No, but like, to speak to your specific example, people who are anti-vax are typically swayed back to reality by anecdotes, while data makes them dig their heels in. I think the over-focusing on people having emotional reactions to data telling them their anxieties are baseless is distracting from how you actually solve this problem and just making them cling to their feelings more.
Problem with that too is that no matter how many people bring up that they're a first time winner, they simply choose to believe the same handful of artists are somehow preventing all 20 slots from having a winner.
888 and mv have already demonstrated what will cut past the self-defeating anxieties: making the contest more worth it. So, how do FR staff make the contest more worth it?
As 888 said in-thread (and I'm taking it farther than they did), any effort by staff to make it more "worth it" will just invite more hate toward artists who actually submit and win because they're "stealing" from people who don't even bother to enter.
The problem is that people want to be patted on the back and consoled for not even trying.
So we scold people who don't believe the data (they will always exist, and focusing on how wrong they are with no other action does not gain you any wins) and keep on with the status quo, pushing for no change? Hmm.
Entry incentives are a good idea. They don't need to be very high, and anyone cranky that someone who put in 5 seconds of effort got like 20 fest currency when they didn't are out of the bounds of actionable feedback.
I don't think anyone's cranky about getting submission prizes. I think people are cranky about the idea that spreading misinformation is fine and dandy and doesn't warrant any pushback so long as it's what you're feeling.
The fundamental problem is the misinfo, not lack of more prizes. People's feelings that they're expressing are based on that misinfo, and so the problem perpetuates itself.
Extra prizes is an ineffectual bandaid. Won't hurt anything, won't fix anything. Pretending that it's so hecking valid to spread misinfo is part of the root problem.
That doesn't make anti-vaxxers who spread the bullshit any less responsible for the consequences though. Like, I understand you have your feelings. You're still doing harm. The fact that you're having *toddler voice* big feelings about this doesn't negate that. In this case, they're making the fest skin culture really fucking toxic.
Every. Single. shitty opinion in existence originates in someone's sincerely felt feelings. The solution is NOT to continue to maintain an environment where they feel comfortable voicing misinformation. Shutting down misinformation deprives it of a platform and keeps it from spreading. Not validating shitty feelings is part of that.
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(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)888 and mv have already demonstrated what will cut past the self-defeating anxieties: making the contest more worth it. So, how do FR staff make the contest more worth it?
(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)The problem is that people want to be patted on the back and consoled for not even trying.
(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)Entry incentives are a good idea. They don't need to be very high, and anyone cranky that someone who put in 5 seconds of effort got like 20 fest currency when they didn't are out of the bounds of actionable feedback.
(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)The fundamental problem is the misinfo, not lack of more prizes. People's feelings that they're expressing are based on that misinfo, and so the problem perpetuates itself.
Extra prizes is an ineffectual bandaid. Won't hurt anything, won't fix anything. Pretending that it's so hecking valid to spread misinfo is part of the root problem.
(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)the psychic damage i got from "hecking valid to spread misinfo" is incalculable. i commend you
(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)(frozen comment) Re: Fest Skin Submission Decline
(Anonymous) 2025-03-18 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)Every. Single. shitty opinion in existence originates in someone's sincerely felt feelings. The solution is NOT to continue to maintain an environment where they feel comfortable voicing misinformation. Shutting down misinformation deprives it of a platform and keeps it from spreading. Not validating shitty feelings is part of that.