In response to a recent thread detailing Pet Peeves with Cafe Society, and to get a little experience with building a poll, I thought this might amuse the regulars here.
You have one shot, make it count.
Oooh, tough one! I said “TV shows” because they tend to be the most interactive – a whole slew of people watch the show then come here to discuss each episode. With books, you have many fewer people who have actually read any particular book, let alone read it when you did. Movie threads can be interesting on a current release, but the conversation often takes place in “cyber-time”: you make a point, then a month later someone else sees the same movie and comes in to respond to your point. Music: my tastes are kind of quirky, so people don’t necessarily know the artists I like; plus, not being a musician, I often don’t have much to say other than “I like this” or “I don’t like that,” which doesn’t contribute much to a discussion.
It is quite hard to choose just one, twickster, but I was leery of the multiple choice results, since I (for one) would have checked more than half the topics/subjects/categories.
And even though I chose Music, it’s rarely a topic I get into unless the issue is in the narrow range of genres I like.
Still, it should be instructive to those who play around in this forum (assuming moderate results in the poll) just where the actual participants (not just the critics) like to see things.
But hey, It’s Sunday and there wasn’t a lot going on, and I wanted the Best Actor polls to work right when I get around to them. On that issue, are 50 posts (not counting mine) a reasonable cut-off for entries in the ultimate polls?
Wow, that was a really tough choice to make. The fact is, my favourite thing about the Café Society forum is that it’s a place where all of these things get discussed. (May I humbly suggest that ‘Visual Arts’ ought to have made its way on to the list? Every now and then, a thread appears where the Doper artists post links to some of their current work, and it’s really cool!)
I was pondering this one all morning because of the many different categories of thread that I enjoy participating in, but in the end I had to go with poetry. I’ve had such a great time encountering the many different poets here - I can pass myself off as a musician/singer just about anywhere, but this is about the only place I can pretend to be a poet. 
In spite of (or maybe because of) the one-upsmanship and snobbishness it tends to bring out in people, I find that the beer, wine and booze threads are always a good read, often bringing passions and prejudice to the surface.
Music must be second in the amount of heat that a thread can generate—People obviously (myself included, up to a point) take a lot of personal ownership in what they choose to drink and what they like to listen to…
I went with food. That’s my favorite topic in real life, too, and my friends and co-workers probably get tired of hearing about it, so I get my fix in CS.
It was a tough choice but I put music. I particularly liked a thread a few months ago where people recommended their favourite female singer. I listened to quite a few on You tube & it was a great chance to hear artists I would never have heard of otherwise.
As long as beer is food, I’ve made my choice.
Other: My favorite threads are the ones where someone finds/sees something obscure and then posts it as an example, asking for others. You might think I’m kidding, but those are kind of like treasure hunts for me.
I follow some of the TV show discussions and read threads about movies I have seen, but I have to say that my favorite threads are about food.
Books.
Other: Lord of the Rings.
TV shows and food are almost a tie, but I tend to post more in TV threads.
I’m a sucker for Star Wars threads. The geekier and more hair-splitting the better!
The only real surprise for me so far is that I would have thought there would be some “Famous People” votes. Perhaps that name for the category is too weak. But there seems to be more than occasional interest in personalities beyond their films, shows, music, etc. And by interest I mean more than their deaths and other setbacks.
Movies by a hair over music and TV.
I voted for books. Music and poetry were close seconds but it’s rare that the music/poetry discussed are of the kinds I enjoy and even when that’s the case I’m not usually anywhere near knowledgeable enough to post intelligently.
I voted for books. I’ve gotten lots of good suggestions from this board. My second choice was food.
Books. I can always find someone to talk to about movies or TV shows, but I know sadly few readers.