What is the point of "DU-ing" an online poll anyway?

[scheming daemons]

What purpose does it serve?


*NO* online poll is ever taken seriously. By anyone.


It is pointless. And if a poll CAN be "DU-ed" or "Freep-ed", doesn't that... BY DEFINITION... make the poll meaningless?



I just don't understand the requests to "DU this Poll!!!11!!!!!"


It's a waste of time, serves no purpose, and no good can come from it.

[1corona4u]

1. I dunno.....maybe it makes people feel better....

[11 Bravo]

2. Shits and giggles.

[Teaser]

3. Lulz. We do it for the lulz.

.

[sudopod]

30. This, lol nt

[bridgit]

4. agreed, but then to hear the outrage over 'skewed' polls...seems a bit mis-placed

[NoSheep]

5. It's like bumper stickers. We are making ourselves visible

Like attending a protest. You stand up and be counted. Have you ever heard of peer pressure? many people, especially republicans, follow the leader. They want to be like everyone else. If we were invisible, they'd never take a second look at how fucking stupid they are. I'm amazed you don't get this.

[Catch22Dem]

6. There isn't a point

It's a time waster.

[flowomo]

7. to make sure they are meaningless.....

if we don't confess to manipulating the polls, and the freepers don't do the same, then someone might take them seriously (as silly as that would be). Plus, sometimes I feel like filling in a dot. Not often but sometimes.

[applegrove]

8. The polls are already completely unscientific so they are useless in that regards.

But it is possible that some voter coming across the poll and seeing the results may be encouraged to stick with or move to the winning candidate. Usually you have to vote in these things to get the result but once the voter has the result they could be influenced by what its outcome is.

I used to never DU a poll because I live in Canada and am canadian. I felt like it was cheating if I answered a poll in the USA. They I gave up because I realized it is more important that we get every last voter than it is to not participate in an unscientific poll that is being DUed or freeped all day long.

I think it is a good thing to do it. Since the other side is certainly doing it. We should. Battles are battles. Getting the message out that our guy is electable is important.

[amborin]

9. shaping perceptions

people respond subconsciously


they think the poll's winner is the right choice

[Quantess]

28. Sure, to really gullible people.

To me, if online poll results seem off, I think to myself why are all these oddballs drawn to this website?

[stillcool]

10. perception = reality

[scheming daemons]

12. Bull.... NOBODY takes online polls seriously....

If a poll shows McCain winning 98% to 2%.... does anyone take it seriously?



Come on...

[jwirr]

14. Nobody? You mean that the idiots that voted for *ss & co. are smart

enough to know that these polls are not scientific? They hate science! And they also can be manipulated into giving up hope.

[renie408]

19. Freepers quote those things like they are the gospel. Everybody believes them

when they are going the way they want.

[scheming daemons]

21. Your post proves my point

[stillcool]

20. I don't know how seriously...

people take polls...on-line or not. But I'm sure that the reason why people freep a poll is for perception.

[Orsino]

31. If that were true, there wouldn't still be online polls. n/t

[ibegurpard]

11. What does it hurt?

It takes no effort whatsoever.

[shraby]

13. It sometimes does make a difference

after the debates in 2004 we nailed every online poll about who won the debate. It seems the pundits were keeping track of them because for the first minute or so they started to say Bush was great which quickly changed to Kerry won the debate. They do influence perception without a doubt.

[Bensthename]

15. Same reason people watch football

just a chance to root for their team.

[progressiveforever]

16. They ARE taken seriously by some.....

maybe not people with a brain, but both the brained and the brainless votes are counted equally on election day. I do think it is worthwhile to DU a poll--just as yard signs and bumper stickers do not vote, I don't think I'd say they do no good.

[Awsi Dooger]

17. Complete waste of time

I can't believe I actually participated in fall '02, during the first days after I joined. It was touted here and I felt a need to fit in. In those days the right wingers generally had more energy in manipulating online polls, so I understood the need to fight back. The questions were being touted on Lou Dobbs' program and elsewhere, and there was always a distinct right wing tilt.

By 2004 I realized how absurd it was. Many of the major networks stopped posting the online results because Democrats were obviously skewing them. I remember there were occasions the right wingers apparently told their members to vote for the Democrat, simply to make it obvious the results were ridiculous.

In 2004 there was a big push here, including by the top guns, to bombard the online polls after the debates. I hope we avoid that this time.

[renie408]

18. What's the point of asking this same damn question five times a week? n/t

[patomime]

22. ...I don't think....

people who are thinkers take them seriously, but some do.

No, they are not serious polls.

But, I believe just like some of the other posters, it's silly like .... filling in the dots!
Sometimes I get so nervous, I have to do something!

Hope that helps. Just trying to have a sense of humour, having a bad day!

I'll go on now.

:crazy:

[IsItJustMe]

23. Hate to bust your bubble; but, yeah, there are actually people out there that don't know what an

unscientific poll is. Probably more than you think. That is why I have pretty much given up on talking politics to anybody. The ignorance out there is profound.

[rvablue]

24. Why is this question re-asked every single day?

Especially from a veteran poster?
I'm new here and I get it. The other side is doing it. Do you want every poll on every website, in every newspaper and on every television station to be show McCain 50 points ahead (obviously bloated by freepers)?
These daily posts sound "concernish" to me..............

[demwing]

25. Psy-Ops

It pisses off and demoralizes the other guys, which makes me chuckle with a gleefully juvenile abandon.

[patomime]

26. Bwahhhhh!

:rofl:

[patomime]

27. Bwahhhhh!

:rofl:

[curious one]

29. I don't know. It may give some satisfaction.

[Midlodemocrat]

32. It makes us feel all tingly inside.

[WillyT]

33. We DU It Just To Piss You Off...

:evilgrin:

[Canuckistanian]

34. Every time the freeps win a poll, a kitten dies

I do it for the kittehs.

[lynne]

35. Finally, a voice of reason! Thank You! eom