People asking for votes

[robertwhite]

My pet hate people asking for votes so that other pbasers can benifit from there galleries
What a load of bollocks
they are only interested in getting in the populars, just to feed there ego's there are a lot of worthy images in the lower realms of the populars that are a lot more deserving .
Thats my little rant, it might best I keep quiet before I get my Machette out and hack my computer to bits

[crisscross]

I share your despair over so much attention being directed towards so few regular 'top' galleries, but think it is still possible to identify a group of like minded photographers not necessarily jaunting to the world's most photogenic locations....just

[texces]

I understand. I could care less if I'm on the populars or not. I'm here to learn and get feedback not for the votes. There are some folks I get pmails from that ask for me to visit such and such gallery and vote if I like it. I just delete those.

You aren't alone!

[amoxtli]

I think the most popular is somehow fixed. That's why I never check it anymore. Always the same people anyway, and certainly not the best photography.

[lynnh]

I don't check the popular galleries, most aren't any better than the ones I find in the Recently Updated gallery. If someone has gone to an exciting exotic place and is announcing their gallery, I'm happy to take a look.

I figure everyone joins Pbase for a reason, and my reason isn't the same as another's. Some want to be most popular, some want to sell photos, some want to simply share a passion or meet new friends. Certainly not worth chopping the Mac into smithereens.

[clickaway]

Can't agree more.

I react against such people so am likely not to look at any of their photos! I really don't know who is in the Popular Galleries as I never look. Nor do I use the voting mechanisms now either.

You get the same kind of people on facebook who ask you to vote for their friends/daughters etc. when they have entered some kind of contest.

Ray

[rtwo]

I agree ... I think the voting thing really got out of hand. I never check popular galleries and never vote. I do look for excellent pictures tho.

[kstuebin]

I vote on a lot of photos. It's not because I'm asking for a vote in return. It seems an easy way to tell someone how much you like the photo. And I also look at the popular photos. Not the galleries though.

I've only recently realized that the voting system is flawed somehow. Because I do check it out, I see the top photos change almost daily but the ones in the middle tend to stay the same. I will see a really old top photo never leave and a brand new one shoot to the top in a matter of hours. How is the voting calculated? On some algorithm from another planet?

So I guess I'm beginning to rethink it because it actually seems pointless if people I vote for never seem to get anywhere even when other people have voted for them too.

I guess it isn't really a peer evaluated system but another Pbase glitchy programming error.

[chestersgallery]

For years I have only posted votes anonymously. If everyone did this it would stop this relentless vote hunting.

I probably vote on as many pics as the folk who constantly put the "v" on the end of a comment. I feel its unfair to have others looking at my voting and feeling their shot warranted my vote over another one I have voted on, hence my voting stays anonymous.

One thing that should be stopped is this constant barrage of votes for shots that just aren't up to scratch. I have posted shots that are really poor in their photographic quality, but maybe they tel a story, or are part of a photo journal or series of shots to tel a story. When I see a "vote" on shots like this it really winds me up. I know when my own shots aren't of a high standard, and its a insult when I see a "v" on an otherwise fair comment when other shots from a "non commenting" member don't get a look in.

For me you might as well disable the facility and just look at the hit counts. I know this might push the nudes to the top of the table but at least it will be more honest.

Flickr have a good thing going with their "Hit, miss, maybe" They use their groups system to set this up. You post one to the group and comment on the previous three as "hit,miss or maybe" Anyone posting to the group is asking for the criticism, so very few get upset. Its still open to a bit of corruption, but its better than the PBase vote system.

All that said , the standard of photography on PBase is amazing, so vote or no vote , keep up the great posts. We know a good shot when we see one, and thats all that counts

[akmc_in_au]

I vote on a lot of photos. It's not because I'm asking for a vote in return.

So do I. But I very rarely say that I do, simply because it may feel to the other person like there's an obligation to return the vote even though it's not intended that way. Generally the only time I'll say it is if I think that the image is so good that it's worth underscoring the point. And in response to the original post... I'd NEVER vote for anyone who asked me to.

It seems an easy way to tell someone how much you like the photo.

Not necessarily. They don't know that you've voted for it unless you put a "V" comment in. And that alone may tell them that you liked the photo, but not why you liked the photo, which is much more important when getting a sense of what works and what doesn't. I'd rather leave a comment with some information about that.

And I also look at the popular photos. Not the galleries though.

I rarely look at either, because...

I've only recently realized that the voting system is flawed somehow. Because I do check it out, I see the top photos change almost daily but the ones in the middle tend to stay the same. I will see a really old top photo never leave and a brand new one shoot to the top in a matter of hours. How is the voting calculated? On some algorithm from another planet?

So I guess I'm beginning to rethink it because it actually seems pointless if people I vote for never seem to get anywhere even when other people have voted for them too.

I guess it isn't really a peer evaluated system but another Pbase glitchy programming error.

... it's not that the voting system is flawed, it's that some people are gaming it. Get a group of vote swapping buddies together ("you vote for mine, I'll vote for yours") and given that most photos will get only a handful of votes, it's pretty easy for a group of 8 to 12 people to vote each other up into the stratosphere. That's essentially how the brand new one that you refer to rockets up the chart. That's why I prefer to look at the Recents rather than the Populars; the Recents are also flawed (by people who constantly delete and reload photos), though you get to know those "frequent fliers" over time and can mentally filter out their galleries. (Though it'd be great if you could put them on a blacklist that would filter them out of your results.)

The PADs I'll look at only occasionally to pick up a bit of fresh meat, but for the most part I've given up on that list because there are so many non-PAD galleries which are flagged as PADs just to get them a bit of extra visibility.

[lynnh]

The PADs I'll look at only occasionally to pick up a bit of fresh meat, but for the most part I've given up on that list because there are so many non-PAD galleries which are flagged as PADs just to get them a bit of extra visibility.

Oh!!! My pet peeve... People who mark a gallery as PAD when it isn't.
I've been keeping my PAD for years and have only missed taking photos twice. I struggle to get a decent PAD shot, but I see people posting PAD shots from months or years ago.

[kstuebin]

I am not voting to get a vote. And a lot of times I don't which is fine because to me voting is for photos you really, really like. Having said that, there are photographers whose photos I look at every day who are SO good, I probably vote for almost every one. I don't see them going to the top.

I still think there is something about the way votes are calculated which has to do with when the vote is triggered or something like that. I will see a photo that has 15 V's in the comments yet it only gets 8 in the popular page. These may be spread over a couple days.

I can't explain it. It makes voting kind of nothing more than "I really like your photo."

I am sorry to hear people game every system Pbase has in place. I can't control that but it seems so needy that I doubt I'd want to. Let them get their manipulated rankings if it helps their self esteem.

[lynnh]

I am sorry to hear people game every system Pbase has in place. I can't control that but it seems so needy that I doubt I'd want to. Let them get their manipulated rankings if it helps their self esteem.

Karen, I agree. I think I was trying to say that earlier in this forum. I'm not worried about the Populars. Pbasers post for many reasons, and we vote for many reasons. If someone is so competitive that their goal is to be Most Popular, then let them. If they cheat, oh well... they'll live with it. I'm here to learn and to nurture my creative side.

I am grateful for votes because that is the measurement we currently use. But I know that the votes I get are not going to be a vehicle to the front of the line in Populars.

I vote for photos that appeal to me based on the ARTISTIC quality and not that they are technically precise. My taste in art might not be your cup of tea. Some Pbasers only vote based on technical aspects. Some vote because of the mood. Some vote because of the color. I do vote often, but I always tell the artist why I am voting. I appreciate feedback too.

As far as how the voting works, does anyone know if you have to vote on the entire gallery to get maximum votes? I think if you vote on each individual photo and then vote on the entire gallery, it counts everything twice. Or is it only voting on the gallery that gets you to the populars? I never really understoon that.

[christopheru]

My technique for voting on pictures is to tell people when I do, usually. But, if I leave a comment, it means I like it enough to tell the photographer that I liked their efforts. If I like their efforts enough to comment, I like them enough to vote. Generally then, a comment from me = a vote from me.
I view the populars sometimes, and funny thing is, I am always surprised to see anything from me there (don't care really) but am delighted to see the work of some of the people I have come to know via pbase who do genuinely good work get their galleries recognized even if the system is imperfect. For that reason, I am glad it is there.