My only problem with leaving it to the community is they will vote for the same member time after time. It's just the way people are, they warm to someone, then that someone gets their vote. Just like in politics :)

I honestly don't see the problem with basing it off the thanks, maybe have the admins or a select few pick the MOTM from a bunch of preselected members (these would be auto selected based on an algorithm).

Look at it this way, through the month we're thanking members for their posts, so obviously I liked their post in order to "thank it".

You're already saying you like the member or member's contributions because you thanked them. Therefor member of the month can and should be based of these thanks, not based off people feelings on the day.

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