I totally agree with SnowSultan. When someone has the guts to offer an intelligent constructive criticism, I make a point of IM'ing them with thanks. Anyone who's been to art school knows that critique from peers is a valuable thing...we're too close to our own works to have an objective perspective.

There's an E-Z way to keep the popularity contest syndrome from getting you down: Ignore it. Be better than that. If what you really care about is sharing your images and improving your skills, then there's no reason why the Hot 20 should matter to you at all. There's no point in being jealous of those who get zillions of praiseful comments for everything they post. Disconnect your ego from the number of views your images get.

I don't check the Hot 20 frequently, but there have been a few cases in recent memory when I saw renders by artists (e.g. SophiaDeer and BigT) there who truly deserved to be there, people who earned the honor by virtue of their work rather than by playing kiss-kiss games, but my general feeling about it is that it matters not a whit. It's a nice accolade when deserving artists earn it, but unfortunately, the voting process does appear to be taintd by various behaviors that have been disussed ad naseum in the past.

Another thing you can to is to conduct yourself according to your convictions. Post comments that actually say or mean something substantial. If you vote, vote for images that truly impress you for some reason that you can articulate to yourself, not because you want to return some favor or boost some friend's ego. So many Poser artists complain about not getting as many views as they'd like to, but to my mind, their perspective is askew. Other galleries get far less views. There are things posted to the 2D, Vue, and Bryce galleries, to name a few, which are remarkable! They get far fewer views than some Poser images of lesser aesthetic value, or which take less effort and talent to achieve. This community is way too large for the childish behaviors to be eliminated. Set a good example, conduct yourself with a conscience, then you can be content and proud that you're not one of the phonies.

I guess I joined up a little too late to fully understand the meaning of the infamous pink pony, although I do remember a Legume pony image or two that sparked controversy.