# Is it just me, or are the "Hot or Not" ratings always much higer then they should be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586 "2002-12-05T01:19:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![rngadam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/97f17d/32.png) [@rngadam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rngadam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/61 "2002-12-07T07:24:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > \*\*I found a similar site that I believe has much more accurate ratings- [http://www.infatuasian.com/](http://www.infatuasian.com/) \*\* Maybe, but what’s up WitH tHe MiXeD cAps messages? I really find them stupid and will rate any girl with them less they I normally would… ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/62 "2002-12-07T08:29:03Z")
Hey! I posted my pic _because of this thread_ …hotornorhotornothotornot?..Heh ,fun with webcams… [http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=KZAMNRR&key=SKM](http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=KZAMNRR&key=SKM) ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/63 "2002-12-07T08:38:21Z")
oh I almost forgot. The pec implants are coming soon… ---
**Author:** ![Deadly\_Nightlight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Deadly\_Nightlight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deadly_Nightlight)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/64 "2002-12-07T19:05:05Z")
Well for me [www.hotornot.com](http://www.hotornot.com) is accurate. I am getting what I would rate myself which is inbetween a 4 and a 5. [http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=KZELN8E&key=NSS](http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=KZELN8E&key=NSS) ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/65 "2002-12-08T02:47:26Z")
I found a match! ahem, slicks back hair, spritzes pie-hole with breath freshener,straightens collar… \<\<\ **Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/66 "2002-12-08T21:23:52Z") > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neptune \* > \*\*Correct me if I’m wrong, but these ratings are “marked on a curve”. A person who has an “average” mean score gets 5.5 regardless of the actual arithmetic mean of the votes. > > So, if everyone votes 2, 3, and 4 for most people, then someone who averages a 4 will get a 7 or 8 score. > > This makes the system self-correcting for voters who always just vote the same value, or always low, or always high. \*\* I found a thread that addresses this very same question in the Hot Or Not Mods message forum. Here is a post from that thread: > [@](#): > > \*\*the J’s use normalization with the statistical calculations. > > It’s a way to adjust for the lame’o’s who only give out 5’s and never 9’s. > For those situations… the user who hands out only 1-5’s, the ratings they give out are modified to be 1-9… so > The user thinks they gave a 5 but normalization adjusts it up to a 9.\*\* So there you have it. Not the exact details of how it is done, but you’re right, there is a formula applied. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/67 "2002-12-08T22:14:31Z")
What about adjusting for the lame-o’s that only either give out 1’s or 10’s? ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/68 "2002-12-08T22:29:33Z")
I put up some bad pictures, I look goofy and have only face shots and I got an 8.3. (Max amount of votes) [Me](http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=KRGEGRK&key=APR). ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/69 "2002-12-08T23:29:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*What about adjusting for the lame-o’s that only either give out 1’s or 10’s? \*\* I am pretty sure that is accounted for. I think it either reduces them to some average score, or discards them altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/70 "2002-12-09T01:00:51Z")
What is the point of having a poll and then disregarding the votes? Maybe alot of the people who get 1s deserve them? Why even allow voting if you disregard the results? ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/71 "2002-12-09T01:46:00Z")
**Rhum Runner** Thats what I was thinking. also take a look at my rating : [Me](http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=KZAMNRR&key=SKMl) I’m no mathbeautician but what I see doesn’t add up to 8-point-whatever… ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/72 "2002-12-09T04:35:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rhum Runner \* > **What is the point of having a poll and then disregarding the votes?** I don’t know if they get discarded or not. But in some cases, it would make sense. Like people who vote everyone a 10, just to be nice. > [@](#): > > **Maybe alot of the people who get 1s deserve them?** No argument here. The purpose of the curving is not to eliminate 1s. (I assume, I don’t have a definite word on this) > [@](#): > > \*\*Why even allow voting if you disregard the results? \*\* Because some people deliberately skew the results. The curving serves to lessen the effect. Granted, you risk results that aren’t accurate this way, but how accurate could a “How hot am I?” poll be? The best you can do is eliminate the obvious problems. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/73 "2002-12-09T10:35:53Z")
Aaagh!! I’m still on there! I did it just out of curiosity (really, I did!) and didn’t realize it stayed online, especially this long . . (I posted almost three years ago). But since I’m still on there, what the hell . . RATE ME!!! [http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=OYELKY&key=PYV](http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=OYELKY&key=PYV) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/74 "2002-12-09T17:49:53Z")
I, too, have noticed that Hot or Not scores tend to be a little skewed toward the high end. I think part of the reason is that we’re not seeing a random distribution of the population, but a self-selecting group of people who are confident enough to post pictures of themselves and have them rated by hundreds of other people. That takes a certain amount of courage. My picture’s not going up there any time soon. 😉 I’ve also noticed that picture quality tends to make a huge difference in how people are rated. I’ve seen some truly beautiful women rated poorly because that particular picture of them sucked for some reason. Either the quality of the photography was poor, the angle of the shot was weird, or she had a strange expression on her face. The more-skin=higher-ratings effect is also evident. I only rate women a 9 or 10 on Hot or Not if my eyes do that involuntary opening-a-little-wider thing they do when they see something they really like. Which brings me to my next point… > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AntaresJB \* > **I hope they’re not that artificially inflated… considering I am currently a 4.3.** Wow. **AntaresJB** , you are stunning. Seriously. My eyes did that opening-wider thing ‘n’ everything. I honestly can’t understand why you’re only rated a 4.3. Maybe the fact that the pictures are small and fuzzy has something to do with it, but it’s certainly not you. ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/75 "2002-12-09T19:49:34Z")
Since others are: me: [http://www.hotornot.com/r/?emid=AQHES](http://www.hotornot.com/r/?emid=AQHES) I don’t think that there is a fair rating system out there… so just take it for what it is: a poll that is only accurate within the percentage of people bothering to rate pictures they see on the internet according to how they are feeling that day… in other words… it means nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/76 "2002-12-10T03:15:58Z")
Well, those celeb pics posted earlier finally got bonked. I think the site is growing faster than we can manage it. Takes longer and longer to get things bonked, and when I just now logged in, there were 1600 submissions waiting to be reviewed. Too bad I can’t moderate just the women. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/77 "2002-12-10T05:47:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey G \* > **Well, those celeb pics posted earlier finally got bonked.** A fie upon thee and thy children. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/78 "2002-12-10T06:48:30Z")
Hopefully I won’t have any children. I always practice safe bonking. Besides, Google image search is your friend. [http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=chyler+leigh&sa=N&tab=wi](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=chyler+leigh&sa=N&tab=wi) I’ll leave the cross-dressing-guy image search to you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sezyou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@sezyou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sezyou)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/79 "2002-12-10T07:26:18Z")
WooHoo! I put my pic in awhile ago. Doing better than I would have imagined. [http://www.hotornot.com/p/?action=rating&state=tradingCard&rand=85](http://www.hotornot.com/p/?action=rating&state=tradingCard&rand=85). Haven’t looked in awhile. (Used to check everyday). ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586/80 "2002-12-10T07:38:59Z")
Try that again **sezyou** , the link is asking me to log in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-are-the-hot-or-not-ratings-always-much-higer-then-they-should-be/140586.md?page=5)