Different subject line: What's up with the 6/6 raters?

There's a lot of posts about the anonymous 3/3 ratings. But one thing that

annoys me more is the "friendly" members who rate just about any photo with a

6/6, not anonymously (figure that!). Quite obviously to get a high rating back,

and then it goes on, and on, and on...for eternity (almost).

<br>These members can't get much out of the total rating (which this way

becomes way to high) on their photos (other than that they probably must be one

of the best photographers in the world). Please note the irony.

<br>Not that anyone get very much out of the ratings anyway, since the rating

system is quite screwed up. But that's another discussion.

<br>

<br>Not much of a question here I know, more of an opinion. Though I would like

to think there's room for opinions too. HAPPY EASTER!

I just rank all photos on photo.net at eleven, because photonetters rock!

 

________________________

 

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...

 

Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?

 

Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.

 

Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

 

Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

 

Marty DiBergi: I don't know.

 

Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

 

Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.

 

Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

 

Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?

 

Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

When people give 6/6 to generic or flawed photos it shows that they don't understand what good photos are. Or they're being polite.

 

Look at photos the majority of 6/6ers post for a clue as to which it is.

"When people give 6/6 to generic or flawed photos it shows that they don't understand what good photos are. Or they're being polite."

<br>...or they do it to "push up" the ratings on their own photos.

<br>

<br>

"Look at photos the majority of 6/6ers post for a clue as to which it is."

<br>I guess you mean that they don't know what good photos are. Then my question is, what is a good photo? One that follows the "rules" in photography? Isn't it always a matter of taste? What you think is a good photo I might not find appealing at all, even if it's, for example, well composed or well lit.

<br>I think many (not all) of these 6/6ers is out to get higher ratings themselves. If they rate 3 photos with 6/6, then maybe they get one or two 6/6s back.

A lot of critics thought Grandma Moses' work was childlike and lacking any artistic merit.

 

Didn't really matter though, since the average folks who didn't "understand what good <art>" should be loved it.

 

A good photo is precisely what an average person thinks a good photo is, not what some snob who thinks they know better than the plebiscites says it should be.

I imagine that lots of folks just ignore the photos they don't like and only rate those that are 6/6 or better to them. In any case, I don't think that there is any single motivator at work here.

Well I am a 6/6 rater, but an honest one!

My Rating philosophy, as we have to have one here on PN, is not to rate photographs that I find IMHO really bad, and to give a 6/6 for a very good photograph! I am not rating on a friendly base, cause when a friend of mine has a photograph that is not so good, at least not to be rated 6/6, I just leave a comment!

But thesedays I notice a lack of imagination and originality on PN, and I dont give so easily 6/6 anymore, but a fair 5/5 is the photograph is Good!

Anyway, why anybody is paying attention to the ratings, as this is not a competition, but a Friendly Site of Photographers to learn and improve their photography :)

So who cares for the 3/3 or friendly 6/6 rates?

I dont care anymore for 3/3 Raters, but I am going to be more careful when giving 6/6!

 

So dear Rasmus, enjoy your Photography and Photographs of others on PN :)

 

My warmest regards,

Biliana

<i>A good photo is precisely what an average person thinks a good photo is</i>

<P>

Hilarious.

"A good photo is precisely what an average person thinks a good photo is, not what some snob who thinks they know better than the plebiscites says it should be."

 

 

I think you think that means something than it actually does. You've got the word root right, wrong suffix. : )

Something other rather. Plebs maybe?

I don't think it is true that people rating with a 6/6 are doing so "quite obviously to get a high rating back" as you say, Rasmus. I fairly recently decided only to rate photos that I have been really impressed by and I see it is as being supportive to the photographer when raters make themselves known. I would personally love to get higher ratings but only if I knew they were justified and from people whose opinions I value because I respect them as a photographer. The latter is impossible with anonymous ratings.

Excellent points, Helen. I pretty much ignore anything anonymous because I can't judge from

whom it comes. I mostly take to heart critiques from people whose work or approach or

philosophy or thoughts or knowledge or taste I admire. I don't necessarily have to admire

someone's work in order to think they are a good critic. There are even many

nonphotographers whose opinions I seek because I think they have good insights and overall

judgments.

Hmmm... That's the problem with "democracy"... not just the enlightened elite, but the lesser untermensch vote too. So sad...

 

I'm one of those despicable 6/6 raters, I guess. I'm with Biliana and Helen here. When I started rating the first pictures, I gave 3's and 4's if I saw it fit. Pretty soon I realized that this was pointless. I too prefer to vote on a minuscule percentage of the thousands of pictures posted here on a daily basis. So I too concentrate on those who I think (sorry to those whom my rude taste might have offended...) deserve a good rating.

 

But I want to make it very clear: I am not against 3/3 ratings if one is so disposed. Just like I'm not against sadomasochism but I respect those peculiar trends in others. That's personal and up to each one of us. I would find it as stupid to complain against 3/3 raters as it seems to me to complain against 6/6'ers.

 

What I do find a shame and a little suspicious is the "anonymous" voting system. There should be no need for this double-voting in the shadows. At best is not transparent, at worst it is a way to manipulate voting by favouring/penalizing participants.

 

Voting should be done in the open, and whenever possible -if an extreme (low or high) mark is given- it should be desirable to add some comments as to why one is giving that particular rating. Ultimately I agree once again with Biliana: this is (or shouldn't be) a competition. Naturally we all have egos (some more hypertrophied than others) and we all enjoy a positive feedback, a signal that we are on the right track, that others empathize with what we see and try to reflect in our photographs (or any other manifestations in life). But then again, eventually we all grow up (not all, of course) and finally praise and harsh criticism enters through one ear and goes out of the other unimpeded.

 

So it goes. :-)

I'd rather have someone tell me what they like/don't like about a photograph, and what I could do to improve upon it. Leaving me a numerical rating doesn't help me at all. I've removed my portfolio for those reasons. I grew tired of the 3's with no comments/critiques. I've also stopped rating and started commenting.

Well, I am trying to leave comments. And I rate the images I like - I suspect that a lot of people who appear to give only "good" ratings do the same.

My point here is definitely not that <I>all</I> "6/6ers" are out to get high ratings themselves. My point is that some probably are. I've seen members rate just about any photos with 6/6, and unfortunately I don't think it's just about varying/different tastes.

<br>

<br>I too rate mostly photos I like, I have a quite high average when it comes to given ratings (over 5). Eyecatching and "good" photos get more ratings, nothing strange about that.

<br>

<br>Biliana: I think you should rate exactly the way you want, if you think a photo deserves a 5/5, then rate 5/5. If you think it deserves a 6/6, then rate 6/6. There is also a possibility to give one rating for aestethics and another for orginality.

<br>

<br>Helen: "I would personally love to get higher ratings but only if I knew they were justified..."

<br>I would love to get higher ratings too, thanks to my photography skills, nothing else. And I definitely think all ratings should be visible, I don't care much for the anonymous ones.

<br>

<br>Abilio: "Hmmm... That's the problem with "democracy"... not just the enlightened elite, but the lesser untermensch vote too. So sad..."

<br>I wouldn't say that's the problem with democracy, I would say that's the whole idea with it. I'm definitely not the "enlightened elite" as you are implying, far from it. I agree with you and Biliana, it's not supposed to be a competition and I don't see it as one either.

I don't rate many with numbers, but when I do it's a high rating to say, in shorthand if you will, "this is right, and I can't add anything to it"

 

Otherwise I would not rate but try to add a helpful comment

 

If it's really poor, I let it alone, there are enough others who'll chime in

Many probably do just like you Jack. Me included. I rate <u>mostly</U> photos I like, and once and a while some photos I don't care much for (with a comment letting the photographer know what I don't like).

<br>Truth is I don't rate much at all any longer, I (try) to give helpful comments only instead.

I used to be a 6/6 rater because I only stop to see good shots, but when someone request a critique I always try to make a helpful comment. There are so much pictures here in PN that it is hard to rate the ones I do not like but it is easier to stop to see good ones.

Nevertheless the rating is complety subjective so do not give it more importance than it is. Regards.

I think that instead of the "rate recent photos" option, it should be a "critique recent photos". Ratings are next to useless, whereas critiques can tell you what's goo or bad about your photograph.

I will give a 6/6, or 7/7, and occasionally a 5/5 to photos that are either a) currently being rated below what it should be rated b) so that it gets added to my list of highest rated photos, to show people what i like to see..... FWIW.... Also, to 'reward' the photographer. I do no often hand out 3/3's, and will instead, give as thorough critique as i can.