What 30 Years of Platform Punishment Taught Me About Owning My Voice and Stage
When HubPages Banned My 15-Year Account Today, I Smiled with Joy Instead of Crying.
From Ban to Brand
Dear Subscribers, this story might sound sad to some of you, but it is empowering because I wrote it from the heart and my higher self.
Thirty years ago, I shared my first article about meditation, reflecting my hypothesis in the cognitive science discipline, on a digital bulletin board in the United Kingdom.
Back then, meditation was viewed as fringe, suspicious, even dangerous. My post was removed, and my account was banned for life. The moderators labeled it “unscientific” and offensive.
That rejection stung, but I accepted it as part of the times. In those days, neuroscience had not yet caught up to meditation. We did not have MRI scans showing cortical thickening or PubMed papers mapping the chemistry of stress reduction.
Fast forward three decades. We now have tier-one peer-reviewed research proving that meditation changes brain structure and biochemistry, lowers cortisol, improves neuroplasticity, and may even protect against dementia. The science is precise. The stigma should be gone.
Or so I thought.
On September 11, 2025, I received a cheerful email from HubPages celebrating my 15th anniversary on their platform. The message was warm and congratulatory:
“Hi Mehmet Yildiz,
You have hit a pretty impressive milestone — your 15-Year Anniversary on HubPages! Thanks for gracing us with your creativity and unique perspective these past 15 years. HubPages wouldn’t be the same without you. Happy Hubbiversary! Fun fact: Gifts of crystal are typically given on 15th anniversaries. Could it be time to pick out a distinguished crystal paperweight for your writing desk?”
I smiled as I read it. Fifteen years is a long time to share ideas in any community.
Then serendipity hit the door. One of my academic collaborators, Dr. Khalid Rahman, sent a link to his recent story from HubPages on my Slack workspace. I read it, and his story inspired me to repurpose my boosted story on Medium about the cognitive effects of meditation on Hubpages.
I shared the link with some of my collaborators and friends who are interested in meditation research. But just hours later, the celebration ended. My friends said they can’t see the article, showing a 404 error. A technically capable friend from the UK searched my name and was shocked.
She sent me a screenshot that stunned me: my name and my photo still there, but beside them a stark notice — “This author has been banned from HubPages.” Below, everything was reduced to zero. No articles. No followers. No following. A digital humiliation, not a professional act. They have my phone number and email, but they haven’t left a message. I only noticed it after my friend sent this screenshot to me.
They have my details, but I don’t have access to their editorial team or helpdesk. When I sent an email asking for clarification, it bounced back.
The same platform that sent me congratulations banned my account and unpublished my article on meditation and the brain. My articles, followers, and following disappeared.
I wondered the reason and opened my profile, which is still accessible from my end. The reason?
They flagged my story as “overly promotional” and associated it with “affiliate links.” Yet the only links in my story were to scientific resources indexed by PubMed.gov and Google Scholar, scientific sources anyone can access. As an editor myself, I can tell you that this message is AI-written, as there were no Amazon Capsules or overused keywords in my scientific review. It reflects the editorial position of HubPages, in my opinion.
The irony struck me hard.
Thirty years ago, my writing on meditation was banned for being unscientific. Now it is banned again, this time for being too scientific.
Why This Rejection and Setback Made Me Smile With Joy Instead of Upsetting Me
The Lesson: Borrowed Platforms Come With Borrowed Power
This experience is not just about me. It is about what every creator faces when they build their voice on borrowed platforms. Whether it is a bulletin board in 1995, HubPages in 2025, or any platform in between, the truth is the same:
- Your voice can be silenced overnight.
- Your work can vanish without warning.
- Your history can be erased, no matter how long you have contributed.
When you publish on someone else’s platform, you are at the mercy of their algorithms, their moderators, and their business models. The rules can shift at any moment.
This is why I chose to build my own platforms, my website, my Substack communities, my Medium publications, my Patreon networks, and LinkedIn connections. These are not immune to external pressures, but they give me more control, more ownership, and more resilience.
Do I feel sad? Not really, I feel disappointed, but I smile with joy because now I feel more powerful than 30 years ago, which deeply upset me, and I even cried in my bedroom, caught by my wife, and she thought I was crazy, giving so much power to stupid bulletin boards in those days.
HubPages was part of my writing journey for fifteen years. I wanted to contribute in good faith, cite science carefully, and share insights meant to educate and inspire. To be celebrated one moment and banned the next feels cruel.
But I also feel empowered. Because I have learned this lesson before: do not entrust your life’s work entirely to borrowed spaces.
As creators, we must own at least one platform where no one else decides whether our voice matters. For me, that is my personal website, my newsletters, and the communities I have nurtured.
The timing is symbolic.
On my 15th anniversary, HubPages gave me the greatest gift of all: a reminder that my independence matters. Now I can publish stories about meditation, fasting, nutrition, supplements, or any other useful things for society.
A crystal paperweight might decorate my desk, but the real crystal clarity lies in this truth: if you want your voice to last, you must build a home for it that no one else can take away.
Last year, Facebook suspended my 20-year-old account accidentally, but they fixed it and sent a heartfelt apology in August 2024. Let’s see whether HubPages ever acknowledges this blind spot and issues an apology.
The company no longer has its own CEO since it was acquired by Maven (now The Arena Group) in 2018. HubPages was originally founded by former Microsoft employees Paul Edmondson, Paul Deeds, and Jay Reitz, with Paul Edmondson serving as its CEO before the acquisition.
HubPages generates revenue primarily through aggressive ads, in contrast to Medium and Substack, which provide a cleaner and more creator-friendly environment.
HubPages generates revenue primarily through aggressive ads, in contrast to Medium and Substack, which provide a cleaner and more creator-friendly environment. The reviews on Trustpilot, and particularly on Sitejapper, are very negative. Here is what Scott Sery thinks about HubPages which aligns with my experience and many others. Here is an experience a person, on Quora, who wrote an article and got banned from HubPages.
Conclusions and Key Takeaways
I share this story as a caution and an encouragement. If you are a creator, a writer, or a thinker with ideas close to your heart, do not rely solely on borrowed platforms.
Use them, yes, but build your own too. A website, a newsletter, a book, something that remains yours.
Because one day, the platform that applauds you may also erase you. And when that day comes, your own foundation will be what keeps your words alive.
I learned this lesson 30 years ago. I learned it again this year. And I hope you never have to learn it the hard way.
If you are interested in meditation, you can read a summary of my research on Medium.com, which honored me by boosting it in 2023:
Meditation Can Boost the Cortical Thickness in the Brain and Prevent It from Thinning
At cellular, genetic, and systemic levels, meditative practices might alter the structure and biochemistry of the brainmedium.com
I am calm and composed today because I have been meditating three times daily for the last 30 years, which rewired my brain and mind for tolerance, calmness, composure, and joy.
Meditation and Mindfulness Are Not as Simple as They May Seem in Theory
Underestimating the substantial mental energy and effort needed could lead to disappointment and potentially quitting…medium.com
To protect my work, I printed the HubPages version and published the PDF on my website. There, it will remain safe, untouched, unaltered, and beyond the reach of someone else’s algorithm, benefiting anyone interested as a free resource without any ads, unlike HubPages. ILLUMINATION-Curators also curated the article via a blog post.
Today, HubPages Banned My 15-Year Account. Instead of crying, I smiled with Joy and Meditated Again🌟
If you’ve ever been banned or silenced as a creator, you might find comfort in another story I wrote, one that shows why giving up is never the answer.
How a New Year of Writing Strategy, Shifts, & Stumbles Turned into Growth I Didn’t Expect
My Monthly Writing, Curation, and Publishing Updates and What You Can Learn from My Progress with Its Ups and Downsmedium.com
Despite the challenges of life, I always stay calm and composed because I look after my brain and mind with passion. I explained the fundamental requirements of the brain with nuances in previous stories, so I link them as reference here:
Here’s How to Make the Nervous System More Flexible and Functional
Here’s How I Train My Brain Daily for Mental Clarity and Intellectual Productivity.
You can find many relevant stories about brain health and cognitive performance on this list.
Brain Health and Cognitive Function
Edit descriptiondr-mehmet-yildiz.medium.com
If you experience severe cognitive decline or nervous system dysregulation symptoms or signs, it will be wise to discuss with your family doctor and get a referral for a neurologist.
For new readers, I’d like to introduce my new book, How I Accelerated My Learning Effortlessly for a Happier Life. This comprehensive learning guide is a natural extension of my previous health-related work in Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life, Cortisol Clarity, Cellular Intelligence, and Healthspan Mastery, as learning is both a biological and psychological process.
People wonder how I can write so many books and become so creative and productive. The short answer is, I am a practical superlearner.
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In Technology Horizons 2050 and Beyond, I draw on five decades of work in technology, cognitive science, and global innovation to predict the coming five decades. I believe we will overcome our limitations and improve our health with the help of emerging technologies and scientific breakthroughs. I remain optimistic while some paint a pessimistic picture of the future.
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Do you have a book that you’d like to have edited, published, and promoted?
If you are a book author, I offer editing, publishing, and marketing help to 100 experts as a pilot based on a revenue-sharing model without any upfront payment. 70 writers from Medium and 691 writers from Substack have already applied for it, but I cannot do more than 100 in 2026. I will scale it after the success of the pilot. I wrote a story about it lately.
Why Am I Investing 3,000 Hours of Editing and Publishing with $0 Upfront Payment for 2026?
Empowering 100 experts to publish books isn’t just an investment of time, but a commitment to knowledge, legacy, and…medium.com
You can find out about my scholarly work on my Google Scholar or Bohrium profiles. Some of my technical credentials on Credly. You may check out my other most loved stories on this platform. As a new instructor, my Udemy profile includes 4 Substack courses, and I will publish more soon.
You may check out my other most loved stories on this platform.
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You may enjoy this comprehensive free book chapter I wrote for technology, enterprise, and business Architects as a gift: What Is a Digital Transformation Architect? — The Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem. Check out my updated posts on YouTube.
Explore some of my books including: The Mysterious Leadership Mind of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Substack Mastery Version 2, Monetize Your Passion with WooCommerce, Agile Business Architecture for Digital Transformation V2, Agile Business Architecture for Digital Transformation (Audiobook), Cortisol Clarity, A Powerful Toolkit for Substack Newsletter Mastery, Smart and Ethical SEO, Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life, Modern Affiliate Marketing for Writers, 4 Pillars of Enterprise Architecture, and Smart Email Marketing Content Integration.
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