Pollmaster

[Alexander II]

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

thank you all for bearing with me as I get the hang of this whole pollmaster thing. 

I know the last poll was a little depressing, but I thought it was a good topic for discussion which is all too often pushed to the periphery in our society. 

Since taking on the role of pollmaster, I have been trying out a whole bunch of different poll types and I wanted to get your feedback.

Choose as many types as you would like to see and let me know if you are interested in a poll type not listed.

thanks for your feedback

alexander II

 

[Rin]

Check out some of the old polls by Alyster. He was good at the whole pollmaster thing.

 

[Woot]

I've liked your polls so far.

I think any poll is good if it splits people between different answers, and if people actually care about the answer they choose and the number of votes other answers get.

Funny polls are usually bad because nobody really cares whether Wacky Nonsense A gets more votes than Silly Bullshit B. "What kind of bear is best" is a waste of a poll.

A meme tournament is a better idea because we'd have something invested in it, since it's a competition with winners and losers.

If you do personal survey polls, I'd stay away from ones asking about really boring information, like "What's your favorite kind of soda". If you do a survey make it something where other peoples' answers are actually interesting, like "Have you ever seen a ghost?"

Political/news polls can be good as long they ask a specific question that we're likely to disagree on. However people will avoid those polls to an extent because political discussion can start serious fights. Polls in the 'Thought provoking' category are probably better most of the time.

A category you didn't mention that makes good fodder for polls is entertainment. "Batman Vs. Superman, good, okay, or bad?", and so on. But you have to stick to very well known stuff that's been out for a while or else half the alliance won't be able to answer.

 

[Rin]

So far this alliance (and visitors) has been very mature dealing with controversial topics like gay rights or abortion.

However, we have a poor record with the thought provoking ones like "chicken or egg" or "which was the most influential civilisation".

I think the latter category catches people off guard.

 

[Floating Hippo]

I've liked the polls so far, and I'd like for all the listed topics to continue, good variation. 

 

[schirminator]

The problem with "chicken or egg" is that it delved into religion which is by nature a very touchy subject.

And "the most influential civilization" was because alyster overreacted. This topic is best read with a pop and a large bowl of popcorn. 

I think that as long as everyone remains respectful as we have been, thought provoking polls can actually be a lot of fun 

 

[Rin]

I mean if you open a topic about religion, people stay respectful. If you open a topic hinting at evolution, then people blow up.

The civilization thing was also touchy because it touched on national identity as well.