…are they really necessary? Is there a way to group them in a subforum or something? I’ve answered one or two, but it’s getting a bit much - do we *need *a separate poll for. Every. Fucking. REM. Album?
No, they’re not necessary. They’re for fun.
I know they’ve become a fad lately and it looks like there will be plenty of these in the future (although you never know when a fad will die off), but I don’t see an urgent reason to act on this. It’s a core topic for Cafe Society, so I don’t like the idea of splintering the forum by shunting music polls someplace else. We do ask individual posters to use some discretion in how many polls they start on the same topic at the same time: someone started four Metallica polls in a day and we asked him to wait a while before starting more of them. Other than that, it looks like it’s been one thread per band per day in most cases.
I realize it looks monotonous but that might make it look they’re taking up more space than they really are. From what I can tell, the first one of these polls was the “Please Please Me” thread starting Sept. 7. There have been about 30 of these threads since, or about about two started per day. Or more recently I count 24 best song polls active in the last three days. Still, that’s out of about 180 threads that have received responses in that time. There are 17 on the front page out of 130 threads. If I thought they were drowning out a lot of other material I’d be in favor of reducing the number, and if they get more prevalent I’d support the same. But right now I don’t think we need to do it. That’s one mod’s take anyway.
I agree with the OP that there are a ridiculous number of them; but I agree with Marley that they’re a fad that will fade. Also, not sure exactly what we can do about them – disallow them? issue warnings to people who start “too many” of them? The former solution seems draconian – the latter a PITA for us mods.
twickster, another Cafe Society moderator
My view is that the polls are on different types of music; I might respond to the REM poll but Metallica. It’s more diverse than an cursory view might reveal.
Just another mod’s view!
And I appreciate you guys giving your separate views.
My own response was that, right after I read this thread, I looked at Cafe Society and saw two. I don’t think two are too many.
There are about 1,600 Grateful Dead shows out there, each one unique and clearly discernible from others. They went through substantially different eras, too (e.g., Pig Pen, Donna, 90s). There are also the post-Jerry years and solo projects to consider, each with unique setlists and character. I don’t think I have the wherewithal to post 2K+ threads, but each year (from about 1967 to today) easily has ten or so epic shows to ask about. I can’t wait!
No, seriously, WTF? I think this should have been in the Pit instead of ATMB, because while I agree that rules and mod actions would be over the top, so is posting a separate thread for each of your pet band’s pet. Like REM? Great, start a I heart REM thread and discuss albums inside. Like Metallica? Great, participate in an EZ-listening thread and enjoy. Start a separate thread for each of their albums? Yeesh. I think whoever started this fad (was it the lets-talk-about-every-Beatle’s-album-separately threads?) deserves a mild, non-vitriolic but very chops-busting Pit thread.
@ BT (Missed edit window)
A cursory look at my Cafe front page shows:
What’s the best song off of “Rubber Soul”?
What’s the best song off of “Revolver”?
Favorite song off of Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty”
What’s the best song off of “Help!”?
Best Song Off Of “Moving Pictures”
What’s the best song off of “Lifes Rich Pageant”?
What’s the best song off of “Murmur”?
What’s the best song off of “Document”? (with poll)
Best song on “Bat Out of Hell”
What’s the best song from Radiohead’s “KID A”?
Best song on Guns N’ Roses’ GN’R Lies?
What’s the best song off of “Reckoning”?
Best song on Weird Al Yankovic’s In 3-D
What’s the best song off of “Fables of the Reconstruction”?
YSMV (your settings may vary). This is ignoring the run-of-the-mill “what’s your favorite power ballad from Metallica,” and again I agree that mod-action or a rule would be inappropriate.
But is there not a point to the increased number of music polls.
It seems to me, that rather than just ask everybody what their favourite Beatles song is, somebody is getting consensus on the best song from each album, which I suspect will go forward into an overall poll. A more structured way of finding out which is the most preferred Beatles song.
This being the case, there are a finite number of polls going to be created. Hardly something to be concerned about is it? In another week or two that will be that, polling over. (Yes there are various polls for other bands floating about, but it is the Beatles ones that are the cause, both directly and indirectly, making CS seem like poll central these days)
In a few weeks it will normalise I imagine.
I had the brilliant idea of starting one called “Best song off of ‘Rio’ by DuranDuran”, but I hesitated because I thought there were too many of these polls/threads too.
Plus, I’m never the one to think of these great jokes first, so I figured someone else already had. 
Poll: What is the best poll in Café Society?
jjimm
Isn’t there a way to put a time limit on polls? That way you could have posted it once … for twenty minutes.
I just knew a few days ago when the GNR and Weird Al ones started that pretty soon someone would start complaining about it. Not because of those specifically, I mean, just I knew it’d coming.
Frankly, I find these polls less annoying than when topics about TV episodes are turned into polls for no reason. Do you really need to vote “loved it, liked it, meh about it, hated it, gouged my eyes out rather than watch anymore” for every episode of (just for example) Stargate Universe? If you liked it, or hated it or whatever, just talk about it in your post, the poll adds almost nothing of value in cases like this. Not that I really care enough to get butthurt if people keep posting them, it’s fairly easy to ignore the poll portion after all.
I never meta poll I didn’t like.
Ha! I didn’t think of that. See, somebody is always smarter/funnier than me …
I also hesitated because obviously everyone would answer “Rio”, but I honestly think there are other good songs on there … “Hungry Like the Wolf” being one of them! Oh well. I’ve killed the spontaneity of it all … I’ll just go back to hiding under my rock now.
You know, I’ve got a really simple solution: You don’t like 'em, don’t read 'em. That’s right. Don’t even bother opening up the thread. That way your sensibilities are spared, and those of us who actually think they’re, y’know, kinda groovy still have the option to participate.
Problem solved.
I saw what you did.
'Twas me. And I complied with nary a peep.
As I said in another thread when someone started pissing about it: I live for this kind of stuff. This is the stuff my more interesting friends and I talk about all the time.
I agree that it’s a little annoying but I’m most annoyed by the ones that mention the album name but not the band name. I understand that you’re a huge fan of a band and have every album memorized, but hell if I know what band made “Moving Pictures” or “Reckoning”. At least give me a hint.
Yo Jim I like your poll and imma let you finish but CS has the best polls of ALL TIME!
I don’t. Read them, that is. Unless I am interested.
They’re still there clogging up my forum list, though. It seems to be getting better, with more collective polls (*one *for PJ, *one *for Midnight Oil). Understand, it wasn’t the existence of polls themselves I was complaining about, necessarily, it was more the annoying recent practice of starting a separate one for each fucking album.
Hey, it’s great that you and your IRL friends like discussing the minutiae of Lars Ulrich’s drumming on Of Wolf and Man vs Sanitarium (or whatevs) - here, it wouldn’t kill you to keep it to one thread per band.