I'm going to chime in on the popularity contest point, even though it may not be the most popular thing to do. I think that the comments and a tally of the viewings of a piece are useful barometers for the artist to get a feel for how well he/she has done in reaching others with his/her work. The artist must take into account the 'human' factor and understand that people tend to support their friends more than strangers or people to which they have taken a dislike. But my beef has to do with voting. Why do people tell other people when they are voting for their image? It seems it is either an invitation for a responing vote, or a way to nurture a mutually supportive connection with that person. The former is clearly not in the spirit of the vote. But regarding mutual support, it can and should be a major part of this community. But should it contaminate what I presumed was a recognition of the 'best' artistic or technical efforts? I would think that voting should be about the quality of the work, regardless of the 'popularity' of the artist or the strength of their mutual support networks. This undoubtedly has been thought through before. Why for example has it become standard practice when someone is going to tell the other person that he/she voted for them to put it in the form of a coded message, e.g. "V" or whatever, if not to get around some kind of unenforced protocol of a 'secret' ballot? My view is that if voting is kept as one of the methods for providing feedback and recognition to artists it should be totally secret. On the Hot 20 page people are requested not to solicit votes. I think this should be interpreted to include telling others they are voting for them, and the practice should stop.