New feature please: MeFi Polls. July 26, 2006 8:41 AM   Subscribe

New feature please: MeFi Polls. Briefly, it would be great to be able to construct simple polls which can be answered anonymously.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water to Feature Requests at 8:41 AM (32 comments total)

I'd like to see this because:

(a) it would clear out some of the more blatant chatfilter from AskMe
(b) it would be one step more useful than RandomYourFreeSurveySiteOfTheWeek
(c) it would be awesome

The rules might be similar to AskMe: one poll per week, one vote per user, poll closes after a month, options displayed if you haven't voted, results displayed if you have, ordinary comments section to follow.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 8:42 AM on July 26, 2006


I would think that this would add more chatfilter to askme, unless you mean to say it would be a totally separate subdomain, polls.metafilter.com .. in which case i think it might be overkill for a need/desire that isn't terribly frequent.

There's tons of poll sites out there... maybe people should just be encouraged to use them instead of mathowie having to reinvent the wheel?
posted by twiggy at 8:48 AM on July 26, 2006


hat u.
posted by boo_radley at 8:49 AM on July 26, 2006


unless you mean to say it would be a totally separate subdomain, polls.metafilter.com

Yes, I do.

There's tons of poll sites out there...

That's part of the reason they're not useful. Nobody reads them at random, and if you're going to have to send the link to your friends, you may as well just ask them the question directly.

instead of mathowie having to reinvent the wheel

Music.metafilter.com is pretty much reinventing the wheel, but look how great it is simply for being done well, and tapping the resources of the MeFi community.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 8:56 AM on July 26, 2006


Just because other sites have x feature doesn't mean we have to have it. We don't need to turn MetaFilter into a clone of Yahoo! Groups.
posted by mcwetboy at 9:02 AM on July 26, 2006


I dunno. AskMefi is successful because it is a site where people feel comfortable providing answers. Although polling is outside the perview or AskMefi, inevitably threads develop where there's a pile-on of answers about personal experiences which is tantamount to poll responses. What you are suggesting is going to (at best) fragment the impetus people feel now. I don't see this as a good thing for the site as a whole. And besides, I would predict that numbers of pollees would dimish pretty quickly if people are just faced with answering more bloody poll questions.
posted by peacay at 9:04 AM on July 26, 2006


I hate polls.



Period.
posted by mrmojoflying at 9:07 AM on July 26, 2006


Poll:

I hate periods [ ]
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:10 AM on July 26, 2006


[x] Snarky answer that everyone votes for, rendering poll useless
posted by cillit bang at 9:12 AM on July 26, 2006


I agree with cillit bang. There should be a polls section, but creating jokes-in-the-form-of-polls or joke answers to a serious poll should be instantly banned.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:15 AM on July 26, 2006


I have no interest in building a polling site. It seems silly and doesn't fill a need or a niche.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:17 AM on July 26, 2006


i think the op has a swell username
posted by keswick at 9:18 AM on July 26, 2006


*shakes fist*

Fair enough.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 9:20 AM on July 26, 2006


"There's tons of poll sites out there... maybe people should just be encouraged to use them instead of mathowie having to reinvent the wheel?"

Sure, you say that about the polls, but not the "gigs" thing a couple posts down.
Same logic applies to both.
posted by klangklangston at 9:32 AM on July 26, 2006


Sure, you say that about the polls, but not the "gigs" thing a couple posts down.
Same logic applies to both.


Sure, if taken as one naked statement with no context. Let's add context:

When you look at the whole purpose of music.mefi -- a place to promote one's own music -- listing gigs fits in with that.

Nowhere in any subsection of MeFi is there any sort of purpose labelled as "polling people". Furthermore, every single person who posts to music.mefi would get at least a slight benefit from being able to post gigs. Who benefits from posting polls, other than the original poster?

The internet is great for quoting one sentence and slamming it with logical arguments - but only if you're willing to ignore context.
posted by twiggy at 9:43 AM on July 26, 2006


The internet is great for quoting one sentence and slamming it with logical arguments

Great, huh? This is a misattribution of value without adequate support!
posted by mrmojoflying at 9:55 AM on July 26, 2006


Wasn't some dumb poll site just linked in the blue?
posted by smackfu at 9:57 AM on July 26, 2006


You forgot Poll Land!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:11 AM on July 26, 2006


matt, please live my life for me. thanks.
posted by jonmc at 10:14 AM on July 26, 2006


(c) it would be awesome

In what possible way? The random preferences of MeFites are the worst facet of this place to highlight. It'd be like a thread full of . except with percentages.
80% of mefites are sad Jimi Hendrix died!
90% of MeFites wonder how blind people know when to stop wiping!
posted by bonaldi at 10:15 AM on July 26, 2006


Create your poll on one of the already existing poll sites, then post it to Projects.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:16 AM on July 26, 2006


dear god, no.
posted by bob sarabia at 10:19 AM on July 26, 2006


I never wondered how blind people know when to stop wiping before, but I sure am now.
posted by yhbc at 10:21 AM on July 26, 2006


* shakes fist at the threatening sky *
* weeps silently and considers the immensity of eternity *
* gazes forelornly at the horizon *
* whistfully chuckles at his own inevitable destruction *
* shivers noticablly and steels himself against the coming winter *
* struggles to understand the serendipitous hand of fate *
* muses absently on missed opportunities *
* posts eccentric musings to a collective weblog *
posted by blue_beetle at 10:30 AM on July 26, 2006


I always assumed their dogs would help them with that.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:33 AM on July 26, 2006


*sniffs the serendipitous hand of fate to determine if he's done wiping*
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:36 AM on July 26, 2006


I never wondered how blind people know when to stop wiping before, but I sure am now.

When it just tastes like paper, you can stop wiping.

fyi.
posted by dersins at 10:37 AM on July 26, 2006 [1 favorite]


"When you look at the whole purpose of music.mefi -- a place to promote one's own music -- listing gigs fits in with that."

Sort of. I'd be willing to bet that there're more people using MuFi to listen to music than to promote it. It's a nice diversion, but it's not the ideal place to promote music, though it is pretty much an ideal space to listen to music that MeFi members have made. More than anything, the music section is for amatuers and hobbiests to get some feedback, not to promote themselves.
And are people already able to promote their shows in that format? Yeah, if they attach the promo to the song, which sort of underscores the primary utility of the page as "listening" not promoting.

"Nowhere in any subsection of MeFi is there any sort of purpose labelled as "polling people"."

You seem to have missed AskMe, which has many, many questions that are essentially polling. Any time you have multiple people saying "I agree with BrilliantBonny and disagree with LackwitLarry," you've essentially got an informal poll. So aside from a thin semantic argument, you're just flat-out wrong.

"Furthermore, every single person who posts to music.mefi would get at least a slight benefit from being able to post gigs. Who benefits from posting polls, other than the original poster?"

People who enjoy answering polls or reading them.

But the benefit of MeFi is not purely about the poster, though AskMe distorts that somewhat. It's also for the reader, and the benefit of reading gig notices for the vast, vast, vast majority is next to nil. Just like reading polls that you didn't participate in.

"The internet is great for quoting one sentence and slamming it with logical arguments - but only if you're willing to ignore context."

It's also a great place for pornography. Doesn't mean that your initial point wasn't flawed or was full of titties.
posted by klangklangston at 11:55 AM on July 26, 2006


veto.
posted by empath at 12:53 PM on July 26, 2006


Poll:To trim or cut off the hair, wool, branches, or horns of: polled the sheep; polled the trees. Would polling the mefites be popular?
posted by Cranberry at 1:03 PM on July 26, 2006


this would be like giving ponies to people who beat their neighbors' horses.
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:20 PM on July 26, 2006


Last post.
posted by dersins at 4:06 AM on August 26, 2006


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