Did Justin Bieber Tweet New Tattoo And Shirtless Photos To Gain Votes For MTV VMAs 2012? [PHOTOS]

Justin Bieber just recently tweeted a picture of his new tattoo in addition to three shirtless photos of himself on Twitter. The Biebs says he loves his fans, but is this a ploy to squeeze as many votes as possible out of the Beliebers for the 2012 MTV VMAs?

Bieber is up for Most Share-Worthy Video, Best Pop Video and Best Male Video. Currently he is lagging in a few of the categories to boy band One Direction.

Directioners and Beliebers have a rivalry going akin to the N*sync-vs.-Backstreet Boys days of the 1990s, so it wouldn't be surprising if J Biebs is trying to do everything he can to pull ahead of One Direction.

But Bieber says he's trying to take the high road and not start a rivalry with the band.

"[I] want no arguments with my fans with others," Bieber tweeted to his fans in an attempt to cool the flames. "No need for that. if i can be friends with other artists we can be friends with other fans."

He and One Direction both have more than 40 million Twitter votes cast for them, and just because he doesn't want to start a feud with the One Direction guys doesn't mean he doesn't want to squeeze every vote out of his fans.

His new tattoo of a crown appears to be above his chest on the right and near his collar bone-it's about the size of a silver dollar and he tweeted to his nearly 28 million followers: "new tattoo its a crown if you couldn't tell."

He hasn't revealed the significance of the tattoo, but it's the seventh piece of ink for the 18-year-old. Some of his other tats include the Japanese symbol for music, the face of Jesus on his calf and Hebrew lettering, MTV reported.

In addition to posted shirtless pictures of himself, with a poor, pouty face no less, Biebs also added a tweet is of him without a shirt and a frown as Bieber is lying on a faux fur bed blanket: "getting out of bed is too difficult. I think i hit the snooze button 20 times this morning #votebieber"

Bieber knows exactly what he's doing. He next posted a tweet make fun of his shirtless photos.

"Im thinking to myself "wow really justin 3 shirtless pics in 3 days"?" he joked. "Who do i think i am a young @Mark_Wahlberg sheesh lol."

The 2012 MTV VMAs are scheduled for Thursday.