Anonymous Photo Ratings

[stanic]

<p>Hello everyone,<br>

I am a new PNet member, and I am noticing a lot of Anonymous Ratings on the photos I put up on the Critique forum. Are these ratings made by PNet members or just random site visitors? I would prefer to get comments along with a ratings, so I am wondering if there is a way to disable anonymous ratings. I feel they completely defeat the purpose. <br>

Thanks!<br />~ Goran</p>

[phule]

<p>Your only option is to check the "Critique-Only" box when submitting for a critique. This disables all ratings for that image.</p>

 

[stanic]

<p>Thanks, Rob<br /><br />I think I will have to do that in the future. Random ratings with no comments really do not do me any good. </p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>All ratings are made by members that are signed into the system. Site administrators can see who actually left a given rating if there are patterns of abuse. Any time you go up to the Sharing -> Rate Photos option at the top of the screen, you are "anonymously" rating. This is so that if a member honestly thinks an image doesn't deserve a high rating, that leaving a lower one won't result in the person who received it going on a revenge spree and down-rating everything that the other person posts. Believe it or not, that used to happen a lot. You would think that only children would conduct "revenge rating," but the PN administrators found they needed to do something about it.<br /><br />If you choose to leave a critique on a photo, that will NOT be anonymous, and nor will a rating you leave at the same time.</p>

[stanic]

<p>Ok, that makes sense. After posting this, I was able to find old posts on the subject that cleared things up a bit as well. Thanks very much!<br>

~ Goran</p>

[Michael R Freeman]

<p>If you want your photos to be seen, then disabling ratings (i.e. checking "Critique Only") is probably not the way to go about it if you are new to photo.net. Those with a long history here and a "following" can do that, as people will seek out new additions to their gallery and leave comments on their photos. But when you are new to the site, you want to expose your photos to as many people as possible.</p>

<p>While <em>"random ratings with no comments really do not do me any good"</em>, they really won't do you any harm either if your goal is only comments. You can ignore the ratings. By choosing to enable ratings you will give your photos the best possible exposure, and therefore best chance for comments. As Matt noted, the anonymous ratings are given by <strong>signed in members</strong> of photo.net who are using the <em>"<a href="../gallery/photocritique?rating_type=photocritique&topic_id=1481&recent=4">Rate photos</a>"</em> queue, and they're not really truly anonymous. Furthermore, if you disable ratings, you will exclude your photos from ALL views<em> </em> of the "<a href="../gallery/photocritique/filter"><em>Top Rated Photos</em></a>" page, which again means less exposure if you have a great photo that would get good ratings. No ratings, no exposure on this page.</p>

<p>Of course, in the end, the choice is yours and you need to pick what works best for you. For some that is "Critique only", for others it is not.</p>

<p>There was a time in the not too distant past when non-anonymous "direct ratings" and comments on your photos were possible without submitting them to the general membership for ratings/critiques. But alas the children that Matt refers to above abused and blatantly cheated and gamed that system to the point where they had all but hijacked the Top Photos pages, and photo.net was forced to require anyone that wanted ratings to submit them to the general membership, which meant accepting both direct and anonymous ratings or none at all.</p>

<p>Incidentally, anyone who is signed in can write a critique / comment on any of the photos in your gallery, even if you do not submit them to the critique forum. However, unless you have a "following", photos that you do not submit for either critique only or critique plus ratings are essentially invisible (there are over 4 million on the site).</p>

[jim_j2]

<blockquote>

<p>This is so that if a member honestly thinks an image doesn't deserve a high rating, that leaving a lower one won't result in the person who received it going on a revenge spree and down-rating everything that the other person posts. Believe it or not, that used to happen a lot. You would think that only children would conduct "revenge rating," but the PN administrators found they needed to do something about it.<br /><br /></p>

</blockquote>

<p>It still happens!<br>

I've been around awhile but only recently (in the past year) got interested in having my photo's critiqued or rated as I built up a Portfolio. (Mostly due to going digital)<br>

I've also noticed that it appears, to get anything displayed in the Top Rated Photo's requires a 6 or above rating in either Aesthetics or Orginality. (That's fair and reasonable) For that matter, displayed anywhere on the front page other than the "4 millionith contest" window. (One of the great things I personally liked about the contest . . . the exposure to those that don't make the Top Rated Photo's was great! Even if very short!)</p>

<p>I find it interesting that I can have a photo (or watch others photos) that recieves 4 ratings of A-6, O-6, then in its final result as it's 24 hours is up on the Critique forum, it now has only one more additional rating (for a total of 5 ratings), and now it's down to A-5.25, O-5.25 or sometimes lower!<br>

I don't know how low that 5th rating would have to be, but I expect it's lower than a 3!</p>

<p>It's a shame, but it still happens!</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>As Michael Freeman explains, submitting your photos for ratings will enhance the opportunities for views. More views may equal more critiques or comments.</p>

<p>I typically use the anonymous ratings queue. It's quicker and more efficient. While I don't critique or comment on every photo I see in that ratings queue, most of my critiques and comments result from what I see via the ratings queue.</p>

<p>Also, see those thumbnails of member photos that appear at the bottom of discussion forum threads? That's a new feature. It's driven by the ratings system. If you submit a photo for ratings, even if it receives low ratings, it still increases the opportunities for your photos to be seen by others. And eventually someone who sees that thumbnail view at the bottom of a discussion thread may decide to visit your portfolio and offer a critique.</p>

<p>So, what's the drawback to getting a number from an anonymous stranger? Not much if you have a good sense of humor and can ignore the inevitable 3/3 in exchange for increased opportunities for your photos to be seen.</p>

<p>And, yup, I follow my own advice. I submit a few photos a year for critiques and ratings. I usually get lots of anonymous 3/3 ratings. I don't take many crowd-friendly, people pleasing purty pitchers that look good in thumbnails, so I expect low ratings. Doesn't bother me a bit, because it increases the chances that someone else may see the photo and offer an insightful critique that helps me improve as a photographer. If I get one such critique a year to a single photo in my portfolio, I'm happy. There are billions of photos online, so I'm always surprised and pleased when someone takes notice of one of mine.</p>

[stanic]

<p>Thanks a lot everyone. This clears things up quite a bit. <br>

Many thanks,<br />~ Goran</p>