I imagine the same thing would happen if real art galleries had ratings attached to the artwork - maybe that's why they don't have them. The question is, would people still post images and visit the gallery if the ratings and even the hits counts were removed? Would people still play if they actually had to form their own opinions without knowing what everyone else thinks?

Mencken's observation on democracy (see my sig) could well be applied to anything based on popularity. You get a few hits, a disturbing number of flat out misses and a lot of mediocrity. The alternative of having a few elites decide doesn't seem any better - although when you look at some of the people they let anywhere near a voting booth or allowing to run for office these days...

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken