How Voting Works
Get out and Vote!
Currently, voting is only supported in the Facebook App as we continue to develop the voting mechanism to optimize it for fairness. Be sure to go to http://apps.facebook.com/thirstyphoto/contests, select the active contest, and vote across the photos. To vote on a particular photo, it is recommended that the submitter of the photo ‘Share’ the link of the photo’s URL.
Look for the rating stars on each photo submission. The rating system is above each photo in the Facebook App. Simply click on the number of stars you wish to rate the photo – and your vote will be recorded.
- Example Rating
Each photo submitted to a Contest Album can be voted on using this 5 star rating system. Rate a photo only if you feel it deserves a vote. “1″ is lowest and “5″ is highest. Not voting on a photo does have a negative effect due to the formula used to determine the winner(s). We recommend Not Voting on a photo if you do not like it. Any rating from 1 to 5 will always be better than a rating of “0″.
A member can rate each photo during the Voting Window of a Contest. Before and after this window is open – you will no longer be able to rate the photo.
Popular Voting Round
For the Popular Voting, any member of the site can rate a photo. When participating in a contest, you can submit a photo yourself, as well as rate others within the contest. We recommend placing the first vote for your own photo! To avoid vote skewing, you are only allowed to rate a photo only once.
In order to qualify for placement in the top three, the submission must have a minimum of 10 votes. The best way to get votes is to vote for other submissions, and pitch your favorite photo on Facebook. Each photo has a Share button – both on the Facebook page and the website page for that photo. This will allow you to post a link of your own photo (or your favorite photo ) to your Facebook news feed. Let friends know your in the contest and get them to participate – after all, its a popular vote so campaign for your favorite photo!
Share button in Facebook App
Share button on Photo Page in Website
The share buttons can be accessed in either the Facebook App on your photo page, or on the photo page of the website. Look for these buttons on the page.
Remember, if you invite friends to vote for your photo, all they need to do is use our Facebook App.
Judges Voting Round
For the Judging Panel, the judges will have separate access to the rating system. Their votes will be tallied separately from member’s votes. For more information on how Judges should vote, follow this page ( here ).
Choosing the Winner
The winner(s) are chosen once the Voting Window is closed. The winning formula is based on the number of ratings as well as the overall score amongst all photos submitted. A simple formula will then be used:
(No. of Votes) X (Rating Score) = Final Score
For example, a photo that had only one vote with a rating of “5″ has a Final Score of only “5“. It will not beat out a photo that has a 100 votes and a rating of “3″ for a Final Score of “300“.
Voting methods can be a subject of great debate, and we’re open to improvements. Changes to the voting methods will not be changed during an open Contest, however.
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added a message for all new users who have never voted. the photo page now will say something like
” Hello Nick!
This seems to be the first time you have ever voted in one of our contests. Simply click one of the stars below. 1 for lowest, 5 for highest – and we will record your vote. To read more on how voting works read Voting Rules. … See More
”
above the 5 star rating. As long as they have voted at least once, this message will not appear again.
I only see 5 likes on the website page, and 3 on the Facebook app page for this photo. Sometimes I have seen when using facebook plugins the numbers being inaccurate. For example, one comment box reported over 1,000,000 counted, when only 5 displayed. So likely you saw the same thing.
Hi Nick. My Photo page link is pasted here.
http://www.thirstyphoto.com/blog/?page_id=3&g2_itemId=19387
Sandip – the voting is at the top of the page in the Facebook App. People may be more familiar with the [like] concept in Facebook. So I recommend leaving a comment on the page. I wil lsee what I can do in the short term – but eventually the whole voting system will change anyway and I can take this into account. What is your photo page? Please give a link.
Thanks
On my photo it is showing 94 likes but only 7 votes. it means people are finding it difficult to navigate to voting page. please do something.
Thanks Nick. That made things a lot easier!
@William Otto
An additional note William, each user has a profile page which shows your submission history . I have yet to make them easily accessible ( will add it the list! ) But they can be reached form the MemberList Page. yours specifically is http://thirstyphoto.com/blog/?page_id=3&g2_view=members.MembersProfile&g2_userId=1194
It is a bit annoying trying to navigate the submissions. Sometimes the same photos will show up on three consecutive pages. Also, had a hard time locating my submission. I had to go through the pages several time till it showed up. Just my 2 cents.
Hi William,
I put the navigation on Random, but I agree it can be annoying! Still trying to find the best way to give all submissions an equal chance of exposure.
Nick
If i don’t submit photo, can i vote? Please tell me, how can i reach the voting window? i am new here and it is not clear to me.
Hi Sambit, yes even though you did not submit a photo you can still vote. Make sure for the current contest you are a member of the Facebook Group (here), this will give you permissions to vote on the site.
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