Poll Function

Hello All interested viewsers,

Just thought i would quickly ask a question; Since we are currently in a transnational period moving towards the new site, i thought i would ask about the possibility of integrating a Poll System feature in which a poll would be created above the initial op, tallying the votes?

I presume this request had been many times, but typing "poll" into the search engine, I was inundated with threads about election/voting conspiracies

As we have seen, a lot of the daily thread creation traffic is with respect to breaking news and I for one would fine a poll function valuable to create a visual representation of the positions of my fellow members on developing members.

I think this would be beneficial as those who wish to remain anonymous, yet still want to be counted on a matter without making a post can do so, without fear of being criticized.

Thanks in advance.

regards

reply to post by MDDoxs


I miss the old ATS polls. But I think that they were more of a hassle than they were worth. I guess you would have to ask the owners.

reply to post by TDawgRex


Thanks for the input. I was not around during that time. Can you explain the complications?

It seems relatively straight forward to me. I mean the parameters for each individual poll, not with respect to the code associated with inputting into the forums.

ETA: I would see them more as a aid to an OP, not to be relied upon solely.

I don't think ATS is a good site to have a polling function unless done by the mods in special cases. Every other thread in RECENT POSTS would be some inane poll for months. It would clutter up the board and the amount of infighting over poll results would probably destroy many threads.

I used to think it would be a good idea, shot I think I even asked for it once. I have since changed my mind.

reply to post by Domo1


Hey Domo, thanks for the input. Yea, i figured that threads could degenerate into off-topic rants about the results.

I just trying think if the pros would out weigh the cons...

But the more I think about it, perhaps you are right.

persuaded out of my own suggestion within two posts. Oh the humanity!

reply to post by MDDoxs


I think that's exactly what happened to me when I posted something similar! There are a TON of things I would like to poll ATS on, but if you think about how many people feel the same way it's a recipe for disaster. There would be at least 5 'Is Miley Cyrus A Bad Influence?' posts already today.

Perhaps there could be a polling sub forum that didn't get put into recent posts etc. and was more of a just for fun type of thing.

I think on more specific forums, like say a car forum polling makes sense. 'Should I get this exhaust or this one?'. I just see too many already circlejerky ATSers using polling results as a way to 'prove' their point without listening to the other side.

Historum allows its users to post polls and the results have been interesting and have provoked a lot of good conversation.

I think a poll function would be a great idea. People are always interested in offering their opinions and seeing where they fall on a given subject in relation to others.

Frankly I'm amazed that such a large web site doesn't have a poll function. It's a way of telling the membership their opinion doesn't matter. Perhaps, based on past moderator actions, ATS doesn't want to entertain certain opinions or cultivate a specific type of environment.

Whatever the case, it's very strange. ATS is apparently into controlling information.

Poll function would be nice. Say you post a news article, you could add at the bottom, do you buy this story, yes, no, unsure yet. Would be pretty neat, but I guess there would have to be strict guidelines in place to keep it from turning into annoying 349,583,405,854 polls a day central.