Never claimed there was one. I’m just saying that a poll that will only be contributed to by those that:
It really gets me that hookers and blow are always tied together like that. Personally, I’d be happy with hookers or blow. But no. It’s always hookers and blow.
Because a message board poll doesn’t provide useful or accurate data. The only reason to allow polling in ATMB (beyond test posts) would be to gather data to argue for or against changes in board policy. Since the results provided by the polling function are meaningless, allowing polling in ATMB would only serve to inject a lot of bad data into the conversation, which doesn’t do anyone any good.
Really not cool, you guys.
Neither does a message thread, really. People throw out their opinions with varying levels of interest, intensity and frequency, until consensus isn’t reached and people wander off. So what? The staff have no obligation to abide by the rules of any polls, what’s the harm in giving people additional ways to have discussions on any and all topics, including message board policy? That is why we’re all here, isn’t it?
Note that Czarcasm’s 3 point response to why polls are invalid applies to posts as well. If we cannot take polls as indicative of popular sentiment, then we cannot take posts as indicative, either.
This post strikes me as disingenuous or amazingly stupid. In all of your years here, have you never used the “New Posts” link? It’s at the top between Calendar and Search. It conveniently shows you the threads that have had recent activity, regardless of forum. It shows the thread titles, so you can pick out things that may interest you - regardless of the forum. I feel fairly certain that many posters here use New Posts as their primary means of browsing SDMB. I also feel fairly certain that I’m not alone in voting in polls that I don’t have the time or inclination to type a reply to.
The fact that you don’t seem to think that most of your members would understand that doesn’t say a lot for the board leadership’s attitude and faith in their members.
A poll only tells you how the people who read the thread feel, and not all that accurately. Everyone understands that. It’s a fun data point, but it’s not much more than that. If you don’t think that most Dopers understand that, I dunno…it doesn’t say much for the leadership’s opinion of “the smartest, hippest people on the planet.”
Start a poll on a free, external polling site, then post a thread with a link to said poll in ATMB - everybody wins? 
I do enjoy the “You’re lucky we don’t ban you” argument.
This. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that a thread could be locked, not because there was any objectionable content, but simply because there wasn’t an appropriate forum to put it in.
I did an external poll about this a few years ago, but I added a mechanism that forced you to verify that you were an SDMB member and only allowed you one vote. Turnout was certainly skewed towards people who were all het up about this issue at the time (and who were willing to jump through the verification hoop), so take these numbers with a grain of salt, but out of 71 votes:
22 said "This rule is a disaster and it will destroy the Pit and/or the SDMB"
44 said "I disagree with it strongly and think it's a mistake"
1 said "I disagree with it"
3 said "I disagree with it, but am pretty close to not caring"
1 said "It doesn't make a difference"
0 said "I like it, but am pretty close to not caring"
0 said "I like it"
0 said "I think it will be a much-needed positive change"
0 said "It is absolutely critical that we have this new rule"
I know the suggestion above was a joke, but this is the biggest hurdle. I am surprised that 4 people who said they don’t care even bothered to do so.
For everyone’s perusal, here is a list of polls about board policy that were posted in ATMB, and that are still open currently:
Now that we got 'em to enable polls…
Do you think we should have “public” polls?
Charter Members - A custom title question for you
SDMB on the iPhone, Android, etc.?
Image code
What do you think about smilies on SDMB?
Splitting posts: a good idea?
So why was this poll closed when there is strong precedent of polls about board policy being allowed in ATMB?
There’s been a few that they’ve left going. I think that when it’s a contentious issue and the powers that be have no intention of changing, they don’t want a bunch of numbers showing that everyone disagrees with their position.
eta: Another one Bob Ducca:
Should all complaints be private?, that I started. Tuba responded in that poll too, so it was seen.
Well, there’s a difference between not caring about the impact of the rule and not caring about demonstrating how many people don’t care about the rule. 
Could it be that the general ban on substantive polling in ATMB is to avoid every “why did I get warned” thread and the like turning into some sort of referendum on mod action? That when the subject comes up and they all lock electronic eyes with a look of ‘fuck that noise’ and reject the idea. A ha hah hah, you got me, though, people can talk about it already, so it’s not really a thing. Okay, you got me; there is no distinction between a thread with and without a poll and no one would make anything out of it. Gotcha.
Anyway, the presumed paradox doesn’t really exist. You can discuss any mod action, just not set up a poll about it. You can set up a poll outiside of ATMB, but not for discussing/weighing in on mod activities. There are easy examples of ATMB threads that could lend themselves to polling, but because there is a large group and of them where it wouldn’t be a good idea, preventing them all avoids the “why did you let sally poll this but not johhny that?!”
FYI, Rhythmdvl, that post was pretty incoherent.
It’s less accurate than just pulling a random quantity out of your ass (just for an example, say “a tiny number of posters”) and claiming that is correct?
Lol for-fucking-ever. This place.
Well, then…I stand corrected. Carry on.