Anonymous Poll

[JohnM]

Why are you voting anonymously?

I did vote for McGovern.

[segsurfer]

to what is this reffering to?

[macgeek]

to what is this reffering to?

I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you.

:)

Jonathan

[KSagal]

to what is this reffering to?


Troll phishing?

[Timezkware Tim]

Troll phishing?
*high five* lol

[pam]

Personally, I think anonymous polls are the way to go, IF you want more people to respond. Some people are just nervous about having their names attached to something - If you're looking for the most responses, anonymous is the way to go (after all, they can only vote once). If you don't care about the number of responses, but are curious about how a specific person might stand on an issue, then make it non-anonymous.
Pam

[KSagal]

I agree with Pam, but only partway...

I believe there are lots of people out there that used to be referred to as paper tigers, or even phone tigers. When these people are in person, and held accountable for their actions, they all the sudden are much more reasonable.

If you want a lot of worthless, cowardly responses that do not reflect what people actually do, or actually feel, then anonymous polls are fine.

If you want a reflection of how people are likely to act, or really feel, then you need to ask people to stand and be counted.

In my opinion, a smaller sample of real information is more valuable than a larger sample of fantasy, or what if kind of answers...

Of course, others may feel differently.

[polo_pro]

I agree with Pam, but only partway...

I believe there are lots of people out there that used to be referred to as paper tigers, or even phone tigers. When these people are in person, and held accountable for their actions, they all the sudden are much more reasonable.

Sadly Karl, where as you may have run across a few of these paper tigers in real life, the internet is filled with them. Hundreds of thousands, if not milllions. It's just a fact of life. The scariest part about it this is most of them can vote...and that's done anonymously too!

[quade]

Voting and voicing are two very different functions; here as in real life.

Some people feels as if when their name is associated with an opinion that in order to get along they have to go along.

I think that's BS.

People should be able to voice an opinion, even if contrary to popular opinion and not have to worry about bullies that aren't willing to reason an issue but simply attempt to shout it down. Rush Limbaugh immediately comes to mind.

Other people, who don't have the ability to stand up to these bullies have virtually no option but to either keep their opinions to themselves or likewise be attacked and shouted down.

Anonymous polling on this web site, gives those people that want to express their opinion a way to do so without fear of reprisal; again, just like in real life.

[KSagal]

And here is the rub...

What is the objective of a given poll?

Many polls exist to feed a particular point of view. They are worded a certain way, offered in a particular manner to get a particular result.

THis thread is started by a person who is very active on this pro-segway site, but has been very consistant in bashing segways, and does not go away. He even has some of the more gullible here not understanding his motives.

Would a poll from such an individual likely have the objective as a poll here from someone who actually likes them? I might guess so.

Annonymous is a nice place to hide. Check out any negative feedback you may have. Rare are they signed.

A good point has been raised that some want to express their opinion, and not be held to account for it, because those who hold them to account are often unpleasant, or disrespectful. This is very true.

So, again, what is the objective of a particular poll? If you ask people what they would do with their lottery winnings, you would get a particular result. If you then went and checked what people who won the lottery actually went and did, you would get a different result, which does not resemble the first.

If you want a poll to tell you what might really happen in a given circumstance, it cannot be annonymous, but you would also not hear from the timid among us.

If you want a poll to tell you what people fantasize about that circumstance, then it can be annonymous, but you will not have much reality in it.

And for attacks, and lack of tollerance for views, you do not need to go as far as Rush Lembaugh. (Or Al Franken) We have plenty of intollerance right here on this forum...

[pam]

Either way, one doesn't get the full picture, Karl. Make it non-anonymous and you get a biased sample - only those who are willing to put up with the bashing if they disagree (or only those who agree with the thrust of the poll). And you'll get plenty of fantasizers there, too. Regardless. People can and will say anything on the internet to make themselves appear "better" or "in the know" or whatever.

Non-anonymous doesn't hold anyone accountable, it just allows certain types of people to see who agrees with them and who doesn't (and sometimes to look at it as who is a friend and who is an enemy...).

IMHO, polls are fairly useless on a site like this, in terms of getting valid information in overview. What you get is a sample of a few posters. The samples are quite small, usually.

Pam