Let's talk about polls. They were added to our forums not too long ago and are used frequently for idea threads. And I wonder just how useful or useless they are.
Before polls were here, people had to make a reply to a thread to give their opinion about the topic. Adding a poll to a thread allows people to give their opinion without making a reply.
But is this purely an addition to the thread, or does it also take away from it?
On the one hand, a poll allows people who are too shy or too lazy to make a reply to still add their opinion, so that you can potentially collect more opinions on your idea.
On the other hand, a poll might discourage replies, as people who otherwise would've replied with their opinion now simply vote in the poll. Readers may think the opinions in the replies are now totally irrelevant, and it's only the poll results that give a good picture of people's opinions because there are always many more people who voted than people who replied. So the thread becomes secondary to the poll.
Before polls were here, people had to make a reply to a thread to give their opinion about the topic. Adding a poll to a thread allows people to give their opinion without making a reply.
But is this purely an addition to the thread, or does it also take away from it?
On the one hand, a poll allows people who are too shy or too lazy to make a reply to still add their opinion, so that you can potentially collect more opinions on your idea.
On the other hand, a poll might discourage replies, as people who otherwise would've replied with their opinion now simply vote in the poll. Readers may think the opinions in the replies are now totally irrelevant, and it's only the poll results that give a good picture of people's opinions because there are always many more people who voted than people who replied. So the thread becomes secondary to the poll.