I would also like to say I am hurt by the statement that those who see it as a popularity contest need to grow some humanity and gain some maturity.
I'm so happy you said that, because this is
exactly my point. You're getting "hurt" over what is an extremely meaningless contest. You couldn't have emphasized my point better for me, if you're coming on to PokéCommunity and getting "hurt" or annoyed by it, you need to seriously reconsider where you spend your time.
I do not mean to come off as saying everyone who won didn't deserve it or that everyone acts the way they do to seek attention. However, the fact remains that it does happen, whether we're aware of it or not, with some people. And it IS easy to attain that spotlight. And it does give clout and boost egos. Didn't for you or most people, that's fantastic. But it can and does happen.
What you've described is the cosmetic feeling that members get when they win categories. We can change member of the year so it suits more people, but we can't change how people react to winning. If a person wins and it boosts their ego as you say, there's nothing we can do about that. You can't change a person and how they react, all we can do is point out that this competition is for fun. To be honest, I would actually put anyone who's ego is boosted by Member of the Year in the same boat as you, and some other members who are taking this too seriously.
It perpetuates a status quo that some are better than others in the eyes of specific people, which isn't necessarily reflected by the true majority.
This sums up most of what you've been saying. So let me reply; says who? Who on the forum stated that "Member of the Year" made any member better than the other? It states by the very title that it is "of the year", not "of existence". This is not a "This member is better than every other member on the forum" competition as you seem to think it is. The
only people who see this competition as anything but a bit of fun are those who seem to think that it puts a number of members ahead of anyone else. It doesn't, they get no gain from it, I've stated before, it's a name beside a category. Seriously. I'll repeat it, and maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from, but it is quite under-sighted and inconsiderate that you would view this as a hierarchy. The only people putting anyone ahead of others through the results of this competition are those who are disillusioned as to what it is about; I would put you in that bracket. And I would implore you to seriously think about what you're saying. Member of the Year is two threads and a number of emblems. How on Earth would you translate that to an egotistical, esteem boosting, unfair, bigotry, and elitist contest of what member is better than the other? Yes, popularity is involved in a lot of categories, hence "favourite". If we had said "best" over favourite more over, maybe it would be slightly more in the isle of who is better than others. Perhaps we need to work on not using the word "best" in categories, but anywhere else, it's based on favourites, there's no disillusion of that. If you don't care for being a favourite or seen to be noted in the eyes of the entire forum then you shouldn't care about how the people who do enjoy being so recognise it.
It may be intended and many of the people involved may indeed have pure intentions, but as it is, it tends to create more unhappiness it seems than it does amusement. Also, just because it's fun doesn't mean it doesn't have its repercussions. And MOTY is one of the chief contributors that I've noticed to some of the long-standing stratification we have around this place as it is in its current form. You wonder why every year people complain? I'd bet you dollars for dimes it's because people feel similarly to what I'm saying, only they take it personally.
So far I've seen two members complain about Member of the Year, two members who haven't actually suggested how to improve it, and two members who have complained about what is the mass enjoyment for many other members on the forum. Every year we have the same complaints, every year it's "oh this is a stupid popularity contest", I'm going to sound harsh here, but being honest, it's usually people who A) don't involve themselves with the community very positively most of the time B) who tend to have a bleak outlook on the forum as a whole and C) who don't actually participate in the competition nor get mentioned. That last part is assumptive of me I know, however it's been true for many years.
So give us suggestions on how we could improve your experience and involve more people and we will. Because we work on it every year, there were hundreds of replies in the preparation thread in the staff forums, trying to make it work.
But to be honest, you kind of failed to hit home any point with me when you started by saying "I am hurt by". I understand how you can find things disagreeable and offer feedback, but the one thing you shouldn't let yourself do is get hurt by what you deem to be a "popularity contest". If that's all you think it is, then it shouldn't be trivial enough to do so, nor should any replies defending it be.
I'm getting a little tired of seeing constant retort to replies about how Member of the Year works, and what we try to achieve, instead of constantly arguing the semantics of what "popularity" means, actually try and contribute with a suggestion on how you feel that next year we could improve MotY, and include more people. Letting yourself get hurt or annoyed by this is really letting down any point any of you try to make, so please, be a bit more open and positive about how we could improve your experience. We'd genuinely love to hear them.
I will just say that the thread does need to cool it a small bit, keep it towards feedback and suggestions and avoid getting too far into arguments as it's all going a bit downhill here really.