Hi guys,
 
We've been in the process of creating a more detailed FAQ on Review, but to answer the basic question(s) in the meanwhile:
 
We welcome review disputes and feedback when you're unhappy. You guys put a lot of work into image creation and we respect that. Many people on the team are photographers, videographers and illustrators themselves and appreciate the effort that goes into content creation.

There are three basic scenarios that we find when we research review disputes:
 
1. You�re 100% right and there was an error made during the process. Please let us know. We�ll fix it.
2. The review determination was �on the line� and could be viewed either way.  A more forgiving second review can result in the images being approved.  This is a long-standing policy.
3. The original review determination was correct.
 
In terms of communication, we have individuals participating in the various forums.  For example, Vincent administrates the SS forums, Anna participates in the Russian-speaking forums, and I�ll often respond to inquiries at MSG. We have over a dozen different communication channels, ranging from the blogs, social media, forums, workshops, contributor meetups, email tickets and more.     
 
We read all of that incoming feedback, but we often don�t participate in review threads.  We also ask that support questions only go to our email address.   Why?     
 
With a large team of individual reviewers, over 55,000 contributors and millions of images passing through this process, every single case is different.  We also need to see the exact images in question.
 
The only "official" process at the moment for handling review feedback is to contact Support.  That logs a trackable ticket in our system which we can then assign to our review coordinators; the "Tier 2" leaders who work directly to evaluate, train, and mentor specific reviewers. They also own the maturation of our guidelines and standards. Tickets can be tracked, escalated, closed, and have the full history of the questions and feedback. We can tie the issue or question to a specific group of images and a specific reviewer.
 
We track the number of issues on a daily and weekly basis, as well as many metrics that allow us to analyze the review process. Statistically speaking, we receive very few complaints to Support relative to the many millions of images that we process, but any number of issues greater than zero is too many and we always want to improve.   
 
As always, if you have a specific batch that was an issue, please let us know at [email protected].  We're happy to help.

As mentioned, we're also writing up a more extensive FAQ to supplement what's found on the Contributor blog and in educational materials such as our Success guide. We don't want this process to feel mysterious. More to come.

Best,

Scott
VP of Content

I think we all need to get one big letter together for everyone to use then we all send it to SS and let them know there is something wrong!?

If no one is letting SS know anything is wrong then they will do nothing but if everyone starts sending a letter then they will fix it just like a power outage if 10,000 people loose power and only 50 call about it the power company thinks it is a small problem and nothing much to worry about so they are slow to fix it but if all 10,000 report it then it gets fixed almost right away.

Hi guys,
 
We've been in the process of creating a more detailed FAQ on Review, but to answer the basic question(s) in the meanwhile:
 
We welcome review disputes and feedback when you're unhappy. You guys put a lot of work into image creation and we respect that. Many people on the team are photographers, videographers and illustrators themselves and appreciate the effort that goes into content creation.

There are three basic scenarios that we find when we research review disputes:
 
1. You�re 100% right and there was an error made during the process. Please let us know. We�ll fix it.
2. The review determination was �on the line� and could be viewed either way.  A more forgiving second review can result in the images being approved.  This is a long-standing policy.
3. The original review determination was correct.
 
In terms of communication, we have individuals participating in the various forums.  For example, Vincent administrates the SS forums, Anna participates in the Russian-speaking forums, and I�ll often respond to inquiries at MSG. We have over a dozen different communication channels, ranging from the blogs, social media, forums, workshops, contributor meetups, email tickets and more.     
 
We read all of that incoming feedback, but we often don�t participate in review threads.  We also ask that support questions only go to our email address.   Why?     
 
With a large team of individual reviewers, over 55,000 contributors and millions of images passing through this process, every single case is different.  We also need to see the exact images in question.
 
The only "official" process at the moment for handling review feedback is to contact Support.  That logs a trackable ticket in our system which we can then assign to our review coordinators; the "Tier 2" leaders who work directly to evaluate, train, and mentor specific reviewers. They also own the maturation of our guidelines and standards. Tickets can be tracked, escalated, closed, and have the full history of the questions and feedback. We can tie the issue or question to a specific group of images and a specific reviewer.
 
We track the number of issues on a daily and weekly basis, as well as many metrics that allow us to analyze the review process. Statistically speaking, we receive very few complaints to Support relative to the many millions of images that we process, but any number of issues greater than zero is too many and we always want to improve.   
 
As always, if you have a specific batch that was an issue, please let us know at [email protected].  We're happy to help.

As mentioned, we're also writing up a more extensive FAQ to supplement what's found on the Contributor blog and in educational materials such as our Success guide. We don't want this process to feel mysterious. More to come.

Best,

Scott
VP of Content

So no machines then eh?

What I don't get is how I went from getting 90% of my work approved to 100% rejection OVERNIGHT! I am quite sure I don't just all of a sudden suck at what I do. Something changed on SS end of the process and a lot of people are getting screwed by it.

There are three basic scenarios that we find when we research review disputes:
 
1. You�re 100% right and there was an error made during the process. Please let us know. We�ll fix it.
2. The review determination was �on the line� and could be viewed either way.  A more forgiving second review can result in the images being approved.  This is a long-standing policy.
3. The original review determination was correct.
 

Hi guys,
 
We've been in the process of creating a more detailed FAQ on Review, but to answer the basic question(s) in the meanwhile:
 
We welcome review disputes and feedback when you're unhappy. You guys put a lot of work into image creation and we respect that. Many people on the team are photographers, videographers and illustrators themselves and appreciate the effort that goes into content creation.

There are three basic scenarios that we find when we research review disputes:
 
1. You�re 100% right and there was an error made during the process. Please let us know. We�ll fix it.
2. The review determination was �on the line� and could be viewed either way.  A more forgiving second review can result in the images being approved.  This is a long-standing policy.
3. The original review determination was correct.
 
In terms of communication, we have individuals participating in the various forums.  For example, Vincent administrates the SS forums, Anna participates in the Russian-speaking forums, and I�ll often respond to inquiries at MSG. We have over a dozen different communication channels, ranging from the blogs, social media, forums, workshops, contributor meetups, email tickets and more.     
 
We read all of that incoming feedback, but we often don�t participate in review threads.  We also ask that support questions only go to our email address.   Why?     
 
With a large team of individual reviewers, over 55,000 contributors and millions of images passing through this process, every single case is different.  We also need to see the exact images in question.
 
The only "official" process at the moment for handling review feedback is to contact Support.  That logs a trackable ticket in our system which we can then assign to our review coordinators; the "Tier 2" leaders who work directly to evaluate, train, and mentor specific reviewers. They also own the maturation of our guidelines and standards. Tickets can be tracked, escalated, closed, and have the full history of the questions and feedback. We can tie the issue or question to a specific group of images and a specific reviewer.
 
We track the number of issues on a daily and weekly basis, as well as many metrics that allow us to analyze the review process. Statistically speaking, we receive very few complaints to Support relative to the many millions of images that we process, but any number of issues greater than zero is too many and we always want to improve.   
 
As always, if you have a specific batch that was an issue, please let us know at [email protected].  We're happy to help.

As mentioned, we're also writing up a more extensive FAQ to supplement what's found on the Contributor blog and in educational materials such as our Success guide. We don't want this process to feel mysterious. More to come.

Best,

Scott
VP of Content

often I have a feeling that  reviewers "own" ss - and that ss can do nothing against them - mr. scottbraut is a vary polite person - but it seems that  reviewers do what they want to do - and nobody can stop them  - very strange situation

Reviewers shouldn't be active contributors at the same time. Their ports should be disabled if they are reviewing. There's a clear conflict of interest for reviewers who have the power to keep out images that would compete with theirs.