Views to votes ratio is an interesting phenomenon. For example in yesterday's "tortoise" contest. The picture that is currently in first place and which is a terrific picture had received 613 views and 51 votes as of 11:15 AM Eastern time this morning. That means that roughly 8% of the people who viewed the picture voted for it. The picture that is currently in second place was viewed 312 times and received 43 votes or 13% of the people viewing the picture voted for it. The picture currently in 3rd place was viewed 300 times and received 37 votes or 12% of the people who viewed the picture voted for it. Finally, the picture currently in 4th place was viewed 243 times and received 35 votes or 14% of the people viewing the picture voted for it. If the contest were decided by votes to viewer ratio, the picture currently in 4th place would be the clear winner. I think that it is fair to assume ( although perhaps not necessarily logically consistent) that if the 4th place entry had received as many views as the first place entry( given its current views to votes ratio) that it, in fact, would be the current leader in that contest.

I recognize that there are certain controlling and non-controlling variables that determine how this ratio is created. For example, many of the views attached to the picture currently in first place could come from interested outsiders simply viewing the picture, but having no vote, the author editing his picture, other voters/viewers returning, again and again, to view a picture that they really liked and etc. But even if you subtract 100 views to account for those variables in the picture and don't change the vote count, only 9% of the people who viewed the picture voted for it. A statistically significant difference, in my view, which suggests that the viewers preferred picture/s (not necessarily the best one) would be the picture/s that received a greater percentage of the votes related to the number of people who viewed them.

My bottom line questions are : 1. If the number of views were the same for each picture
would the voting outcomes still be the same? 2. Are we as voters giving each picture the attention it deserves, or do we pick and choose pictures to view by name and/or thumbnail view or any other criteria that ignores some pictures while favoring others?

I also did a cursory review of a few other contests to see if the same phenomenon could be observed. And, indeed, I noted the same kind of view/vote ratio, but the statistically significant percentage gap may not have existed in every case.

To conclude, there are many pictures in most contests that are good enough to win the contest. So I am not suggesting that Supak0ma's picture in yesterday's contest doesn't deserve to be the winning entry. It is a terrific picture with a brilliant theme and wonderful execution. But I am wondering if the voting viewers (including myself) are giving all of the entries the viewing/voting attention they deserve.

Thanks for sharing Master Patre...

Thanks for the reminder Patre - I'll have to start adding "number of views" to my epic stats too!

the reason the top vote getter gets the most views with the least votes is because the poster keeps refreshing every 20 seconds to see if they got another vote. done and done.

ahah longtool! now who are those who viewed my pic and didn't vote....*cracks knuckles

are you saying i'm an f5 freak?? *pulls up sleeves

Hi Handtool
I honestly don't know if my speculation has any real credibility. I also doubt that many people care very much about that kind of data. But my hunch is that there is, at least, something predictable about viewer/voting patterns that suggests not every picture is being given the viewing attention it deserves. And I realize that there may be nothing blameworthy in viewers making choices re"thumbnail etc. Work, family and other factors may contribute to limited viewing/voting time.

Data on views would be an interesting stat. for a lot of reasons. Are leading entries, names, certain kinds of pictures etc. getting the most views. If the stats were broken down into categories like the ones just noted, then I think they might be interpreted and some meaning attached to them..

Hi Supa..
Your picture in yesterday's contest is terrific and was an easy vote for me.
Perhaps those people who viewed it, and didn't vote for it, missed an
opportunity to support a very special project.
The other interesting consideration is that maybe your picture isn't getting the voting attention it deserves based on the number of views it is receiving( as you suggest), but that must be a topic for another day.That kind of inquiry, I would guess, would be very speculative and highly subjective..

interesting stuff... i still say if ya view my pic, it should add a automatic vote to it ha ha ha

i'm not even gonna read this thread--if you did a picture
you expect to do well---and your excited about it--
your gonna refresh it fifty times in the first fifteen minutes of the contest alone---
*sigh*
Votes to views has come up too often and NEVER in a positive
way---it'd be nice if one of these VtoV threads
would include a poll so the site admins could know where we stand.
I vote- get rid of the view counter-- it has no value
that I can see.

i Totally agree with Scion.

It just adds to the confusion.

Maybe you are correct in assuming that the vote counter has no discernible value, but my hunch is that under significant statistical scrutiny the matter would prove to be more complex than the numbers, at first glance, might suggest. At least, in my view, interesting questions are raised, even if nothing "changes on the ground".

I think the whole thing is a coincidence.

Test it if you want, correct me if I'm wrong, it's one view per computer, no matter how many time you go back to see the post.

Michel, I just used one computer to view one picture several times. The views number did increase reflecting that the program was calculating each view from the one computer I was using. Actually, I am not certain that you were serious about testing your assumption or were just "kidding" me. Either way, I now know something I really didn't know..