I would suggest not even talking in threads about the currents challenges!! as they seem to suffer with some certain comments, just start the thread with your own voting and thats all. People seem to suffer on there votes because of this!!
nah, people are just paranoid. If someone's suffering, 99.9999999% of the time it's cause of the picture. Ah what the heck, let's go out on a limb and make that 110.99%.
Even if it is true that some bias is developed here and there due to talking, there simply aren't enough people participating in the forums to make a significant impact on the overall voting. It won't be all, only a small percentage that are not willing to make up their own mind.
I sometimes wish everyone would read the threads discussing the challenge discription. The discussion usually (with a few exceptions) winds up with a very broad consensus that leaves a great deal more leaway than any one perspective, and those that keep up with those threads challenge after challenge seem (my impression) to be much more liberal with their voting.
As Lori mentioned, the voting is based on the the quality of the image -- although I would include also the understanding of the voter, as not all voters are equally capable of 'getting' an image.
The discussions simply bring the general consensus of a sample of the to the front before the voting is finished. It is a representation of the whole voting population and as such mirrors it rather well -- including showing the ideas that will not be readily understood.
The talk serves a valid purpose, IMO, especially early on in the challenge; it may cause many voters to be more thoughtful in how they view images that are outside their particular box.
