We’ve also been making improvements elsewhere. Your profile page got a big face lift – it should look much cleaner and spiffier now. Also, now you can actually upload a profile picture. Default silhouettes are always cool, but now you can actually upload your own picture. With colour and your face and kittens and stuff. People will be able to see your picture when they check out your profile, plus a mini version of it will be placed beside your comments on polls.  Check out a screenshot of my profile below.

You’ll also notice that there is a shiny “Recent Activity” box from Facebook on the bottom right.  Here, you’ll be able to see what your friends and other people think is the coolest stuff on diPoll.  Whenever you vote on a poll that you think is especially mind blowing, just click the “Like” button near the comment box and your friends will be able to check it out as well. Right now, people think Twilight is mind blowing. A lot of people. But more on that later.

Our two top diPoll contestants fought tooth and nail last night in the final hours of the October contest, trying to scrape together enough votes and ratings to take the $100.  It was a mad scramble right up to midnight with each of them alternating between #1 and #2.  But, in the end, akominek was able to pull ahead and solidify the victory at midnight to secure the cash.  Congratulations akominek!

A special mention goes to sasteven who put up a valiant battle and led the contest for the majority of the month.  Another mention goes to smokingaces who created the top poll of the contest, amassing an incredible 527 votes in only 4 days. Here are the final standings for the contest.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the diPoll October Popularity Contest!  We’ve had a lot of fun, and will surely be putting on more contests in the future with a few changes, and even more exciting prizes.  To find out when your next chance is keep an eye on this blog.  You can also find diPoll on Facebook or follow diPoll on Twitter. Speaking of Twitter, we’ve got a pretty cool announcement coming soon – stay tuned!

Taking a look at baldajan in position eight, however, might keep that hope alive.  Here we see another new user in the top ten with a point total of over 300 points – all from only one poll, and with over 200 votes coming in one night alone.  This poll pits the newest operating systems from Apple and Microsoft against each other, and seems to lay the blueprint for a successful diPoll in the contest.  Can anyone else replicate this success and make a final run like the ’72 Olympic 800m, or will sasteven hold onto and secure the hard fought victory?

We’ll find out soon enough – good luck everyone!

Let’s take a look at the top 5 leaderboard (you can also check out the full top 10):

Here we see sasteven in the top spot, with akominek hot in pursuit.  Janelnk, jenifa, and toadchild round out the top 5.  The top dogs have seemed to be relaxing the past few days, however – maybe a little too much.  This contest is still up in the air and anybody can come out the winner.  One good poll is all it takes to turn the tide!

A good idea to capture the interest of potential voters is to make your polls about current events. Celebrity news sites, popular blogs, and Twitter “trending topics” are great places to get ideas for hot polls that people will flock to.  Make a couple polls about big current events, spread the word, and you could see yourself skyrocket to the #1 spot in a matter of hours.

With the contest halfway through, it’s time to pick up the pace to keep yourself in position for a final dash to #1! Good luck everybody!