It’s not just popularity that brings you to Austin

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SXSW take on the issue of the Panel Picker and how it feels like a popularity contest.

Yes, all ideas that are sent in to this interface are displayed in the online voting interface (which goes live Monday, August 15 and stays open through Friday, September 2). However, voting from the general public accounts for only 30% of the decision-making process on any given idea. Much more important is feedback from the SXSW Advisory Board (40%), as well as input from the SXSW Staff (30%).

The problem, as with many things in the modern web, isn’t the reality of the situation but the perception of the situation. And the latter is much harder to shift.