Ugh. In this thread, you closed it because polls aren’t allowed in ATMB, unless for testing purposes.
That thread was interesting, with a real purpose. I know you had to close it because of the stated rule, but in this case, the rule is an ass. The thread can easily be resurrected in IMHO, but that is, surely, just pedantry?
To be clear, and perhaps even more pedantic, I closed the poll–not the thread. The thread remains open.
Yes: it is the poll I’m referring to. This forum is ideally suited to a poll of this type, IMO.
I think it would be a bit of a Catch-22. Since the poll is “about this message board” it wouldn’t be appropriate for IMHO, so if it was reposted there it’d have to be moved to ATMB for future closure. 
In the poll I posted a little while ago, TubaDiva didn’t actually lock the poll but gave this response:
So I guess the staff see themselves in between a rock and a hard place. Polls in ATMB wouldn’t be binding but they could be embarrassing if they are overwhelmingly pointing to a wish for change that the admins don’t want. I would say that too would be mere pedantry as having the poll numbers isn’t much different than seeing the number of people who typed out a full post to express their opinion.
For example, if this were a poll, I would have voted for “Allow real polls in ATMB” but since it’s not I’ll just type out: I think we should allow real polls in ATMB.
I think polls should be allowed in ATMB.
Or, put another way, why are they not allowed?
Because the SDMB isn’t a democracy.
So? That would only have even the slightest hint of relevance if there was an inherent quality of polls that made them binding on the board.
What’s the difference, though, between 57 people clicking “More kittehs, please!” in a poll and 57 people saying “more kittehs, please!” in their replies? The only difference I see is that the poll makes it easier to count who are fans of small, furry, mewling things.
In the thread in question, it’s still quite clear to see the general consensus of those who replied.
Yeah but it’s much easier and faster to simply vote in a poll. I know personally I vote in many polls but only respond to the thread unless I feel I have something worthwhile to say (or at least that’s my general goal…).
I never vote in polls, but I will sometimes post responses to poll threads. Not sure why, but polls don’t inspire me.
Someone should set a poll to find out how many people “never vote in polls.” My guess is that the results would indicate that you are in the minority.
Yes, but your method seems to be in the minority. You can tell this by sampling a few threads with polls in them and comparing the amount of thread responses to poll responses. I’m not just saying this to be a contrarian dick. Sometimes it’s quite hard to tell the general consensus of a thread with a poll in it without looking at the poll results. Sometimes the thread may have no consensus at all while the poll clearly does. It’s not a case of 57 kitten-loving poll clicks versus 57 kitten-loving thread responses because that is rarely the case. I’m pointing this out because I believe polls in ATMB in regards to general message-board affairs are a good idea.
Could a mod tell me why polls aren’t allowed in ATMB?
I am pretty sure my post above quoting TubaDiva spells it out. It would give the appearance of voting on changes to the board when that is not the case.
There was one a while ago – but I suspect that the results were not reliable, since 23% of the respondents said that they never voted in polls.
It gives the impression that we’re voting on something and suggests that if enough people support a change it will be enacted. The PTB are in charge, like it or not, and it doesn’t matter if every single person on the board wanted Change X if the PTB don’t agree. It’s like the Terry Pratchett Discworld joke about “one man, one vote”–**Ed **is the one man and he has the one vote.
And that’s exactly what the PTB don’t want, because it literally *does not matter *whether one person, 57 people, or 5,700 people want more kittehs. If you make an eloquent argument for more kittehs, they may be swayed, but sheer mass is seldom going to change their mind. As I’ve said, the SDMB is not a democracy, so polls in ATMB are meaningless and counterproductive.
“Eloquent argument” don’t really work around these parts either.
And why should it? The SDMB is not a meritocracy so better ways to do things are meaningless and counterproductive.