In case anyone is wondering why this matter has been raised at this time, it's down to me and my concerns.
As those who read my report in April on last year's 75 Worder figures may recall, I was -- as ever -- concerned at the number of people who took part in the Challenges but then didn't vote. To quote from my post [with bolding slightly changed] for the benefit of those who didn't read it then or have forgotten:
The number of votes cast was up from last year’s figure of 529 with 603 votes, but that was wholly due to the fact we had three votes apiece in April’s Challenge. Without that extra, we’d have hit a grim low of 507. April still managed (just) to give us more voters than entrants, but it was the only month to do so, and in both May and September we had an alarming entrant-vote gap of 10. Those figures would have been far worse had it not been for those members who voted in months when they hadn’t entered the Challenge, giving us 39 "extra" votes over the year. Our thanks are due to each of those voting heroes, and most especially to DEO, nixie and Suzanne (the former crystal haven in case the change of name escaped anyone!) who each voted a wonderful three times without taking part in that particular Challenge.
Regrettably, those extra votes are far outweighed by the disappointing 110 missing votes, where members who took part in a Challenge didn’t vote in it. Unforeseen circumstances can crop up, of course, and no one is going to be lambasted for occasionally forgetting what date it is and missing the last day for voting, especially if they're new to the Challenge or not taking part regularly. Real life intervenes and we all accept that. But it horrified me to see that one member entered no fewer than eight Challenges last year without making a single valid vote; another member missed six votes, two other members five each, and others missed three and four Challenges. With all due respect to those involved, that is rather taking forgetfulness to new heights.
That was for 2016-17. I only started keeping the vote tallies with effect from April 2015, so I can't immediately produce a table which might show whether things are getting worse or better, but in 2015-16 some 85 members took part in Challenges without voting from a total of 573 entries, so just shy of 15% of entrants failed to vote; 2016-7 the figures were 110 and 580 respectively, so just about 19%; so far this year the figures are 44 and 309 entries, so 14%. The entrant-voting gap this year (April-Oct) has been 9, 2, 3, 6, 8, 6, 10 so only two months which were reasonably OK.
In April, with its lost 9 out of 44 entries,
and October, with 10 missing votes out of 46 entries,
over a fifth of entrants didn't vote.
What prompted my concerns now, however, is the guy who'd not made one valid vote last year -- which was, incidentally, mirrored by him in the 300s, too. He has continued to enter the Challenges without once voting this year. I raised that fact in the Staff Room. While we were trying to decide what, if anything, we could do about this, the mods' discussion morphed into a general talk, hence this thread.
As to why some members don't vote, as has been mentioned, no doubt some forget, some don't have time despite the best of intentions, some get to the last day and then can't be bothered. (I have noticed, though, that some who miss a Challenge in which they have entered, subsequently vote in a Challenge in which they've not taken part, which does help even things out over the year.) Perhaps a few entrants might be worried about how to choose a winner, in which case I'd hope they take part in the Discussion threads to see that there is no real mystique to it -- vote for the story you like best.
Very often newcomers to the Challenges don't vote, and that could well be down to not grasping when or how voting happens, though perhaps some come to the site in a frenzy of wanting to participate in everything but then find something else shiny and go elsewhere before voting starts, but I rather suspect some others just don't give a damn.
We've no intention of naming and shaming in public. We've no intention of penalising those who forget to vote on odd occasions. (And to be honest, we've no wish to make more work for ourselves in doing complicated things with removing stories and reallocating votes!) But if anyone thinks that participating without voting isn't important, well, I can only repeat what I said in April:
Chrons as a whole depends on reciprocity. In the writing forums, that’s most obviously seen in Critiques: we seek help/advice, and in return we help/advise others where we can. But it also applies here in the Challenges. We want stories – the more the merrier. But we also need voters. To regularly enter the Challenges without voting is effectively taking from the forum and other members, without giving back.
We've started to introduce reminders in threads which entrants will presumably be watching, and reminders by PM could well help with those who genuinely forget or don't know what day voting takes place. Meantime, perhaps those entrant-members who have missed voting in the past can make a point of voting early rather than leaving it to the last minute when real life might get in the way.
As for those who vote without entering the Challenges, Chris usually mentions you in the Discussion thread in the last hours before voting closes. Last year, I produced a list of those helpful members so they could be named and honoured and I'll do the same at the end of this year. We are inordinately grateful to you all. We don't expect it of anyone, though, and this thread is not aimed at making anyone feel guilty for not helping out in this way. I've not voted in the Challenges I've missed, because the reasons which on occasion have stopped me entering have also prevented me finding the time and energy to read the stories and vote. If you can vote without entering, please do, but don't worry if you can't.
