# Right-wing dominance over internet polls **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960 "2000-11-06T16:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/1 "2000-11-06T16:57:35Z")
I have been noticing for over a year that internet polls always wind up skewed to the right wing. Seen this consistently on [vote.com](http://vote.com), [netscape.net](http://netscape.net), AOL, and every other place that polls on political issues. Even in September when Gore was riding high in surveys conducted by reputable pollsters, Bush remained the favorite in the informal internet polls. How come? Are the right-wingers more motivated to do informal, unscientific online polls? Are Republicans more likely to have internet connections? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/2 "2000-11-06T18:00:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ishmintingas \* > \*\*I have been noticing for over a year that internet polls always wind up skewed to the right wing. Seen this consistently on [vote.com](http://vote.com), [netscape.net](http://netscape.net), AOL, and every other place that polls on political issues. > > Even in September when Gore was riding high in surveys conducted by reputable pollsters, Bush remained the favorite in the informal internet polls. > > How come? Are the right-wingers more motivated to do informal, unscientific online polls? Are Republicans more likely to have internet connections? \*\* All else being equal, the less income you have, the more likely you are to align yourself with the left wing. (There are many exceptions, obviously, but I’m speaking _generalities_ here.) And the lower your income, the less likely you are to own a computer (or work at a job that requires computer skills). Hence the results you noted. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/3 "2000-11-06T19:00:38Z")
A different take on more or less the same phenomenon has been presented by Paulina Borsook in her book [Cyberselfish: A Critical Romp Through the Terribly Libertarian Culture of High Tech](http://www.cyberselfish.com/precursors.html). Borsook looks at “technolibertarianism”, or the tendency of people in the IT/high-tech community to support laissez-faire policies that tend to lump them together with the conservatives, at least economically (although the same community is very **unlikely** to be extremely conservative socially). Recall also that IT is big business, and lots of people on-line are involved in that business, and the Republicans traditionally favor business interests more than Democrats and liberals do. ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/4 "2000-11-06T19:07:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ishmintingas \* > \*\*I have been noticing for over a year that internet polls always wind up skewed to the right wing. Seen this consistently on [vote.com](http://vote.com), [netscape.net](http://netscape.net), AOL, and every other place that polls on political issues. > > Even in September when Gore was riding high in surveys conducted by reputable pollsters, Bush remained the favorite in the informal internet polls. > > How come? Are the right-wingers more motivated to do informal, unscientific online polls? Are Republicans more likely to have internet connections? \*\* It’s because the off-line polls are consistently skewed to the left wing. Add the two together, divide by two, and you’ll get reality. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/5 "2000-11-06T19:07:20Z")
I’ll throw in a third factor - sex. (You know that sex dictates every human behaviour! :D) More men than women have traditionally used computers, and the gender gap is still in favour of males using computers in the workplace, according to the results I remember reading recently. Also men and women differ in the character of the sites they view on the Internet, but I’m not sure how much this affects online polling. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/6 "2000-11-06T19:15:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Akatsukami \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\* Are the right-wingers more motivated to do informal, unscientific online polls? \*\* > > It’s because the off-line polls are consistently skewed to the left wing. Add the two together, divide by two, and you’ll get reality. \*\* Ish: See, you got your answer right there. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-dominance-over-internet-polls/39960/7 "2000-11-06T19:17:06Z")
All the answers you suggested add up (except for the one about real polls being left-wing skewed. I don’t buy that–although I was expecting someone to say that). I mean, when Netscape does a poll “Which candidate would be better for the environment?” and it results in a tie for both Gore and Bush, for crying out loud, you know something’s seriously off-kilter. In today’s Netscape poll, “If Bill Clinton could run again, for whom would you vote?” Shrub beat Clinton 54-39. Yeah, right. In your dreams. There’s been talk about casting votes over the internet. _Real_ votes. Please God, I hope not!