their views despite being provided clear evidence. Some clearly did not read the hubs in full or try to comprehend the message. In some cases, they seem to misunderstand the verbiage and infer some meanings that were unintended by the author. Some words are clearly received with "loaded" preconceived meanings.

On Comments - With regard to comments, I do think some are way too long. A comment should be short and concise and address one or two points. That is just my personal opinion.

With regards to the content of comments, I do think some people misunderstand the difference between fact and opinion. A fact is something that is true. An opinion is something that a person have that are in reference to somethings that are in debate or incomplete. For example, a simple illustration, a sunny day is a fact. You can have an opinion on today's weather and you can say it's too hot and humid and very uncomfortable. Another may have opposite opinion and say it is just right and perfectly comfortable. However, you cannot hold an opinion that it is a cloudy day when it is sunny because it contradicts the fact.

Here are some suggestions to improve our communications. I include myself in these recommendations because I find I have done some of the things I cite here with regret.

• Before commenting, please read the hub first and completely.
• When commenting, try to be constructive in your criticism.
• Be respectful always.
• Don't repeat a posting.
• 3 strikes rule. If after three back and forth, stop and agree to disagree and move on.
• Don't react right away to a reply. Wait 1 hour if possible. This will reduce the emotional factor.
• Don't get off topic.
• Keep all posting short and concise.
• Minimize the use of links unless absolutely necessary to prove your point.
• It is OK to admit a change of heart. We are all learning and growing...

A wishlist for Hubpages developers. Some changes to the current application could improve the whole experience.

• Implement a robust comment module which allows for discussion threads per commenter.
• Limit the number of words per comment to a maximum of 250 words.

It is often hard to keep a dialog between two people. Especially when other people are also commenting. A separate thread for each discussion would improve this interaction. Limiting the size of each comment will go a long way to reduce rants.

I hope these suggestions will improve everyone's experience on Hubpages. I am interested in learning more about the hubber community. Please take the following poll to help all of us learn from one another. Thanks in advance for participating in this non scientific poll. I will start by taking the poll first.