NationStates Jolt Archive

why is a political vote private in real life?
i.e. why is your name not on the poll ballot when you vote in real life?
isn't this because it is a threat to a basic civil right (political views are a private affair)?
to be consistent with this basic civil right, should we ask forum moderators to automatically close all politically charged polls, where voters' names are made public?
should repeated actions of this kind be a ban-able offence in a democratic forum?

How about not voting?

why is a political vote private in real life?
i.e. why is your name not on the poll ballot when you vote in real life?
isn't this because it is a threat to a basic civil right (political views are a private affair)?
to be consistent with this basic civil right, should we ask forum moderators to automatically close all politically charged polls, where voters' names are made public?
should repeated actions of this kind be a ban-able offence in a democratic forum?

No, I believe that all votes should be public, because we are engaged in an exchange of ideas here, not a public election. We need to know what people think.

Who the hell takes polls on here seriously? I always find it strange when people come into a thread demanding a poll as if their life depended on voting in one. If I bother voting at all, I don't usually vote seriously anyway..

why is a political vote private in real life?
i.e. why is your name not on the poll ballot when you vote in real life?
isn't this because it is a threat to a basic civil right (political views are a private affair)?
to be consistent with this basic civil right, should we ask forum moderators to automatically close all politically charged polls, where voters' names are made public?
should repeated actions of this kind be a ban-able offence in a democratic forum?If you don't want your name to appear on a public poll, don't vote. It's that simple. This isn't some election where things that get voted on actually have an effect on your real life.

What laerod said.

I don't think your safety is being dangered because you voted in a NS General poll.

Who the hell takes polls on here seriously? I always find it strange when people come into a thread demanding a poll as if their life depended on voting in one. If I bother voting at all, I don't usually vote seriously anyway..Thanks for reminding me. We need a poll on this topic... (and be sure to make it public :p)

How about not voting?
that's what i do but i feel it defeats the accuracy of the polls...

If you don't want your name to appear on a public poll, don't vote. It's that simple. This isn't some election where things that get voted on actually have an effect on your real life.
isn't playing a game part of real life? if you feel compelled to not vote, isn't it affecting your game play?

that's what i do but i feel it defeats the accuracy of the polls...
To an extent … but any major poll on here is almost to the level of survey anyways so the variance does not REALLY have much of an effect.

The simple ability to use a pupet to vote is WAY more harmfull of accuracy then a public poll

To an extent … but any major poll on here is almost to the level of survey anyways so the variance does not REALLY have much of an effect.

The simple ability to use a pupet to vote is WAY more harmfull of accuracy then a public poll
true...

isn't playing a game part of real life? if you feel compelled to not vote, isn't it affecting your game play?If you're really that afraid that someone might use the information gained about a pseudonym you use against you in real life, maybe you shouldn't be on NS General.

I don't particually like public polls, as I try to avoid being boxed in life. Say one thing on an issue, and people may assume you think certain things about other topics that you don't believe at all. Or, your answer can be misinterpreted; sometimes, simple 'yes or no' questions are anything but simple.

But I usually vote in them anyway. Yay for polls!

1. why is a political vote private in real life?
i.e.

2. why is your name not on the poll ballot when you vote in real life?

3. isn't this because it is a threat to a basic civil right (political views are a private affair)?

4. to be consistent with this basic civil right, should we ask forum moderators to automatically close all politically charged polls, where voters' names are made public?

5. should repeated actions of this kind be a ban-able offence in a democratic forum?
1. To maintain the secrecy of your vote.

2. To maintain the secrecy of your vote.

3. Yes.

4. No.

5. No.

I don't particually like public polls, as I try to avoid being boxed in life. Say one thing on an issue, and people may assume you think certain things about other topics that you don't believe at all. Or, your answer can be misinterpreted; sometimes, simple 'yes or no' questions are anything but simple.

But I usually vote in them anyway. Yay for polls!
Unsolicited advice: Learn to not give a shit what people think. :D

I don't particually like public polls, as I try to avoid being boxed in life. Say one thing on an issue, and people may assume you think certain things about other topics that you don't believe at all. Or, your answer can be misinterpreted; sometimes, simple 'yes or no' questions are anything but simple.

But I usually vote in them anyway. Yay for polls!
Yeah in the forum it is rather rare for people to go hunt for some BS public poll and use it against you in a debate. Specially as far as I know there is no ability to sort just poll (or public poll) posts by a specific user.

It would be rather a pain in the ass to find a poll that you specifically voted it that possibly contradicted your personal viewpoint NOW

that's what i do but i feel it defeats the accuracy of the polls...
And you are concered about this why???

...is your name not on the poll ballot when you vote in real life?
isn't this because it is a threat to a basic civil right (political views are a private affair)?
to be consistent with this basic civil right, should we ask forum moderators to automatically close all politically charged polls, where voters' names are made public?
should repeated actions of this kind be a ban-able offence in a democratic forum?No, No, No and NO.

The poll isn't public... :(
Sadness unending. Now people will never know which of the three options I voted for. Oh, woe is me, oh, woe is me...

If you're really that afraid that someone might use the information gained about a pseudonym you use against you in real life, maybe you shouldn't be on NS General.
i'm not afraid... i don't live in a country where civil rights seem to be much at risk... just think it's inconsistent with what we expect in real life and, since i don't vote on politically charged public polls, i thought it was worth asking.

after hearing UT, i actually feel they should stay as is, since at least we can see if muppets are being used and identify players obsessed with making them public... :D

isn't playing a game part of real life? if you feel compelled to not vote, isn't it affecting your game play?
I suppose that depends on whether or not you count the General forum as part of the game of NationStates. Personally, I don't. The RP forums certainly are part of the "game" side of NS, but General is much more focused on the "real world". I don't frequent the RP forums, but nothing I post in General affects how I run my imaginary NS nation or vice versa.

In any event, I don't worry too much about polls on the forum. They're unscientific by nature, they have no effect on how I live my life, and nobody is likely to bother using my poll responses against me. (Anyone who does try to use my poll responses against me is in serious need of a life.)

Can you see what I voted?
I mean - bugger if I care, really.

you should have made this poll public

No, No, No and NO.
don't you mean "yes, yes, no and NO"? i'm baffled by the first "no" (and the second is a bit weird as well)... :D

my question: "why is a political vote private in real life?"
your answer: "no"
:D

I suppose that depends on whether or not you count the General forum as part of the game of NationStates. Personally, I don't. The RP forums certainly are part of the "game" side of NS, but General is much more focused on the "real world". I don't frequent the RP forums, but nothing I post in General affects how I run my imaginary NS nation or vice versa.

In any event, I don't worry too much about polls on the forum. They're unscientific by nature, they have no effect on how I live my life, and nobody is likely to bother using my poll responses against me. (Anyone who does try to use my poll responses against me is in serious need of a life.)exactamente.


This another feature I love about NSG.. there is a lot of smart people here.. soon enough.. someone will say exactly what i want to say (actually using better grammer)..

and all I have to say is: "What he said".. or sumthing like dat. :D

my question: "why is a political vote private in real life?"
your answer: "no"
:Di somewhat.. left the word "why" out..

a typing mistake ;) .. that offered me the opportunity to (honestly) say "no" to all and everyone of you questions.

doing just that was a pleasure.. thank you. :D

I voted "Yes, close public political polls and punish repeating offenders." just because I felt sorry for that option having no votes. :fluffle: But, seriously, this isn't RL and no state police are going to come along and arrest someone if they don't vote the right way so I'll agree with Monkeypimp: Who the hell takes polls on here seriously? I always find it strange when people come into a thread demanding a poll as if their life depended on voting in one. If I bother voting at all, I don't usually vote seriously anyway.. Well for the polls that I don't take seriously! ;)

In some cases votes are very public. Caucuses, Congress, City Council, UN, etc.

Actually, I think that's most cases of voting.

why is a political vote private in real life?
i.e. why is your name not on the poll ballot when you vote in real life?


Forum polls are only a matter of recording how many people care enough to vote one way or the other. Possibly several times, if they care enough. And they influence nothing and no-one, except that someone chooses to read them. Big woop.

In Australia, you are permitted to write on your ballot (we still use paper ballots and pencils, for reasons which should be all too obvious since the last US election.) You may add a limited amount of text, and obviously not in a way which would obscure your preference of canditate. Any registered party whose scrutineers want to record that, may. That is the right which I'm exercising now, thankyou.
Of course, I wouldn't be allowed to write a little essay on an oz ballot. I'd have to restrict it to something like:

Polls are FUN !

if you dont have enough balls to declare you opinion of which is best, donuts or pie?, on an internet forum, you should have the opportunity to work up to it. i know its scary to declare which girl you have never met is sexiest but it will help some day when a stranger on the street asks you if you like puppies.

i have never looked to see who voted how on a public poll but it would have been moderately interesting if someone had been able to do that on the "do you have faith in god" poll. i did end up wondering which side created more puppets for the purpose of voting.

so NO there is no reason to ban public polls, if you are too scared to let people know how you feel, dont vote, the polls are completely irrelevant anyway.

no. they just want to know who thinks what. if you have a big problem with that DON'T VOTE IN THEM.

PSA: no one cares except for the A-holes who enjoy being absolutely idiotic.

I don't understand the issue, here. My name doesn't appear when I vote. Nobody knows where I live. Nobody knows who I am. And even if you found out and came after me because of one of my political beliefs you'll have to fight your way through a half-dozen other people and two dogs before you get to me -- and then I have my katana and .357 Automag. I am so not afraid of letting people know what I think about issues. :P

Seriously, like other people say, if you're afraid of people knowing your options on issues keep silent. I happen to enjoy making the "connections" by seeing how certain people vote, and even if I disagree with someone on an issue, that doesn't mean I won't agree with him/her on another one. It would take a real lunatic (not that there might not be some around here) to go out of the way to use that information to make trouble.

to be consistent with this basic civil right, should we ask forum moderators to automatically close all politically charged polls, where voters' names are made public?

No. If folks want to protect their privacy when it come to political views, then they should (and probably would) avoid making their political views known on a public forum associated with a political simulation website.

should repeated actions of this kind be a ban-able offence in a democratic forum?

I was not aware that this was a democratic forum.

There is a reason why polls display whether they're public or not: so that people know that their vote may be public. If you don't want people to know how you voted, don't vote! But, frankly, there are plenty of people on NS who don't mine being loud about their opinions. Come to think of it, what's the point of participating in a political debate if you don't want anyone to know how you voted?
Don't ban the public poll.

I voted "Yes, close public political polls and punish repeating offenders." just because I felt sorry for that option having no votes.
ROFL :D

I love Public Polls, When we post and vote on a Public Poll we are taking a stand on a certain issue question, after all we are on these forums to argue, debate, discuss and share our views.

We should know each others views.

Almost all my Threads have Public Polls, I always try to ask questions based on my threads, I have seen many good threads with no Public Poll or no Poll at all.

This Poll should have been a Public Poll, LOL.

There is no need to ask. If the question is sufficiently "politically charged" that a vote visible to the public constitutes trolling, then the OP suffers unpleasantries.

An example is a past poll on whether or not internet perverts were OK, and it was a public poll. The implied message there - and it was subsequently made explicit - was that anyone voting for a particular option was a pervert or otherwise apologist scum.

Thread got shut down, OP got severely disciplined for that and other offences.

I would trust most people here to use their common sense and report anything which they feel pushes the envelope too far. If you think a thread is some sort of set-up designed to bait or single out anyone who responds in a certain way - eg. a poll acting as a "name and shame" of people who do not want retribution for some future major terrorist attack - then I would actually give well-argued complaints a sympathetic hearing.

I would trust most people here to use their common sense and report anything which they feel pushes the envelope too far. If you think a thread is some sort of set-up designed to bait or single out anyone who responds in a certain way - eg. a poll acting as a "name and shame" of people who do not want retribution for some future major terrorist attack - then I would actually give well-argued complaints a sympathetic hearing.
It's hard to judge though, sometimes. I think the current poll in the thread 'is pedophilia acceptable', or words to that effect, could easily fall into such a 'name and shame' category. But, unless the poll creater is threatening to go out and find all the people who vote against his view, it's hard to say what harm comes of it.

A bit like this 'Megan's law' really; should we know where offenders are so we can keep children safe, or will doing so threaten the safety of those people?

It's hard to judge though, sometimes. I think the current poll in the thread 'is pedophilia acceptable', or words to that effect, could easily fall into such a 'name and shame' category. But, unless the poll creater is threatening to go out and find all the people who vote against his view, it's hard to say what harm comes of it.
The criterion I would use is, does the OP subsequently refer to a particular list of names as a group, and attack the group in the thread?

So if someone creates a contentious poll, and a few pages later, once the votes are in, declares that everyone who voted for a particular option as a bunch of perverts, communazis, liberal pussies, etc, then as far as I am concerned, that is the same as trolling and flaming all those players by name. What you have there, is a thread which a Moderator could decide was intended as a trap all along.

I must say that this is a whole new approach to trolling, one which thankfully I have only seen once before, but one which underlines our need to constantly adapt to troublemakers' boundless ingenuity when it comes to devising new ways of being a shit.

As always, we can only form a judgement if a specific example is brought to our attention. So there is absolutely no need to worry about the possibility of public polls being abused, if you believe the community will report such abuses, and intend to play your part should you see something of that nature. In this respect, this is no different to any other forum rule violation.

There is no need to ask. If the question is sufficiently "politically charged" that a vote visible to the public constitutes trolling, then the OP suffers unpleasantries.

An example is a past poll on whether or not internet perverts were OK, and it was a public poll. The implied message there - and it was subsequently made explicit - was that anyone voting for a particular option was a pervert or otherwise apologist scum.

Thread got shut down, OP got severely disciplined for that and other offences.

I would trust most people here to use their common sense and report anything which they feel pushes the envelope too far. If you think a thread is some sort of set-up designed to bait or single out anyone who responds in a certain way - eg. a poll acting as a "name and shame" of people who do not want retribution for some future major terrorist attack - then I would actually give well-argued complaints a sympathetic hearing.

oh noooo.... i thought this thread had died :D

thanks for your answer TG.

that's what i do [not vote on public polls] but i feel it defeats the accuracy of the polls...
And you are concered about this why???
because i think it is much more interesting to have polls that are accurate and know how opinions break down (the purpose of using a poll, no?), rather than polls that only certain people vote or options get voted because they are public.

however, as someone else said, muppet vote can defeat the accuracy anyway so - basically - accurate polls cannot to be found on NS.

It's hard to judge though, sometimes. I think the current poll in the thread 'is pedophilia acceptable', or words to that effect, could easily fall into such a 'name and shame' category. But, unless the poll creater is threatening to go out and find all the people who vote against his view, it's hard to say what harm comes of it.

A bit like this 'Megan's law' really; should we know where offenders are so we can keep children safe, or will doing so threaten the safety of those people?
mmm... a few people here do have a tendency to pick your comments out of threads, take them out of context and use it to discredit your views on a completely different thread. if something like that happens involving results from the poll you just mentioned, then you could definitely say there are some pitfalls... i believe we all have a main character and we wouldn't like other people judging all your views on one controversial view you might hold. still, if you post, you're making your views visible anyway...

oh well, maybe i should just create a muppet to vote on public and controversial polls :D

The criterion I would use is, does the OP subsequently refer to a particular list of names as a group, and attack the group in the thread?

So if someone creates a contentious poll, and a few pages later, once the votes are in, declares that everyone who voted for a particular option as a bunch of perverts, communazis, liberal pussies, etc, then as far as I am concerned, that is the same as trolling and flaming all those players by name. What you have there, is a thread which a Moderator could decide was intended as a trap all along.

I must say that this is a whole new approach to trolling, one which thankfully I have only seen once before, but one which underlines our need to constantly adapt to troublemakers' boundless ingenuity when it comes to devising new ways of being a shit.

As always, we can only form a judgement if a specific example is brought to our attention. So there is absolutely no need to worry about the possibility of public polls being abused, if you believe the community will report such abuses, and intend to play your part should you see something of that nature. In this respect, this is no different to any other forum rule violation.
i'm glad we have you around... and armed with a gun. hehehe