# Pre-Poll Data Collection -- Internet Uses **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395 "2014-01-21T21:22:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/1 "2014-01-21T21:22:05Z")
I’d like to build an anonymous poll on how Dopers use the internet. Help me build a list of reasonable items by adding to this starter list: Straight Dope Facebook Twitter Email News websites YouTube Games sites Sports sites Porn sites Medical sites Housework sites Hobbies sites The poll itself will be multiple choice with the option to post and estimate percentages of time spent on selected options. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/2 "2014-01-21T21:30:34Z")
Instagram. Travel/airlines Music(pandora) ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/3 "2014-01-21T21:35:41Z")
Reddit. Online shopping, e.g. [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/4 "2014-01-21T21:51:00Z")
“Other message boards” Would include boards for support groups, common interests, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/5 "2014-01-21T23:48:16Z")
Data search sites (i.e. Google Scholar) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/6 "2014-01-22T00:19:19Z")
Web Comics TV/Movie sites (Hulu, Netflix, Comedy Central and other network owned sites, etc) ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/7 "2014-01-22T01:17:14Z")
Synchronizing files between work computer and home. My former roommate swears by Dropbox, but I’ve gotten along fine with an SSH server behind a router that does port forwarding. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/8 "2014-01-22T01:47:49Z")
[FoodNetwork.com](http://FoodNetwork.com) and other cooking sites. [Familysearch.org](http://Familysearch.org) and other genealogy sites. Banking, investing and stock market sites. Credit watch site ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/9 "2014-01-22T23:25:59Z")
Google News Slate Netflix ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/10 "2014-01-22T23:41:44Z")
Work. Not any more since I’ve retired, but near the end of my career I worked partly in a physical office, and partly at home. When working from home I VPN’ed in. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/11 "2014-01-23T00:13:23Z")
How about financial sites? J. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/12 "2014-01-23T00:22:04Z")
Banking Stocks Tax Filing (and related, such as business registration, tax research, etc.) Software-as-a-Service Applications (think QuickBooks Online, Basecamp, etc.) Research Contact and/or Calendar management Or are the poll options merely relating to leisure activities on the Internet? Because if I added every option in the OP together, they’d only account for about 5% of my time on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/13 "2014-01-23T00:32:07Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Banking > Stocks > Tax Filing (and related, such as business registration, tax research, etc.) > Software-as-a-Service Applications (think QuickBooks Online, Basecamp, etc.) > Research > Contact and/or Calendar management > > Or are the poll options merely relating to leisure activities on the Internet? Because if I added every option in the OP together, they’d only account for about 5% of my time on the Internet. As I’m envisioning the poll at this point, it will be a multiple choice with all the options we come up with and the request to vote for any item where you spend at least 5% of your time there. That will allow as many things in your vote that you feel are “significant” usages. All of this may require more than one poll due to the number of things already suggested. But maybe some big categories can be devised to keep the number of choices per poll to some reasonable number, say 20-30 per poll. I do welcome ideas for how to proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-data-collection-internet-uses/679395/14 "2014-01-23T01:06:31Z")
Here’s a quick-and-dirty summary of things mentioned so far, in the order they were mentioned. There may be dupes. Maybe some big categories would let us lump some of these together for a sub-poll approach. ======================================= Pre-Poll Data Collection – Internet Uses Straight Dope Facebook Twitter Email News websites YouTube Games sites Sports sites Porn sites Medical sites Housework sites Hobbies sites Instagram. Travel/airlines Music(pandora) Reddit. Online shopping, e.g. [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). “Other message boards” Would include boards for support groups, common interests, etc. Data search sites (i.e. Google Scholar) Web Comics TV/Movie sites Hulu Netflix Comedy Central other network owned sites Synchronizing files between work computer and home. My former roommate swears by Dropbox SSH server [FoodNetwork.com](http://FoodNetwork.com) and other cooking sites. [Familysearch.org](http://Familysearch.org) and other genealogy sites. Banking, investing and stock market sites. Credit watch site Google News Slate Netflix Work. VPN. How about financial sites? Banking Stocks Tax Filing (and related, such as business registration, tax research, etc.) Software-as-a-Service Applications (think QuickBooks Online, Basecamp, etc.) Research Contact and/or Calendar management =======================================