How we rank people

There have been many questions about rankings coming to us and we wanted to address the issue, just to clear a few things up. We can't reveal all the details, but here are a few elements that may be causing confusion.

First, while we show the number of videos, pictures, and audio uploads in the Top 100 that a person has uploaded each month, users can also earn points off of items uploaded within the past 30 days. So, for example, on September 15th, people who look at something you uploaded after August 16th will still give you points and help you rise on the charts. (This means that you should space your uploads throughout the month, you don't have to upload everything in the first few days of the month and then coast for the remainder.) This is one reason that people with just one or two uploads may be rising in the charts. Remember, you must upload at least one item in the current month to be eligible for the competition.

Second, while popularity is very important for the points you are earning, the numbers shown in the charts are a snapshot of your popularity right now. "Recent" shows how popular you have been over the past hour, "24 hours" shows popular you have been over the past day. Seeing someone with a low popularity number that's high in the ranks, or a high popularity number that's low in the ranks, doesn't mean that they've consistently had those popularity numbers. The numbers change, and as important as popularity is (it's probably the most important indicator), it's not the only aspect that helps your position.

Third, you can't just compare the views and ratings of two items and assume one is worth more points. The view count listed is the number of times it has been viewed. One person can look at an item many times (checking back for new comments, for example) and have the view count go up, but these extra views don't provide more points. There are other weightings involved in assigning points.

One final note: We have had people report to us that some people are using multiple accounts to cheat. We are identifying these cheaters. If you are using multiple accounts, you should stop now. Cheating with multiple accounts is a violation of our terms of service which can result in a disqualification for the current month and could also lead to having prior winnings withheld.