Help understanding story votes on lit?

[holliday1960]

Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to the lit site and while I have gone through the FAQ and articles offered as 'help', I find I am having a problem understanding the voting system here.
First, I have noted numerous votes disappearing on stories. Last night over 35 votes disappeared on one of my stories alone.
Do votes 'drop off' after being posted for so many days? Do votes disappear if a member deletes their profile?
Since I am not getting a great deal of feedback or comments as a new writer on the site, I depend upon the voting scores to keep me somewhat apprised of whether the readers like my stories or not. Now, I'm not sure if I can depend on this as it appears to be inconsistent.
Also, I have noted that when votes drop, my overall averages seem to go up. Strange to me. Can anyone explain this or any part of this phenomenon? I'd appreciate any help or advice you might have. Thanks!

 

[kbate]

Lit performs periodic sweeps of troll votes, duplicate votes, self votes, clique votes, and my votes. When these sweeps happen, most lit stories lose a few votes and gain a higher average because a large number of votes are the 1 bots who vote down any story not their own because they feel that being in the top 100 on Lit makes them better than Jane Austen.

 

[oggbashan]

Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to the lit site and while I have gone through the FAQ and articles offered as 'help', I find I am having a problem understanding the voting system here.
First, I have noted numerous votes disappearing on stories. Last night over 35 votes disappeared on one of my stories alone.
Do votes 'drop off' after being posted for so many days? Do votes disappear if a member deletes their profile?
Since I am not getting a great deal of feedback or comments as a new writer on the site, I depend upon the voting scores to keep me somewhat apprised of whether the readers like my stories or not. Now, I'm not sure if I can depend on this as it appears to be inconsistent.
Also, I have noted that when votes drop, my overall averages seem to go up. Strange to me. Can anyone explain this or any part of this phenomenon? I'd appreciate any help or advice you might have. Thanks!

This question should really be asked in the Authors' Hangout where you will find many threads discussing the scoring system for stories.

What has happened is a 'Sweep' that removes duplicate and dubious votes. There is a themed contest running at present - Halloween - and sweeps happen more frequently than usual because some people try to vote up their favourite author and vote down anyone seen as a potential winner.

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

just do an "If I Get Into the HOF" thread bro!

Stew

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

LIT awards bonus points for stories that celebrate fags, niggers, muslim terrorists, and psychotic dykes who look like Chazz Bono.

 

[holliday1960]

This question should really be asked in the Authors' Hangout where you will find many threads discussing the scoring system for stories.

What has happened is a 'Sweep' that removes duplicate and dubious votes. There is a themed contest running at present - Halloween - and sweeps happen more frequently than usual because some people try to vote up their favourite author and vote down anyone seen as a potential winner.

Thank you very much for all the explanations. Makes sense now! I'm learning, thanks to a few willing to offer advice such as yourselves. I wouldn't have posted this to the general, except some of the descriptions are vague...for instance under authors hangout is says it is for discussing story lines and developments...that sort of thing. I figured general meant "if you generally don't know what the hell you are doing...post it here!" LOL
Again thank you all, very sincerely for your responses.

 

[toubab]

Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to the lit site and while I have gone through the FAQ and articles offered as 'help', I find I am having a problem understanding the voting system here.
First, I have noted numerous votes disappearing on stories. Last night over 35 votes disappeared on one of my stories alone.
Do votes 'drop off' after being posted for so many days? Do votes disappear if a member deletes their profile?
Since I am not getting a great deal of feedback or comments as a new writer on the site, I depend upon the voting scores to keep me somewhat apprised of whether the readers like my stories or not. Now, I'm not sure if I can depend on this as it appears to be inconsistent.
Also, I have noted that when votes drop, my overall averages seem to go up. Strange to me. Can anyone explain this or any part of this phenomenon? I'd appreciate any help or advice you might have. Thanks!

Don't get too caught up on the voting. Ratings and the sweeps will likely drive you crazy if you take them too seriously. Comments are a much more reliable way of judging how you're doing, anyhow.

 

[holliday1960]

Don't get too caught up on the voting. Ratings and the sweeps will likely drive you crazy if you take them too seriously. Comments are a much more reliable way of judging how you're doing, anyhow.

Thank toubab, but like I said, as a new writer, there haven't been many comments posted. I don't have a 'following' (like most anyone who is new to the site)...so what else can you rely on except the number of votes and the score to know whether you are generally liked or not?
I got into a message board thread where I could readily see how some here are all about winning a contest. Really??? Unless its a Pulitzer...I don't get it. And it cannot be about the money as you are not going to make any real money posting to a free site. (Hollidaywoman shakes her head sadly)
I joined to get some honest feedback on technique, style and interests as well as advice on publishing as I am sitting on a back load of novels in development and editing processes. What I post here are strictly "test" stories to get a feel for the public's tastes.
So, that being said...I'd welcome any advice or even casual friendship with someone who isnt into the competitive side of this whole thing. I like honesty.

 

[toubab]

Thank toubab, but like I said, as a new writer, there haven't been many comments posted. I don't have a 'following' (like most anyone who is new to the site)...so what else can you rely on except the number of votes and the score to know whether you are generally liked or not?
I got into a message board thread where I could readily see how some here are all about winning a contest. Really??? Unless its a Pulitzer...I don't get it. And it cannot be about the money as you are not going to make any real money posting to a free site. (Hollidaywoman shakes her head sadly)
I joined to get some honest feedback on technique, style and interests as well as advice on publishing as I am sitting on a back load of novels in development and editing processes. What I post here are strictly "test" stories to get a feel for the public's tastes.
So, that being said...I'd welcome any advice or even casual friendship with someone who isnt into the competitive side of this whole thing. I like honesty.

You're welcome. If you continue writing, and are good, you'll get a following.

 

[oggbashan]

You're welcome. If you continue writing, and are good, you'll get a following.

You might not like some of the followers. Trolls exist and sometimes decide to attack every one of an author's stories. In my case they tend to run out of steam a quarter of the way through the alphabet.

 

[toubab]

You might not like some of the followers. Trolls exist and sometimes decide to attack every one of an author's stories. In my case they tend to run out of steam a quarter of the way through the alphabet.

I know, Ogg. That's one of the reasons I told her not to care too much about votes and ratings. A red H is like a target to some. Attracts one bombs. And sweeps don't always get rid of them.