Thorns

Age Poll Results

Apparently sqbr followers are the most enthused about filling out polls :)

A poll on age for those who follow me on social media

(Apologies to those who are going to see this multiple times)

Associated with this post. Comments disabled to keep the conversation in one place.

Lesson learned: do not make a poll in a private post to test it out :/
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I've been pondering how to do polls about various things in a way which minimises people feeling excluded or otherwise misrepresented. And I think the easiest way to test those ideas out is make polls and see what people don't like about them!

First off, nationality. As was pointed out to me the last time I tried doing a poll on this topic, just because I've lived in the same country my whole life and fit comfortably into it's majority culture doesn't mean other people's identities are so simple. It struck me that asking where people are currently located is a much less ambiguous question though of course you have to be careful not to then make the jump from "geographic location" to "national identity" in the analysis etc (especially since people might be on a three day business trip or something :)).

So! Please do this poll and then tell me anything about it that bugs you.
( Where are you?? )

Some stuff I've figured out while designing polls online (specifically on lj clones). This is not about Real Scientific Polls, which one hopes are designed with Real Scientific Ethics etc in mind. I'm still figuring this stuff out, so please tell me what I've missed/screwed up etc.

I guess overall the most important thing I've learned: Never make people feel excluded, even if it messes with your data a bit. You're not doing Proper Research here anyway. And unless your poll is on a locked post and you know your flist really well, don't assume everyone taking it cisgendered/American/Western/straight/young/etc.

Specifically, unless it's a joke question always have an "other" option, and where possible use checkboxes. That way people who fall between the cracks of your questions (and there'll always be someone) have a better chance of finding an answer that better describes them.
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[Poll #1372284]

I looked back over my twitter feed today, apart from the replies to other people's tweets I could be adequately modeled by an AI which spit out an equal mix of geek links, tv comments, and health complaints.

Thoughts on my birthday

So, after completely failing to find any buffets which are both Sophie AND vegetarian friendly(*) I had a good think about where I wanted to go for my birthday, and decided I was still really, totally stuck on the idea of buffet. Specifically lunch at Jetty's.

But since this is going to put off a lot of people I thought I'd find out just how many of you wouldn't be able to make it, so I can ponder a second get together you guys can come to.
( This is making me hungry... )

Reading this post about the controversial decision to delete posts on Boing Boing and the fact I just made a post I've had to edit several times based on people's comments got me thinking about (EDIT :)) editing blogs.

Here I'm talking just about personal blogs like this lj, not proffesional or semi-profesional/famous ones like Boing Boing.

EDIT (heh): My brain turned to mush just as I was finishing this, so I'm still not going to express this well, but: I've conflated "What you do personally" with "What you tend to think other people should do" and "what you think is an objective minimum standard for blogging", and of course these are not always the same thing (such an objective standard may not even exist). Also I should make it clear that while I do think there are certain basic standards of behaviour I would expect from most bloggers (e.g. not changing your posts and then lying about it) on the whole I think people have a right to run their blogs how they like (though I think it's good to make your policy clear if there's confusion)

( When is it ok to edit a post? )

A panel idea I've been batting around for next years Swancon is "Anime for people who don't like Anime" (and even if it doesn't become a panel, I think it would make for an interesting post and discussion). But in order to do it, I need to know what it is people don't like about anime, in order to find anime which avoid those things.

The first part of the poll is divided into two, one for anime fans and one for non-anime fans. If you're on the borderline, feel free to do both.
The second part is a few films I've seen suggested around the place or think people might like, but are not unqualified recommendations.

Note: disliking over the top violence etc is different to not minding it but not liking it enough for it to make up for an otherwise crappy show. Also, you can see the results of the polls you didn't take by clicking on the "Poll number blah" link.
( For non-anime Fans )( For anime fans )( For everyone )

This was very checked together: I see no point trying to craft the perfect poll without more data to get the questions right. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments.

I should mention that I'm mainly aimed at people who don't mind anime in principle but have high standards and tend to dislike a lot of the stuff they get recommended, or don't know where to start. People who hate all of it are probably better off as they are!

Also, in the poll I only mentioned a few films each from Hiyao Miyazaki and Satoishi Kon, but they're both totally awesome and worth a look. In my opinion, as an anime fan :)

So, sonnlich posted a link to this interesting article about the way menstruation is still a pretty taboo subject, even though a lot of guys probably wouldn't actually freak out if women brings it up. So, a poll.

Nb: when I say "mention" I just mean in vague, non-gross terms like "Crap! Out of tampons" or "Ow. Cramps", not going into icky detail. The same way one might talk about having gastro or a runny nose.

[Poll #1167026]