Sweepstakes vs Contests
Typically sweepstakes are giveaways where the prizes are given away via random drawings while contests refers to giveaways where you can compete for a prize via an instant win mechanism, a skill test, or in a creative contest where your work is judged against other entries.

Often these two types overlap as many instant win contests will also have prizes that are given away via random drawing.

For avid sweepstakes followers, it is considered a good thing for a sweepstakes to end, as that means the random drawing will soon being, while it is a disappointment if an instant win contest ends before you've won anything.

It is useful to pay attention to the type of giveaway you are entering, as there are different strategies for each.