It's not really about the votes

My official stance on all Song Fu-related voting issues

I just got this message from a frustrated relative on Facebook:

Hi Steve – Can you send me the link to vote? I’ve gone through your message on facebook and each time, choices have been made for me already. Very frustrating! We like your song -
xo

Yup, that can be frustrating. On the official Song Fu page there should be a section with a bunch of checkboxes beside peoples’ names for voting, but sometimes the system thinks you’ve already voted & just shows you the results. Certain names will be bold to show you which ones the system thinks you voted for.

These issues have been around at least as long as I’ve been involved in Song Fu (#2 – August 2008), and people have complained about them at great length to no avail. I reckon the voting system will likely remain unchanged for a good long while. Personally, I’m not that hung up about it, but if you are, keep reading.

Possible workarounds?

Supposedly you can try clearing the cache on your web browser, but only if you know what you’re doing. I’d hate to see you lose all your history & stored passwords on my account.

You can always try voting from another computer if the first one doesn’t work out. By no means should you interpret this as me urging you to cast as many votes as possible from every machine you can get your hands on. I’m just suggesting you consider all your options.

You can send an email to everyone you’ve ever met asking them to vote on your behalf, if not for themselves, in hopes that at least one of them will follow through and make your voice heard.

That’s about all I can think of, besides accosting random passers-by on the street. If you have any insights, perhaps you could add them in the comments below.

My wife has a friend who’s never been able to vote for me. Not once. And she’s a guaranteed shoe-in. My mother-in-law also seems to be similarly afflicted and I’m pretty sure she’d vote for me too.

Why not to get bent out of shape

In the end, the votes don’t mean much. Sure, if I get the most then I’ll get to go mano-a-mano against the master(s) in the final round, but, with the votes as they stand right now, I’d have to win this round by more than 150 votes to make that a reality. Quite frankly, it ain’t gonna happen.

I do Song Fu because it makes me write something I never would’ve written before. The challenges are downright strange at times, and they really get my creative juices flowing. When I write a Song Fu piece there’s usually a totally unrelated song that pops out of me within the next 48 hours, and I’m quite certain there’s some sort of direct correlation between the two.

Ultimately, I’m looking for listeners, not votes. If I ask you to vote & you vote without even listening then I really haven’t gained anything. But if you listen, whether you can vote or not, there’s still a chance I can win you over with my song. I’d rather get you as a fan than just get your vote.

If I don’t earn you as a fan this round, that’s all the more reason to keep working the craft for next round. Baby steps to global domination.

Also, I’m pretty sure the voting system doesn’t single out my supporters. It’s likely giving headaches pretty evenly across the board, so it’ll all come out in the wash eventually.

If you were able to vote or not, thanks for trying, and thanks for caring. Also, try to make some time to check out some of the other tunes. There’s some good writers there.