fanpop's got talent Article: Voting in 2009

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Voting in 2009

posted by germany123

The deadline for all submissions is the 4th of July!
That's right: All entries must be submitted until the 4th of July 2009. We have had the discussion previously about which time zone fanpop operates on but I'm actually always too lazy to figure it oot: just submit it in time! =P
Voting starts as soon as the submissions period is over! You have two weeks to vote so remember:
You must have cast your votes until the 18th of July!

There is an elaborate article about voting on this spot I'm sure but I thought I would cover the basics here again in case there are any doubts. This article wont be complete- we still dont know how many entries we will have, the spot still seems a bit slow in terms of comment contributions, forum activity etc so these are just the basics on voting and I will edit this as we go along!
One thing I urge you to do in the meantime: Please comment and rate! If you see submissions on the spot, take the time to look at them, rate them and write a comment telling the user what you thought. I think it's only encouraging to fans if they see that people took the time to share their thoughts..just like they took the time to submit an entry. You'd appreciate it, too!

So voting like last year will be done by the fanpop community! We will give you the details aboot where you send your votes when the time has come. Each person gets two votes. Please put
"fanpop's got talent vote" or something like that in the subject line. AGAIN: The judges don't actually judge, they just like the name cause it makes them feel important! YOUR vote counts and please be really fanpopesque aboot this and vote!

There is a list of entries link that will be updated when we get a new entry so you should find everything there. Before voting please read link aboot what to look for in an entry..rather than just choosing someone you know.

We have had a bit of trouble on this site lately regarding people making fake accounts (coughmedalcrazycough) so this year we ask you to please only submit one vote per computer. If you have a friend, sibling, dog, pet monkey or just your alter ego sharing your connection: please agree on one vote and send it to the judges!

Also: You can't vote for yourself! If you were involved in any way in making the entry you can't vote on it.

Also please try to be fair! Don't just vote for people you know or like. Please be fair and vote for the entry you honestly think is best.

Voting

Voting will start once the entry window closes so after midnight on the 4th of July and you will have two week to decide and cast your votes, so up until midnight on the 18th of July.

You may vote twice putting your favorite act first e.g.

1st-Dave
2nd-papa

-If there is a third name there we will just ignore it.

Remember: Two votes but only ONE message per connection! If you share a computer with someone- just like with rating- only one vote counts!

-We will also ignore any votes for yourself. If you were part fo the entry in any way you cant vote for it!

-All votes are sent to the judges via a message, you send your votes as follows:

If your username begins with a number or punctuation mark and a-f also send your votes to claire-aka-bob
(link)

-if your user name begins with g-m send your votes to cowgirlfromhell
(link)

-if your user name begins with n-s send your votes to Germany123 (
link)

-finally if your user name begins with t-z send your votes to Saul_Mikoliunas
(link)

nmdis, Chatleen and 20 others like this

harold I apologize if this ends up being posted twice - some inconsistent behavior in commenting module - so: What target number should we have for entries, beyond which we'll consider having that finalist round?

oblix hmm, i've not read this yet, i've got up to where you say it going slow..so i've gone to spread the word!

germany123 harold, i doubt we can even have two rounds of voting..you know how lazy people are aboot voting- you remember last year and you took part in the fanpoppies. we can barely get people to vote [i]once[/i] i doubt we can get them to vote twice. im not so much worried aboot the entries (though thats a factor of course..last year we had 23 i thinkand though i didnt count up the votes im pretty convinced the result was a given..who would beat fanpapa?) as much as i am worried that people just dont vote. you made a forum..aboot this last year i think? you were really promoting the whole "your vote counts" thing and..well all i remember is people going: oh...yeah..uh..i forgot. when was the deadline? voting, eh!? wheeeeeeeeeere??? when!? i think no matter how many entries we get two rounds is a bad idea. maybe the judges can tell us more though: suals and clairey..how many votes roughly did you get last year!?

harold The reason I'm for multiple rounds of voting is that it makes the competition a bit more exciting and less like an election. When you think about it, an election is the only instance where you select a winner with a single vote. Say that 200 people vote (we can dream) for 26 contestants: in the first round, contestant X has the most votes with 25, contestant M has 23, and contestant B has 20. If there was only one round, 132 people voting had no effect on the outcome of the contest, 175 users had "losing" votes, and the winner was determined by 2 votes. But if there was a second round, in which the contestants with, say, the top 3 numbers of votes go on as finalists, the full 200 people (or even more, if our promotion work would prove to be successful) could vote to determine the winner. The 132 people whose votes didn't count could try again, knowing that the selection list is much smaller, making it both more likely that their votes will be for the winner and more exciting, as the contestant with the most votes in the first round may not fare so well in the second, given that there are 132 others who may not have liked that entry at all. Getting people to vote is a problem, but it's not one that should determine how the contest is held. It's just a promotions issue. If problems with participation are going to discourage us, then why do the event at all? That's what I think, anyway. Another thought: maybe the mechanism for voting is the problem. Sending mail to a contact based on the first letter in my username? That's going to baffle people, for sure. Fanpop does have a voting feature, called picks. Is that option still completely off the table?

Saul_Mikoliunas [i]suals and clairey..how many votes roughly did you get last year!? [/i] Roughly 40. We had to bug a few people to get some more but that was a rough amount that all three of us received. By the way, when I was trying to find that out, I was doing some stalking from last year and I foudn the message you sent with the really evil Schnappi song and now its stuck in my head again!!!! As much as your point is great Harold, I am still unsure about how it would work. We decided against pick because it was too public. People will always be swayed by what other people think. There were lots of other factors obviously but that was the main one. Also, it's not really baffling. If people are going to read an article on how to vote, then they will also be able to work out who to send it to. It was (and still is imo) the most logical way to do it.

harold Well, it's your decision. But it's a pretty high bar, and a big reason why there aren't more votes. We [i]know[/i] that people were confused by the voting last year. Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior.

germany123 yeah also we always wanted voting to be anonymus.seeing 0 votes for you...well if thats not as fun killer...also i doubt its encouraging for future contestants

Saul_Mikoliunas Exactly. I have spoken to two contestants from last y ear and they were a bit less enthusiastic about participating because they thought that their talent was less well received than others. If it came out as public as a vote, the people who received zero votes would definitely not be wanting to tenter next year. [i]We know that people were confused by the voting last year. Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. [/i] How do we know that people were confused? None of the three of us received votes that we weren't supposed to. People did enquire as to how to do it but once they read the article, it seemed pretty simple.

germany123 okay i have updates with really quickly with the help of claire aka bob- im sure there are typos etc but if you find something REALLY wrong or unclear..leave a comment!

harold Cool - thanks for the update!

Saul_Mikoliunas I think you put the m and N wrong in the voting part Germ. Cowgirl is getting g-n but you are getting m-s which is an overlap =S

germany123 blame claire! i copied and pasted what she sent me :P ill figure it oot and edit!

claire-aka-bob shuuuuuuuush i did it quickly okay! :P ♥

germany123 lol..all is well sweetheart i ediTED!