X

I'm not pointing specifically at the polls referenced in this thread's title. They're not necessarily that bad on their own, but to my taste, the polls have really gotten out of hand.

The Other Forum used to have some interesting conversation. Now it's becoming more and more heavily comprised of inane polls. I'm even looking back fondly at the times Desmondp originated the majority of polls. Now it seems so many people have caught this disease which may have originated with the consistent crop of idiotic Talk Forum polls.

We're being inundated by many mindless topic titles and then "Well?" as the post. Is complete boredom to blame? Or is this just a simple yet effective method of padding.

What do Others think? And this is not a poll! It is a discussion.

Boot

I agree with you X that the polls over on DVDTalk have gotten out of hand. Too many "Name your top five dvds," "How many dvds do you own," etc. That's one reason why I rarely visit that board any more. The topics simply don't interest me. However, I don't see the polls having really brought this board down though. Most of the poll posts begin as polls but veer into a conversation. Rather than people simply responding with an answer to the poll question, they often respond to something someone else has said and then someone else will respond to that and so on.

I still find many interesting (and often hilarious) discussion going on here in Other. The polls are just a small part of the multitude of topics, and I think they have their place.

X

I agree that they often do become interesting. However the originator frequently has nothing to say and makes everyone else do all the work. If you get to the poll early, it's devoid of content. It's as if the title is the only thing the originator has to say.

Anyone could fill up the first page with equivalent polls in 5 minutes. Shouldn't they begin with conversation, not just act as a blank sheet for others to fill out?

Josh H

I just ignore them, and come to the other forum and dvd talk forum much less now. Needless to say I'm not clicking on a single ad until something is done about the overabundance of polls.

Bushdog

And also don't you hate it when people post in the wrong forum?

Moving to Feedback & Suggestions

X

I wanted people here to talk about it. Only a few will see it there.

Boot

Yeah, that's a good point. I guess my view is that a poll simply for the sake of a poll is pretty useless (and quite dry), but a poll meant to open discussion or one that encourages posters to give it their own spin often becomes interesting threads and so shouldn't be automatically disregarded.

I've started a few polls, but when I start one, it's usually to try to start something humorous. For example, last night I started a "Why did the chicken cross the road?" thread. I didn't immediately give an answer of my own because I didn't want to chance limiting the replies to one particular type of answer. I wanted to see what people would do with it and then respond to that. I don't know. Maybe I think about this too much.

Scott27

True, but there is a link here in Other, so it'll get more exposure.

As I always do when the topic of polls comes up, I agree that something has to be done about it, please.

Bushdog

But unfortunately, rules are rules. "Other" gets a lot of traffic and people tend to try to, "I know this is in the wrong forum but. . ." there. We can't allow that or it will really become chaos.

Thanks for understanding.

Boot

Just what do you suggest we do about it? Should we ban polls? I don't think that would really support an open discussion forum.

Scott27

Let me preface my response by saying I am referring only to polls in the DVD Talk forum area, not the Other forum because, while there can be too many at times, polls are not technically "off-topic" in Other.

As for the polls in the main forum, the DVD-related polls are fine and should not be moved/closed/deleted IMO, but it's the polls about movies in general that are what I don't think belong in a DVD forum. I think, as has been suggested here previously, the "At the Movies" forum which is currently for discussing only current/upcoming films should be renamed simply the "Movies" forum so discussion/polls of any movies (past, present, future) can go in there without disrupting the DVD discussions in the main forum. That is the simplest (and probably best) solution to the problem, IMHO.

Or, the second best option would be to start a polls forum for ALL polls, including polls in the Other forum, but I don't think that is as necessary because, again, polls in Other are not off-topic (unless they're about DVDs, TV, video games, or something else that would fit better in another forum area) so they shouldn't warrant a new forum for them.

Adam Tyner

The polls that sort of get on my nerves are the same ones that pop up on a weekly basis. How many times do we need to see new threads discussing "best horror movie ever", "most disturbing scene in a movie", "best/worst commentary track", "your least/most favorite movie", "favorite actors", and so forth? Often, these threads tend to get the same replies by the same people everytime they come up.

Boot

That seems very logical to me. It's the best idea I've heard yet.

El Scorcho

The types of polls getting strewn about in the Other Forum are pretty banal and uninteresting. It seems as if many members just like seeing their name next to a thread on the top of the 1st page of topics.

X

I agree. I just wish people would ignore them so they'd go away after a while. But there are some people who will respond to anything.

Maybe if we presented that idea often enough...

Jules Winfield

Maybe I'm a little more lenient but they really don't bother me. Just ignore them and move on. It's not that hard.

Josh H

The problem, with DVD Talk anyway I don't really care about Other, is that there are so many crappy poll threads that they are hard to ignore, and there really isn't anything to "move on" too.

kinky

DVDTalk used to such a fun place to hang out and get together with other people who have the same taste - it was like one GIANT cocktail party.



Now, a visible majority of the people have morphed into clipboard toting information junkies who demand to know your thoughts on every subject without being interested in having a conversation.

Josh H

Good point kinky. It almost makes you wonder if these people are collecting data to sell to telemarketers and spammers.

Fhrx

Just don't answer them and they will go away. I have noticed we add nearly 100 members each week. How many actually just start 1 or 2 useless threads then go again?

Josh H

Fhrx, the problem is that many of these polls in the other forum are nothing more than pad threads. As long as we have post counts and titles, tons of people are going to respond to the polls to raise their post counts, and as a result the front page is littered with polls.