In the past polls in the Short Story contests, Flash Fiction and the Poetry contests have been set up in different ways. For example, there was a brief time in the Short Story contests where viewers were able to see what the votes were before voting. There was also a time in the poetry contests where viewers were able to view the votes before voting. In the poetry contest there was also a time when viewers were able to see who voted for their submission by clicking on the number of votes their submission got. Debates have come and gone on the matter and it seemed to be the case that more votes had come through when viewers couldn’t see the polls at all before voting. I create this thread to open up this debate again so people can have an open discussion over whether you think viewing should be made accessible before voting or only viewable after and it’s interesting to find out what your thoughts are on this. Some people also think that viewing polls before might bias the voting. Do you think that’s true? Maybe you think it’s more convenient to view votes if you don’t have the time to read the stories? Maybe you would like to know who’s voting for the other stories? Whatever your thoughts, this is the thread to share them...
I absolutely think viewing the votes before voting would skew the poll. Apart from tactical voting, I don't buy the argument that you should view the votes without voting. We're on a writers' forum. I think, if nothing else, it should be courtesy to read other people's work, especially in the contests. Now, I know not everyone is interested - perhaps short stories/flash/poetry is not their thing but nonetheless, it's part of giving back to the community - and if you aren't going to read the stories, there's no reason to see the votes. I don't believe Xenforo allows you to see how other people voted in a poll. If anyone knows a way, I'd be interested to know.
I'm gonna have to go with no on this one. It'd make it too easy and perhaps too tempting to vote tactically. Besides, keeping the votes hidden is good incentive to actually get your vote in so you can see how your story is doing.
I'm also going with No to this - I think it's inarguable that being able to see the results would affect your vote in some way - it might be plumping for the favourite after all, it might be voting for the underdog, but it will affect where you put your cross. I tend to avoid voting if I have skin in the game (unless I think that another entry is so great that I really want it to win, which does happen). That adds to the tension and therefore the fun, especially if my entry is roundly trashed in the comments -- as is the case in one of the recent/current contests (c: When that happens, one or two votes can make all the difference to one's self-confidence!
Mod hat off, I think secret ballot, secret results is the way to go. Visible results risks tactical voting, and visible votes risks bad feelings and even more tactical nonsense ("Member X voted for that? (S)he' an armadillo-fondling pile of dung, I don’t want that story to win!") Laugh if you will, you don't have to read the reports...
Spoiler Yeah, you can see who voted when polls are set to “publicly visible” as this poll is. Click on the part that says “x votes” and you’ll see them!
Gosh.. it’s rather strange those votes aren’t diversified. Maybe viewing polls before voting.. since no one wants to be the only one voting “yes”. Note: if you think “yes” it would be awesome you had the balls to put your vote through. You’ll be making a statement, after all.
The contest creator should add a fake story in each poll. Call it "No Vote: See the Results." When the creator tallies the votes for the winner, that one doesn't count. Then entrants can view the contest's progress without affecting results. Curious people can check it out too. But if you want to actually have a vote that matters, you'll have to read the stories. If you peek with the "no vote" then you lose your chance, which seems fair.
Okay. It seemed like an obvious solution that fixed every issue. People who were just peeking weren't going to vote in a meaningful way anyhow. Unless there's some other hidden features of the board, I don't see an easier improvement than that. Not a big deal either way though. It's just one of those little improvement nudges that's so easy to implement.
