I've seen a few Polls lately and the op is try to manipulate the results by not offering enough options, Or by only offering an option something that makes it sound like you don't care, or are stupid for choosing that option. What can be done to stop this ?
One example would be this.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/589441
But normally it looks more like this
My next phone will be …..
I can't disagree with this any less than I already don't
I didn't not say that I don't not agree.
Who cares? It's an ozbargain forum poll, not a federal election.
Multiple sources have called this election differently
Alternative facts matter.
It's a lost cause. Scientific literacy is very low.
The example you provided shouldn't have had a poll to begin with. There isn't a yes or no answer to the question.
It should have just been a constructive discussion.
If you think about it, every forum poster has an agenda - hence the post. Clearly the OP has nitpicked an article (from Murdoch no less) and has run with it without doing any other sort of research or fact checking. Unfortunately this is why there is so much "fake news" - because most people readily believe everything they read.
Then once you've read it (and potentially agree) you then look for things which confirm the original article and then you're in your own world full of confirmation bias.
That particular example is a poor forum post for multiple reasons. The OP went off-topic almost immediately in the comments, and went down a rabbit hole of aggressive dialogue on any number of topics.
But, as brendanm says (above), who cares? Once OP shows their true intentions I tend to hop out rather than engage and waste my time.
The OP went off-topic almost immediately in the comments, and went down a rabbit hole of aggressive dialogue on any number of topics.
And used the word "mom" and then compared Australia to the US… says it all really
We have to be careful here, mods are watching. We gotta love all people, including single mum haters who could be single mum themselves. True?
Upvote means yes. Downvote means no. No vote means you're a single mum.
Jokes.
Just incase someone takes this seriously.
Politicians and Journalists do it all the time and they also get away with it.
Writing polls isn't really a common skill because it is chock full of attempts to validate their own opinions, which usually renders any poll functionally useless.
It's ozbargain not a federal census
Misleading polls on OzBargain is a minor problem. Misleading of the Australian people by NewsCorp, Skynews and Channel 9 is a major con. Could be a senate enquiry coming up.
Why are they a problem? I haven't heard anything bad about them in the news. /s
Australia getting their news and opinions from a foreigner is bizarre. Shame on all the politicians since Whitlam for not doing anything about it.
What can be done to stop this ?
Nothing for posters. Some genuinely like to be engaged, some like to prove they're right and go off topic. There will always be trolls who come around and try to fact check your comments, support with their upvote army, have a good wank and feel good about themselves. And then there will be people who will make leading assessment of a particular poll option anyway. Like oh there is only 1 person voted for apple, people here must have no money. I do all that
So as commenters, grab 🍿and enjoy
Nothing to do with Ozbargain, its common everywhere.
When more Journalism Graduates are employed in PR, than in Media outlets, then will you ever get the truth?
Spin AKA Lying, is a big business. In the old days they called it Propaganda, today its Public Relations
Then again when ever were we told the truth?
Until sometime in the 80's or 90's Australians were lead to believe the only attacks on Australian soil during WW2 were a few midget submarines in Sydney Harbour, and a couple of fishing boats sunk in Darwin.
And its not only a Left/Right, Rich/Poor, Murdoch/Bloomberg thing.
Its a people thing. Things must be Yes or No.
49.9999% being a fail and 50.0001% being a win, unless of course it's your team that fails…..
So to get to the truth you have to wait until most of the players have died, but of course thats too late for most of us.
More people died from Darwin bombings than Pearl Harbour. Wouldn't you want to censor how pathetic Australia is?
There were over 2400 deaths at Pearl Harbour. I hope your post wasn't filled with lies.
I meant per capita.
@orangetrain: Isnt that exactly how the media spin things, sorta true, but depends on the fine print (in this case "per capita")
So true only if you understand the context.
BTW nothing personal, but thats often the issue, (in your case just an omission).
The headline to many stories eliminates the detail which can change what someone else understands
op linked a new.com.au article
i stopped there
disappointed it wasnt a kmart mum article
So in a nutshell, you want polls to be MECE?
aNdRoId GaNg GaNg
Maybe the ability to vote on forum posts in a way that affects their chance of being highlighted, as with deal posts, would help. My theory is posts that are agenda-driven or comment-baiting in nature, such as the example you linked, would likely receive a relatively large number of negs, while more 'sincere' posts get a leg up
That said, a lot of crap can still rise to the top even where that's the practice (e.g. Reddit). But it'd be interesting to see what the OzB community did with it.
Note sure if it's been discussed previously. All I could find was this comment.
I agree, they should not be allowed to use double negatives in sentences…