The Cesario poll in IMHO should not have been closed. You note correctly that there are/were 2 parallel discussions going on; a civil one and a Pit discussion.
The poll was doing exactly what it was designed to do. Further, everyone who participated [apparently] knew the intent as well; 360 views, 37 votes and only 5 posts. Dopers overwhelmingly kept to the 2 existing discussions, and even the 5 scanty posts were succinct.
We know the general attitude, but the poll would have given a specific board opinion on this issue.
The poll was not redundant. There was no overlap. The poll was doing exactly what it was designed to do!
If you’re seriously going to consider allowing a proud pedophile to have a soapbox to post about how the laws should be changed so he can rape young children, then I think a Pit thread and a poll are hardly overreaction on the community’s part.
I think the mods generally do a great job around here, but I agree that particular poll should not have been closed. In general, public polls are not redundant to other threads because they allow readers to see a quick summary of posters’ viewpoints without having to read the whole thread.
That poll specifically was interesting because it allowed for gradations of response. I was going to vote in the poll although I doubt I would have commented in the thread (nor did I comment in the other ATMB or Pit threads).
And given that Czarcasm specifically said “Thanks for putting me in a no-win situation.”, I think that it was specifically closed so that there was no clear tally of opinions for when the moderators make their decision.
Assuming they aren’t going to give him his baby-porking thread, what’s the point of the poll? If they are seriously considering it, then I agree it should have been left open.
Doesn’t it seem more likely that they will give him the thread? (…since he claims he hasn’t done anything illegal)
Either way, the poll is interesting as a measure of what certain posters are thinking on the issue. People who don’t post in heated ATMB or Pit threads might still want to vote on the issue.
If they wanted to close the poll, they should’ve just pulled out the old “The SDMB is not a democracy.” And then added “If you have an argument about why we should or should not allow the thread, make it in ATMB.”
AS for the whole “Thanks for putting me in a no-win situation”, um, that was the mods fault for saying the mods would have to discuss an “Ask the [unrepentant] Pedophile” thread, and then not making a decision and getting back to Cesario in private. The second he went public with the question, this was pretty much inevitable.
Normally, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelash about the closing and would have agreed that if 2 threads is 2 too many, then a third one might be unnecessary.
What bothered me was the fact that at the same time, they were just asking people to start 2 separate threads for controversial polls. One in IMHO for the poll itself and one in GD for the debate. Which is exactly what was going on. One in ATMB (and not GD for being a board issue) and a separate poll in IMHO for just counting hands.
This would have been the perfect example of how the new rule/request/directive was meant to work, yet no, closed it was.
The ATMB thread on the subject quickly devolved into swearing, name calling and personal attacks on both posters and moderators, all of which are against the rules. The BBQ Pit thread on the subject contained the same attacks, coupled with calls for suicide. I had no reason to believe that posters would behave any differently in IMHO, and every reason to believe that such a thread would only being adding fuel to the fire.