# How about a separate forum for polls? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 3, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419 "2009-10-03T01:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/21 "2009-10-04T16:39:29Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > Oh please, both of you. > > It’s a fun little feature. The IMHO board is about gathering opinions. The poll feature makes it easy to do so. Getting it turned on didn’t take the place of addressing more serious issues – it’s basically a toggle that was _off_, and now it’s _on_. > > It’s a new toy, and when the newness wears off, use will die down. Or not. If it doesn’t, what’s the harm in it being there? In many cases the post would still exist, just without handy buttons to click. If being able to answer a question with radio buttons / checkboxes, and then being able to see the total results in a little bar graph offends you … well … wow. Just wow. > > If you don’t like poll threads, then don’t open 'em. Said better than I possibly could! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/22 "2009-10-04T17:46:07Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Just echoing the other mods, that we are hoping that the poll-furor will die down. When we first enabled smilie-faces, we had way too many of them, too. > > The plan is to open the polling feature in Cafe Society and Game Room. Otherwise, we don’t see any other forums that need polls (or where polls would offer anything positive), and so the concept of a forum just for polls… well, sounds sort of boring. At the moment, there are 80 threads on the front page of IMHO, of which 23 are polls (29%). Eight of these (on books, TV, movies, and food) would have gone in CS if polling were available there, and two others (on sports) in the Game Room. So 13/23, or about 16%, of poll threads are really IMHO material. Since it is likely that pollmania will die down once it is no longer a novelty, we probably won’t see more than 10% of IMHO being polls in the future. That doesn’t seem excessive to me. It seems to me that a forum to accommodate only around 20 poll threads wouldn’t be particularly interesting or useful. Polls will be better placed in forums related to their subject matter, where people interested in their subject matter will see them. Why would you go to a poll forum just to see if there is a poll that interests you? I would note that An Gadai’s poll on polls in IMHO is running 77% favorable, with only 10% in favor of having them renoved (although with only 40 votes total). ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/23 "2009-10-04T18:40:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Why would you go to a poll forum just to see if there is a poll that interests you? With respect, why would you go to a debate forum just to see if there is a debate that interests you? I’m not necessarily advocating for a poll forum, but it does seem to me that your reasoning isn’t sound. Personally, I think it could be fun to peruse a poll forum. But I’m not married to the idea, and I’d bet ten bucks it won’t happen anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/24 "2009-10-04T19:04:37Z")
> [@John DiFool](#): > > Au contraire-I think the football and baseball polls, to name just two, were very enlightening OK. The ones I opened didn’t seem like the poll added anything to the thread, but I’ve only read a small fraction, so if you find them useful, rock on. As I said, I don’t really care if the stay or go. On the other hand, I predict I’m going to be at least mildly annoyed in the future by people citing the resutls fo poll threads like they’re actually meaningful evidence for anything. First example: > [@Colibri](#): > > I would note that An Gadai’s poll on polls in IMHO is running 77% favorable, with only 10% in favor of having them renoved (although with only 40 votes total). So the majority of people who opened and voted in a poll thread are in favor of poll threads. Shocking! ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/25 "2009-10-04T19:08:42Z")
Actually I thought of another reason I don’t like them. One of the main things I use the dope for is to get recommendations for books,movies,etc. And a lot of these appear in the form of “what’s the best movie/book/whatever in this or that genre/timeperiod/whatever”. I suspect that the advent of the polling option these types of threads will be replaced with polling threads that only give a set number of options, instead of people bringing in their own entries for works they’ve enjoyed. Even if most of the polls include an “other” option that people can expand upon in the thread, I fear the number of new things I’ll be introduced to via those threads will be reduced. Guess we’ll find out. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/26 "2009-10-04T19:13:16Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Actually I thought of another reason I don’t like them. One of the main things I use the dope for is to get recommendations for books,movies,etc. And a lot of these appear in the form of “what’s the best movie/book/whatever in this or that genre/timeperiod/whatever”. I suspect that the advent of the polling option these types of threads will be replaced with polling threads that only give a set number of options, instead of people bringing in their own entries for works they’ve enjoyed. Even if most of the polls include an “other” option that people can expand upon in the thread, I fear the number of new things I’ll be introduced to via those threads will be reduced. > > Guess we’ll find out. I am fairly confident those fears will be unfounded. I think most people will understand when a question is too broad for a poll to be appropriate. Most of the polls I’ve seen have options that are clearly defined and cannot be added to by opinion. Mine for instance restricts the poll to only those discworld books that are stories (not cook books, maps, science discussions, calendars, picture-books) and are set in the discworld universe. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/27 "2009-10-04T19:59:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Actually I thought of another reason I don’t like them. One of the main things I use the dope for is to get recommendations for books,movies,etc. Then why not just open a thread: “Need recommendations for good mystery novels”? Or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/28 "2009-10-04T20:12:58Z")
I just realized something: Sooner or later somebody’s going to post a poll about dopers themselves. That might get messy. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/29 "2009-10-04T20:18:07Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I just realized something: Sooner or later somebody’s going to post a poll about dopers themselves. That might get messy. The same rules apply to polling as would apply to posts. That means, no personal insults outside the Pit. Popularity polls &c would be handled on a case-by-case basis (I don’t know if a thread “Which poster do you dislike the most?” would be allowed in IMHO. Assuming that it would, there’s at least room for unlimited responses. A poll on the same topic, with limited responses, would be, IMHO, a personal insult and warnable. PS - Polling is now opened in Cafe Society, and we’ve moved some of the polls from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/30 "2009-10-04T20:19:59Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > So the majority of people who opened and voted in a poll thread are in favor of poll threads. Shocking! Are you seriously claiming that, if there was widespread dislike of polls, those who were not in favor would not have bothered to vote? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/31 "2009-10-04T21:10:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Are you seriously claiming that, if there was widespread dislike of polls, those who were not in favor would not have bothered to vote? Well, I didn’t bother to vote, so it hardly seems impossible. As I said, I think the polls are silly and meaningless, so didn’t bother. Plus I imagine some people are just ignoring threads with the [poll] prefix (indeed several people in this thread already recommend that “if you don’t like 'em, don’t open them” which seems like sound advice). But my general point is that self-selected internet polls are pretty crummy evidence for things, and it’ll be annoying in future threads when people start pointing to them as evidence. > [@liberal](#): > > Then why not just open a thread: “Need recommendations for good mystery novels”? Or whatever. 'Cause I don’t usually come with a specific desire to find recommendations, I just make a mental note when I see something that a doper mentions in one of the aforementioned threads that sounds good, so that later when I’m looking for a movie to rent or whatever, I have some ideas of what to get. I imagine I’m not particularly unique in that regard (indeed, I seem to recall other dopers mentioning they do the same thing). Of course **Lobsang** might be right and it won’t be an issue. Apparently we’ll find out. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/32 "2009-10-05T00:21:23Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > 'Cause I don’t usually come with a specific desire to find recommendations, I just make a mental note when I see something that a doper mentions in one of the aforementioned threads that sounds good, so that later when I’m looking for a movie to rent or whatever, I have some ideas of what to get. I imagine I’m not particularly unique in that regard (indeed, I seem to recall other dopers mentioning they do the same thing). I must have mistaken your “One of the main things I use the dope for is to get recommendations for books,movies,etc.” to mean something other than the obvious. At any rate, you’ll see the same thing in poll threads: “I voted for Atlas Shrugged, but only because The Fountainhead wasn’t listed. The latter is much more interesting because…”, and so forth. I think [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11623516&postcount=4) merits another reference. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/33 "2009-10-05T02:48:45Z")
Are polls now open in CS? The Trek/SWs/LOTR thread was moved there today, and the poll choices went along with it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/34 "2009-10-05T02:50:58Z")
Yes, per the announcement at the top of that forum. We’ve also opened them in the Game Room, and moved a couple of existent polls from IMHO to there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/35 "2009-10-05T17:39:54Z")
Maybe **wierdaaron** can modify his [SDMB-improving Greasemonkey script](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531870) to add a configuration that allows users to hide all poll threads for people who really hate them. Personally, I like the fact that polls have been enabled. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419/36 "2009-10-05T17:44:11Z")
I wish _my_ life were easy enough that I could divert my hate towards internet message board features. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-a-separate-forum-for-polls/512419.md?page=1)