I’m new to the forum and hoping to get some advice. I’m an academic based in the UK and recently started work on a new project that involves a survey of US opinions. It’s housed in a website and I’m seeking to get as many respondents as possible. My intention was to publicize the survey in two ways:
Through press releases to American media
Through posts to forums such as this one
So far, press releases have had no impact, and the forum idea is proving more complicated than I had expected because of forum rules around links and promotion. It’s on this second point I’m hoping to get advice:
In your view, does publicizing an academic survey count as “advertising for personal gain?” If I were to join a number of forums purely to promote my project, would this be frowned upon by the majority of forum users? Are appeals of this kind common? Could anyone suggest alternative methods to increase awareness of the project? Where on the web would be appropriate for this kind of posting?
As far as this board goes, your best bet is to send a private message to one of the moderators, explain your project, and ask for permission to post a link to your survey.
Thanks for the reply. Could you suggest a moderator to contact? I sent an email to the ‘webmaster’ on Friday asking for permission, but have yet to receive a reply.
Click here for a list of the moderators here. Each one has a button to send an email or a private message using the board system. Since you are seeking opinions, you should probably try contacting one of the moderators for the In My Humble Opinion forum: Ellen Cherry, Gugumatz, or Idle Thoughts. Or you might want to contact Marley23,** C K Dexter Haven**, or TubaDiva–They’re administrators, sorta like super-moderators.
If you go the private message route, you could send the same note to multiple people at once.
The Straight Dope Message Board is a community-based sort of situation. We occasionally have allowed strangers to come in and ask them questions but it’s all handled on a case by case basis. We will take your project under consideration and get back to you as soonest.
I would say that it is going to depend upon the tone and content of the board/forum to which you are posting. In general, this kind of thing is going to feel like self-promotion.
For alternate approaches, you might try finding forums related to the topic of your survey. If your surveying ideas on music groups, try a music enthusiast’s page.
Another idea might be to email Bloggers who deal with the topic. For instance, if you are doing a sociological survey, you might try contacting some science bloggers and ask if they would mention it.
Jim, you do realize that any feedback you may get from this board will skew heavily to the “incredibly handsome and stylish, frighteningly intelligent and successful” demographic, right? This may make your results inapplicable to the great unwashed masses.