Should Contest Voting Be Anonymous or Transparent?

[NickHardy]

It's in your profile settings. You can choose not to see notifications for reactions to your posts.

Seems like Mel has fixed everything for me!

I’ve switched off reactions to my posts (it was all sad faces anyway ) so now my alerts having clicked the Watch button on contests will be all I get. Apart from replies and tags which are minimal.

Whoop whoop.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! everyone - its Chinese New Year so I have four days off. I’ll br mashing F5 for four days desperate for someone to tag or reply to me

 

[InTheShed]

desperate for someone to tag or reply to me

Here ya go.

 

[NickHardy]

@InTheShed Thank you so much, but…

Nick

 

[Hash Hound]

.....

Part of the problem is, I get drowned in notifications. Every time I login I have 25+, and if I don’t login for a day I’ll come back to 100+ notifications. I try to get through them all but I miss them from time to time and I am almost positive other members here deal with similar. (I’m not complaining about the numbers, just illustrating that it’s very easy to miss an alert)

@Keffka I had the same problem with an inbox full of notifications until I discovered one can watch a thread and select "watch without receiving notifications" instead and use the "watched threads" tab to keep up with the threads I watch.

 

[ExNavyInSTL]

I say "Anonymous" because people make friends (online and in person) on websites like this.

It might be hard for someone to make it obvious they are not voting for a friend on some months.

 

[420]

Looks like reverting back to anonymous voting might just be the way to go after all.

Contest voting starts on the 15th, we could see how it works in this month's contests.

72 votes in 72 hours is the most votes I've seen in quite a while, how about you?

 

[420]

I’m not sure if you’ve affirmed this or not but sending out multiple alerts the way @InTheShed said is a good idea. I completely missed that year end voting was happening, and I’ve also missed the last few months as well.

Part of the problem is, I get drowned in notifications. Every time I login I have 25+, and if I don’t login for a day I’ll come back to 100+ notifications. I try to get through them all but I miss them from time to time and I am almost positive other members here deal with similar. (I’m not complaining about the numbers, just illustrating that it’s very easy to miss an alert)

@Marc Ocean says

You can:

• Mark alert as "unread" so it'll stay highlighted while you work through the rest
• Modify your settings so you don't get the flood of reaction alerts / etc
• Or even click it and add a Bookmark to revisit it later

The highlight for the reactions are all removed on a refresh, so you can see the highlighted items more clearer too. They can also disable persistent alerts, which contributes to the 100+ notifications.

 

[Keffka]

@Marc Ocean says

You can:

• Mark alert as "unread" so it'll stay highlighted while you work through the rest
• Modify your settings so you don't get the flood of reaction alerts / etc
• Or even click it and add a Bookmark to revisit it later

The highlight for the reactions are all removed on a refresh, so you can see the highlighted items more clearer too. They can also disable persistent alerts, which contributes to the 100+ notifications.

Awesome, this is very helpful! Thank you, both of you!

Thank you to @Melville Hobbes @InTheShed @NickHardy and @Hash Hound for a few tips on managing notifications as well! I’m pretty sure I got everyone but it also is Saturday morning so my bad if I didn’t lol.

 

[Tokin Roll]

I would rather see voting anonymously.

The reason being; I want to trust going into contest is that is up and up.
I want to trust that my entry is deserving of a vote, not who voted for it.

Tok..

 

[bluter]

Thank you for the idea, unfortunately not possible with our software.

it's probably a double blind. neither side sees anything but the percentage result.

in my case it's a triple blind. you don't know. i don't know. and it doesn't reach my level of care lol

In a perfect world. 6 contests a month is already more than we can handle with the workload and finances that fund it. Weed have to replace another contest to make it happen.

maybe there is a case to run fewer core monthly contests to reduce cost and administration. perhaps augment with some different rotating contests every second month or on a bi-annual basis.

yearly awards could be kept to just a couple core categories as well.

 

[CaptainLucky]

it's probably a double blind. neither side sees anything but the percentage result.

in my case it's a triple blind. you don't know. i don't know. and it doesn't reach my level of care lol




maybe there is a case to run fewer core monthly contests to reduce cost and administration. perhaps augment with some different rotating contests every second month or on a bi-annual basis.

yearly awards could be kept to just a couple core categories as well.

I’m cool with either way because I don’t plan on getting involved with anymore contests. However if I were involved I think I’d like to be sure everything was done right. And the only way to know would be transparency. CL

 

[NickHardy]

I’m cool with either way because I don’t plan on getting involved with anymore contests. However if I were involved I think I’d like to be sure everything was done right. And the only way to know would be transparency. CL

You gonna vote though buddy? I mean you don't have to enter (even the nominated ones I know people have said they would decline to honour) but you've won a decent haul of sweet trophies you're gonna keep that aspect? Just feels good seeing people get their recognition for me?

 

[Keffka]

I went with anonymous personally.

Based on some of the reactions to contests, and some of the stories Rob has eluded to about previous contests, it seems to me, anonymous is best. This allows users to choose who they truly want to win instead of feeling an obligation to another, while also preventing harassment and ill will.

I don’t want to drag politics into this but I can’t tell you how many people have confided in me they voted for one person, but they say out loud to others that they voted for the opposite person just so they don’t have to deal with the crap talking or harassment that comes from both sides.

This is almost the same thing. There are people who don’t feel comfortable giving their true opinion for any number of reasons. Since no one’s rights are at stake and since these contests have no effect on our day to day lives, I think it’s acceptable that voting is anonymous. Plus, I have confidence in the staff and their ability to administer the contests fairly as best they can.

I’ll share a short story that builds my confidence Once upon a time a user named @Keffka talked hella shit to an admin named @420 This lead to Keffka getting banned for a little bit A couple days after he was banned he wanted to access his PMs on the site to grab an email, but he couldn’t even do that. So, Keffka decided to turn on his VPN, use private relay and DuckDuckGo, plus a way left field email address to sign up for the site to reach out to another user. He covered his tracks, yet, when he was waiting for his New user link he received a message telling him the staff knew it was Keffka trying to setup a new account and he needed to respect the ban

I’m still not sure how they knew it was me but that definitely raised my confidence in the staff

 

[NickHardy]

I went with anonymous personally.

Based on some of the reactions to contests, and some of the stories Rob has eluded to about previous contests, it seems to me, anonymous is best. This allows users to choose who they truly want to win instead of feeling an obligation to another, while also preventing harassment and ill will.

I don’t want to drag politics into this but I can’t tell you how many people have confided in me they voted for one person, but they say out loud to others that they voted for the opposite person just so they don’t have to deal with the crap talking or harassment that comes from both sides.

This is almost the same thing. There are people who don’t feel comfortable giving their true opinion for any number of reasons. Since no one’s rights are at stake and since these contests have no effect on our day to day lives, I think it’s acceptable that voting is anonymous. Plus, I have confidence in the staff and their ability to administer the contests fairly as best they can.

I’ll share a short story that builds my confidence Once upon a time a user named @Keffka talked hella shit to an admin named @420 This lead to Keffka getting banned for a little bit A couple days after he was banned he wanted to access his PMs on the site to grab an email, but he couldn’t even do that. So, Keffka decided to turn on his VPN, use private relay and DuckDuckGo, plus a way left field email address to sign up for the site to reach out to another user. He covered his tracks, yet, when he was waiting for his New user link he received a message telling him the staff knew it was Keffka trying to setup a new account and he needed to respect the ban

I’m still not sure how they knew it was me but that definitely raised my confidence in the staff

Someone messaged me to say you picked up a ban. I was like woah I don’t know them at all other than a contest winning well respected member. Now I’m told by my wife ai’ll often mumble, “Keffka says Calcium FTW” in my sleep

I wasn't interested in the why but was secretly impressed

But yeah - Rob has so much crap I cause or plenty the rest of you also cause I’m sure he (and all the rest of the staff) play with a totally straight bat!

If you don't trust your hosts what you doing at dinner?

 

[Roy Growin]

I went with anonymous personally.

Based on some of the reactions to contests, and some of the stories Rob has eluded to about previous contests, it seems to me, anonymous is best. This allows users to choose who they truly want to win instead of feeling an obligation to another, while also preventing harassment and ill will.

I don’t want to drag politics into this but I can’t tell you how many people have confided in me they voted for one person, but they say out loud to others that they voted for the opposite person just so they don’t have to deal with the crap talking or harassment that comes from both sides.

This is almost the same thing. There are people who don’t feel comfortable giving their true opinion for any number of reasons. Since no one’s rights are at stake and since these contests have no effect on our day to day lives, I think it’s acceptable that voting is anonymous. Plus, I have confidence in the staff and their ability to administer the contests fairly as best they can.

I’ll share a short story that builds my confidence Once upon a time a user named @Keffka talked hella shit to an admin named @420 This lead to Keffka getting banned for a little bit A couple days after he was banned he wanted to access his PMs on the site to grab an email, but he couldn’t even do that. So, Keffka decided to turn on his VPN, use private relay and DuckDuckGo, plus a way left field email address to sign up for the site to reach out to another user. He covered his tracks, yet, when he was waiting for his New user link he received a message telling him the staff knew it was Keffka trying to setup a new account and he needed to respect the ban

I’m still not sure how they knew it was me but that definitely raised my confidence in the staff

@Marc Ocean is the unsung hero that does a hell of a lot of the back room work on the site, full credit to him as well as the public-facing staff ♥

 

[Keffka]

@Marc Ocean is the unsung hero that does a hell of a lot of the back room work on the site, full credit to him as well as the public-facing staff ♥

Indeed.. I’ve messaged @Marc Ocean a couple times with these long winded, example ladened messages asking about issues and in @Roy Growin fashion he hits me with a real simple fix each time and voila

They all do a metric fuckton of work for the site (that’s a US Army measurement btw ) and it’s greatly appreciated. I’ve been banned from a few places (surprise!) but this is the only one I’ve come back to and readjusted my attitude for.

 

[bluter]

I’m cool with either way because I don’t plan on getting involved with anymore contests. However if I were involved I think I’d like to be sure everything was done right. And the only way to know would be transparency. CL

it's the exact same tool every other forum uses to run the voting. this is the only one i've ever seen anyone get their underwear in a knot over it.

 

[Keffka]

Someone messaged me to say you picked up a ban. I was like woah I don’t know them at all other than a contest winning well respected member. Now I’m told by my wife ai’ll often mumble, “Keffka says Calcium FTW” in my sleep

I wasn't interested in the why but was secretly impressed

But yeah - Rob has so much crap I cause or plenty the rest of you also cause I’m sure he (and all the rest of the staff) play with a totally straight bat!

If you don't trust your hosts what you doing at dinner?

Some times I know I’m screwing up while I’m screwing up but I just keep going anyway. I always say I’m the kind of person who needs to burn their own hand on the stove so in a way I was just checking to see if the burner was actually hot


I will play a little devils advocate. To be fair to those who get worked up about the contests, they are pretty legit contests. I was shocked at the amount of stuff that came, I would’ve been pleased with a couple of stickers . So, I guess it speaks to the quality of the contests if people do get that worked up to begin with.

 

[CaptainLucky]

You gonna vote though buddy? I mean you don't have to enter (even the nominated ones I know people have said they would decline to honour) but you've won a decent haul of sweet trophies you're gonna keep that aspect? Just feels good seeing people get their recognition for me?

Yeah I’m gonna vote, I just don’t want to be in any contests. And I’m good with either way of voting and wish everyone good luck with them. CL

 

[Sueet]

Well I changed my vote as soon as it was stated it was changeable, thanks @Lady Cannafan <3

I would love for everyone's intentions to be as honorable as mine, but I think that's a pipe dream.

Thanks be to All of you. 420 staff, users, even you lurkers I love how much I learned and continue to learn here.

I would like to say I'm sorry as I never considered that anything I could do would be helpful, I'm always stuck on thinkin' how useless I am. I will try to at least vote in the contests from now on. And imo, I like the alerts, they get my attention and make me feel there is some need to at least look at it. I also like the banner announcements, tho I click them less often.