Could we PLEASE kill the Polling?

[kandrathe]

Perhaps we need a standard for Poll Etiquette.

I don't think you need an advanced degree in Market Research to understand what leading responses are or what makes for a poorly crafted poll. If the poll question is fairly straight forward e.g. "Should the U.S. go to war with Iraq?" and the possible responses are "Yes", "No", "Undecided", and perhaps a "Only in conjunction with the U.N." Then it seems a valid useful poll. I think Polls may be useful for those many Lurkers are unwilling to engage or offer an opinion outright. It might lead to a debate, for those who are willing, and still provide for a summary context in which the general population can express themselves. It would be more interesting if you would be able to change your vote as the debate progressed.

The anonymous nature of the polls allow for a contribution to the discussion without risking being made to look a fool, or having to defend their position for 10-12 additional posts. Many of the recent polls suffer from a poorly crafted question, that is asking for an essay response or sub select the possible responses from only a fraction of the possible response domain. e.g. "What is your favorite Marvel character?"; "Wolverine" or "Night crawler" OR "What is the nature of a man?"

But yet I agree with Nico that something more should be done. IMO, I think many of the recent "Polls" have been frivolous, or placed in the wrong forum and most are not well crafted. They should have been moved, locked, and/or forgotten. If we had some rules we could at least beat the offenders with them.