Voting in competitions

Winston Deckard · Feb 8, 2009

Wouldn't it be better if the number of votes each photo has wouldn't be disclosed until the end of the poll?

I mean, in order to get a truly unbiased voting, which is truly representative of each individual's opinion, wouldn't it be better to avoid the "following the crowd" effect or the "I won't be the only one to vote for this pic" effect?

I think the competitions section in this forum is very interesting and full of great ideas, it's just this tidbit that I found maybe could be improved...

TwoRails · Feb 8, 2009

I don't even notice a vote number before I vote. I go and review the shots, most of which I've already seen, and then make up my mind before going back to the voting screen. I've only noticed the number of votes after I vote.

Josh66 · Feb 8, 2009

TwoRails said:
I don't even notice a vote number before I vote. I go and review the shots, most of which I've already seen, and then make up my mind before going back to the voting screen. I've only noticed the number of votes after I vote.

There is a link you can click on to view the poll results before voting. By default you do not see the results, but you can see them if you want to.

Jeff Canes · Feb 10, 2009

no, because if it is a run away i vote for someone with 0 votes

Winston Deckard · Feb 11, 2009

Jeff Canes said:
no, because if it is a run away i vote for someone with 0 votes

This is exactly the sort of thing I think we should avoid. Each vote should be independent of how many votes each photo has at any given time, whether it's given to the leader or to someone with 0 votes. The only thing having influence on the vote should be the picture and the evaluation the voter makes of it. If a picture is good it will naturally get the votes. If it's not so good, maybe it's fair that it will end up with zero votes.

One way or another, if we know how the "race" is going before we vote, that knowledge will have influence in our choice. In my opinion the results should only be disclosed after the voting period is over.

Eldrich · Feb 11, 2009

Winston Deckard said:
This is exactly the sort of thing I think we should avoid. Each vote should be independent of how many votes each photo has at any given time, whether it's given to the leader or to someone with 0 votes. The only thing having influence on the vote should be the picture and the evaluation the voter makes of it.

edit 'picture'
insert 'politician'
see primaries...
urgh!

okay, sorry, no politics, but it's not partisan at least