PHOTO CONTESTS: See the votes or blind poll?

[Eurobabe]

I think we've discussed this before, but are there others that would like to change the voting on the polls to a "no see-um" until the voting closes? -48%er

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Especially when you are losing

bad....

[BrightKnight]

2. Keep it transparent & simple. Nothing should leave DU.

Doing things offsite makes me nervous. People can have very strong emotional reactions to contests. It is best to keep everything as simple and transparent as possible.

Blind polls would not change anything.

[Eurobabe]

3. Nothing would leave DU, what I would propose

and I think we discussed this back and forth somewhere before, is to maybe have someone in the computer group design a poll that the mods and the poll owner could see the votes; but for the rest of the participants and voters, the results would be kept as a surprise until the end. (HAHA!! Kind of like 2004, only better!) I don't know, just a thought.

[MissHoneychurch]

4. I like the idea of a blind vote

that way people might not follow the ones who has the most votes already. And it is more suspense and surprise for us as well.

[jhain]

5. I had hoped to do just that this month

I like the blind polls much better. But, I just couldn't fit in any curvy type learning when the time was so crunchy.

-Jude

[babylonsister]

6. I like seeing the results; what would the difference be, especially

now that the pix are in GD? I could understand favoritism happening in the lounge, but does anyone think that's happening now/still?

[NashVegas]

7. Not Worth the Trouble, IMO

I think the contest is already taken too seriously.

[Eurobabe]

8. Why not add an element of surprise?

[NashVegas]

9. I've Said All I'm Going To On the Subject

My reason is posted above.

[blueraven95]

10. I say blind poll, definitely

although I am not against people being able to see the poll results after they've voted.

And I do think we are seeing favoritism in GD as well as the Lounge - I think its human nature to want to vote for the winner.

(and I know there have been times when I've voted for a low vote getter that, while I like the picture, I may not have voted for if I hadn't been feeling like it was underperforming. If that makes sense.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. I do the same thing.

I always wait until the end to vote.

[JeffR]

11. I voted yes, but wasn't going to open my yap

But as Scrooge said, "I just can't help it."

:bluebox: My yes vote isn't intended to give the President a blank check to -- whoops. My yes vote is based solely on the notion that this idea might make for better contests.

:bluebox: First, of course, is it even possible? I'm guessing that DU polls utilize straightforward PHP scripts. Whatever powers them, it should be easy enough to hide the results while the poll is in progress, but then there's the question of how to arrange for the OP to access the results. This would entail giving the OP admin-level access, I think. Can't see that they'd be receptive to doing that.

:bluebox: I agree that off-site polls are not the solution.

:bluebox: I don't believe there was favoritism toward certain entries when the contests were staged in the Lounge, and I don't believe that's happening in GD either. But the sometimes lopsided vote totals lead me to think many votes are influenced by what a viewer already sees the rankings are. "Cash Machine Available Here" is as good an example of this as I can think of. It got 41% of the final vote, against excellent, serious photos like "Suddenly Homeless" (5%), "There but for the Grace of God" (7%) and "Divided We Stand" (6%). I'm not griping about winning, but those percentages are ludicrous.

:bluebox: As to the question of contests being too serious or too competitive, I may be obtuse but I just don't see it. Seems to me that even the pros in the group view the contests as a challenge to their skill and imagination, an enjoyable group project, a chance (hopefully) for some feedback, and a vehicle, however humble, to get better. If this group is riddled with gigantic egos or obsessive-compulsive competitors, the evidence of that has completely escaped me. In any event, trying to spice the contests up a little or get more objectivity from the voters doesn't strike me as inimical to the fun aspect. Quite the contrary, actually.

:bluebox: There's been a lot of discussion about tinkering with the contests, trying different things, roundtables, photo-that-caption challenges, and so on. I sense that these things don't sit well with some members - though again this is more intuition than empirical observation. These changes, IMHO, enhance the appeal of hanging out here.

Happily, there's new blood in the group, and I welcome their input and their photographs as warmly as I felt welcomed here when I jumped in. So much talent, so many good-hearted people. Disagreements, even minor ones, are so rare here I'd swear sometimes that this can't be DU.

Having said all that, I'll close by saying I'm deaf to any voice that doesn't agree with me about everything.:evilgrin:

[Blue_In_AK]

13. I have a hard time with the "roundtables"

just because I don't think I know enough about photography or "art" to critique other people's submission. It's not anything against the concept, which I think is great. And as for "photo that caption," also another great idea, but I don't have the imagination that some of you do, so I've been kind of intimidated by that one, as well.

Just in case you were alluding to me with the "don't sit well with some members" reference. :evilgrin:

[JeffR]

14. Actually, I wasn't thinking of you regarding that

But since you responded, I'll ramble a little more.

I think if it's possible to be reasonably objective about your own photos, it's possible to do the same for other people's. Roundtable caveats were legitimately raised about watching out for people's feelings, and if anyone was wounded by any comments they got, it was never expressed (publicly anyway). With so many of the photos you've taken as support for my point here, seems to me your eye and your opinion are as good as anyone's, and better than - for example - mine. Does that stop me from offering my feeble critiques or offering up my paltry snaps for dissection? Hell, no.:+

As to Photo That Caption, it is quite a challenge. It's also brought out the zanier side of some people's snaps, which is cool to see. If I were as good with a camera as you are, I'd jump into these things. I'm not, but I jump in anyway.:+

Your opinions carry a lot of weight with me, so if something really isn't sitting well from your perspective, I for one would want to hear what you think. I believe others would too.

[Blue_In_AK]

15. You're too kind, Jeff...

I guess I should throw caution to the wind and just jump in with these things. It's my own self-doubt and insecurity that's the problem, not anything wrong with the concepts. I'll try to do better. :)

[JeffR]

16. Self-doubt and a side-order of insecurity are part of my daily regimen

they're essential to a balanced diet.:9

[regnaD kciN]

19. Show me a photographer without a degree of self-doubt and insecurity...

...and I'll show you someone who's content with taking snapshots.

[JeffR]

20. That deserves its own thread!

Nicely stated!

[regnaD kciN]

17. My only problem with the Roundtable and Photo That Caption threads...

...is that I'm still on dial-up :nopity: , and accessing threads with lots of photos takes so long that I often decide to skip them until I have more time, which almost never comes.

[regnaD kciN]

18. I've long been in favor of hiding the results...

...if not until the contest is over, at least until the person has voted. (I've seen that feature in polls on other sites.)

I don't think it's "favoritism" we're seeing here, on GD as well as the Lounge, but it's a form of "bandwagon-jumping," and/or people wanting their votes to count for something, so only voting for an image with a good chance of winning (from henceforth known as the "Kerry Principle" ;-) ). Nonetheless, recent results have made it clear that this behavior didn't vanish with a change in contest venue.

Finally, I agree it needs to be done on DU itself. While some users here have the expertise and/or resources to host their own poll, not all do. Moreover, I'm not sure that asking DUers to follow a link to an off-site poll will get the response of one that's right there in the thread. I can't help noting that the credit line at the bottom of each page here proclaims "Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators" -- would it be so hard for whoever in DU admin modified DCForum+ to add this feature (and expanding or removing the 10-entry limit, while they're at it)?

[Eurobabe]

21. Don't we have enough geeks in the Computer group

(and I say GEEKS lovingly because I am married to a computer WIZ - CIO) who could develop the code necessary to run a blind poll? I know Skinner is about ready to deliver, so we shouldn't bother him with this now. Perhaps better to come up with a solution and then ask if it can be integrated?

Clearly, a vast majority of people in the photo group like the idea of a blind poll. Me personally, if I see a photo that I like in the contest, (Ms. Toad's The Aftermath for example) I vote for it regardless of the number of votes it has (it is currently #2 in the finals), I venture a guess that most of us in the Photo group vote that way. BUT, I think alot of people follow the leader and want to be aligned with a winner.

Wouldn't it be interesting, if even from an psych/socio standpoint to see if hiding the results makes for a different outcome?

Just my .02 euro cents (which are now worth .06 US cents)

-48%er