Do We Need to Overhaul the IOW feature

Bailey,

You raise some good points, but also some, that IMHO are not valid for this "fun" activity. Let me go into more detail.

1: Only 14 members voted!! At the time of this post, I notice (from this site's home page) that the average number of members (eligible poll voters) logging on each day is somewhere between 30-35. This suggests to me that only a tiny percentage of members who log in fairly regularly actually took the time to vote. So there is a problem there.
Yes, sometimes numbers are very low, which is disappointing for us members who volunteer to put the poll together. Sometimes numbers naturally fluctuate, such as summer time or around Christmas. I agree, numbers could be much better when it comes to this.


2: Members were allowed to vote for 3 images, including their own !!! if they had an image as an IOW candidate in the poll. This can only skew the final vote count for an image.
We initially decided to go for 3 votes per member due to the amount of photos we initially had, however, I believe that we could reduce this to one vote. As for voting for your own image, the poll is not able to restrict this. The poll functionality is not that sophisticated, so I think this is something that will continue as is.


3: With people allowed to select 3 images, then even a member's 3rd choice carried the same weight in the poll as their and other members' 1st, 2nd and 3rd preferences.
As per my point above, reducing this down to 1 vote per member is something we could and should look at.


4: The 1st place image received only 7 out of 42 votes. How many of those 7 were actually 1st preferences, I have no way of knowing. Regardless, the allowance of 3 selections per member means that 35 out of 42 votes did not think the 1st placed image was the best/most popular or whatever other criteria members used to make their 3 selections.
None of us have any way of knowing how many of the 7 were actually a members 1st preference, so we just have to live with that I think. But again, this goes back to 1 member 1 vote.


So how can the IOW feature be improved and so hopefully increase the participation from members as a result I hear you ask



Off the top of my head I can brainstorm some ideas which may or may not be feasible, possible or desired, but here goes.



1. Give members some incentive to take the time to vote. I'm not sure how atm as it will probably be hard to implement.
As I previously said in another post, this is for fun, and we are all volunteers here. The forum does not make any money (and it was never meant to), so actual incentives won't be an option. The glory of being picked IOW is all that is on offer. 


2. Group images into categories. Atm, it seems to me the IOW is a comparison between apples, oranges, bananas. Apples should be compared with apples and oranges with oranges etc.
Again, this is much more work for our volunteers that run the IOW. I understand where you are going with this, however, the low number of images submitted don't make this a valid option, and neither does the time it would take to group images into categories.


3. If a poll is used to award an IOW, then a voting system which reflects the "winner" more accurately than the current system is a must to have any chance of increasing participation in voting by members. I discussed a "preference voting system" in another thread recently and is my preferred option.
Again, referring to my response above on 1 member 1 vote.


4. Define a set of criteria on how to select an IOW. Should it be based on just most popular image or should some technical/quality criteria also be used?
Defining technical selection criteria would mean that our volunteers may actually abandon us in being a judge. Some may feel they do not have the "technical" ability to judge on whatever technical criteria are being stipulated for selection. The point is, this is for fun, and as usual the selection is a very subjective one. What I may deem a good photo you may deem as inferior. As the saying goes "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". 


Now I know the IOW is meant to be just a bit of fun and not to be taken too seriously, but it seems to me from my 4 observations above, very few people (apart from the same tiny core group of members each week) are treating it as a fun activity to get involved in each week, let alone taking it seriously.
  As I stated above, the feature is for fun only; if people chose to take it serious, well then there is nothing we can do about that. And I am not entirely sure how your 4 observations show that people don't take this as a fun activity, so happy for you to perhaps explain a little more about that particular point.


Unless something changes, I feel the IOW will struggle greatly to become more than the weekly novelty it is at the moment imho. If that is what the majority of members want, then that is ok with me
I am not sure that we had anything else in mind than for it to be a weekly fun item. We have no grand aspirations that this may become anything but a fun feature on our forum. Again, not sure what else it could be, but happy to hear what you think this could evolve into.


As always, just some food for thought To add to your thoughts, perhaps consider volunteering to become an IOW judge.

Hi all. I use my phone for logging in via Tapatalk. I see the poll mentioned but don't see a way to vote. I don't get much time on computer at the moment. I love looking at people's work and helping others when I can. I assume smart phones don't work with the poll system. Hope info useful.

You can't vote after the poll has closed, as in this case. If you want to vote while it is open, from memory you click the item you want to vote for or the tally bar next to it.

I hope nobody minds if I add my twopence worth here.

I am not a photographer but I have my own views when looking at a photograph and they are based simply on what appeals to me NOT on any technical prowess that may apply to any given photograph. For that reason I thought that perhaps I shouldn’t vote.

As a result of this thread I have had a look at the original criteria for the IOW and it would seem that no technical photographic knowledge is required in order to vote in the IOW.

Bailey you say “very few people (apart from the same tiny core group of members each week) are treating it as a fun activity to get involved in each week”

I think you will find if you look at the other challenges on this site it is almost “the same tiny core group” who take part there also. The bottom line is you can offer all the incentives you like but you can’t force people to take part.
 
It is a pity because forums like this are only as good as their members and without member participation eventually these forums will die.

Edit: apologies to Helen I deleted my original post which is why this post appears after yours - sorry if I have caused confusion.

I'd like to chime in on this thread by saying that I personally don't think changes are needed to the way the IOW poll vote is conducted. The poll vote only comes around every 6 weeks or so, in between a rotation of forum member judging turns. Because of the relatively low voter turnout I don't see anything wrong with members being able to cast 3 votes and, also, to vote for their own submission if they so feel. Considering that other forums such as Topaz Labs don't even have an image of the week competition despite there being numerous daily member submissions, to me it's amazing that the IOW exists at all on PSE&M. That it does is only because of the efforts and selflessness of members like Helen, who has coordinated the comp from day one and other members like Simone, Pauline (rapata) and others I am sure who take time out of their busy schedules to setup, conduct and tally the poll. To add more features such as preferential voting, while a nice idea, would be another layer of complexity for the person tallying the poll results and overkill for what, as Simone indicated, is really just a fun way to recognise and call attention to member gallery submissions. Just my two cents worth.

Hi Sydney and Tpgettys,

thank you for your thoughts.  The purpose of this thread is an attempt to get people thinking about how to make the poll system a truer indication of members' views and whether it should be attempted to increase its participation.

I have thrown up my thoughts and what I feel would be a better IOW activity but if the administrators and members prefer to maintain the status quo or go in a different direction for whatever reason that is totally fine by me

I was asked earlier this thread to consider becoming an IOW judge.  In its present form I can't justify the time since there is no benefit to me at all.  But in the future if the direction of the IOW activity changes to a direction similar to what I put forward and the invitation still exists, I would most probably consider it then.