# Online Polls-Any Value?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-polls-any-value/492707>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 11, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-polls-any-value/492707 "2009-04-11T01:22:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-polls-any-value/492707/1 "2009-04-11T01:22:41Z")

</div>

I’m getting a lot of online polls I’m not filling out because I’ve read that they are not acknowledged by the government.  
Is this true?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-polls-any-value/492707/2 "2009-04-11T01:34:43Z")

</div>

Huh? Why would an online poll need to be acknowledged by the government unless it was _from_ the government… in which case why would they publish it and then ignore it?

😕

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-polls-any-value/492707/3 "2009-04-11T02:07:22Z")

</div>

Who cares what the government thinks? The only authority I recognize is Cecil.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-polls-any-value/492707/4 "2009-04-11T02:25:36Z")

</div>

I don’t get this either. The government does do formal surveys of the public on a regular basis - the Census Bureau doesn’t work just once every ten years.

But you’d know those surveys instantly.

Any other poll is merely a private measure of opinion. And online polls that are self-responding as worthless even as opinion because you can’t control who answers them.

BTW, online petitions are meaningless as well.

So, Jake, what in the world do you mean by this?