For authors: Would you try using polls to help encourage reader response? Why or why not?
Probably not? I think I'd feel weird and pushy, and it might look like all I cared about is number of comments. (Which isn't true: lots of comments would be nice, but I'd take one person who really appreciated something over 10 who were politely lukewarm.) Plus, no or few replies on a poll would feel far more damning than no comments: I know how rarely I comment myself, so I always assume more readers than commenters, whereas I think I'd normally tick a poll. Mostly, though, I'd just feel I was being too pushy.
For readers: Would you use polls after reading? Why or why not?
Oh, absolutely. As a reader, I think they would be great. Which is ... totally inconsistent with my answer above. I realise this. But I don't like to post bare little 'I liked this' type comments, even though it's such hard work to come up with more comprehensive evaluations. So often I don't say anything, and then I feel bad, because I know perfectly well the writer would have preferred 'I liked this' to nothing. A poll is so much easier and less intimidating. I think it might even encourage me to comment more, because after I'd broken the ice, as it were, with the ticky boxes, I'd feel more like I'd been introduced to the writer and could expand on the poll in a comment without being intrusive or feeling like I had to provide a whole critical essay to justify taking up the writer's time with my comment. (I know, I know: that isn't a logical thing to feel in the first place, but I can't seem to help it.)
What improvements would you suggest for those who might want to use polls?
I don't know. The only concern I can come up with, is any writer who ended up the target of any sort of wank (or was just the target of unwarranted envy) might find there would be people who would tick 'didn't like it', without even necessarily reading the story, when they wouldn't do the same in a comment, which seems that tiny bit close to face to face, and where the writer has more options (delete flames, reply then freeze thread etc). Polls are less under the original poster's control.
What was the most awesome dinosaur ever, as rated by science?
My mind has gone completely blank on this one. Which, given Primeval is one of my fandoms, is a pretty poor showing on my part.
Is receiving feedback via poll as satisfactory as receiving feedback in other ways? Why or why not?
Maybe not? It does seem a little ... mechanical, maybe? On the other hand, it's undoubtedly better than no feedback at all.
no subject
Probably not? I think I'd feel weird and pushy, and it might look like all I cared about is number of comments. (Which isn't true: lots of comments would be nice, but I'd take one person who really appreciated something over 10 who were politely lukewarm.) Plus, no or few replies on a poll would feel far more damning than no comments: I know how rarely I comment myself, so I always assume more readers than commenters, whereas I think I'd normally tick a poll. Mostly, though, I'd just feel I was being too pushy.
For readers: Would you use polls after reading? Why or why not?
Oh, absolutely. As a reader, I think they would be great. Which is ... totally inconsistent with my answer above. I realise this. But I don't like to post bare little 'I liked this' type comments, even though it's such hard work to come up with more comprehensive evaluations. So often I don't say anything, and then I feel bad, because I know perfectly well the writer would have preferred 'I liked this' to nothing. A poll is so much easier and less intimidating. I think it might even encourage me to comment more, because after I'd broken the ice, as it were, with the ticky boxes, I'd feel more like I'd been introduced to the writer and could expand on the poll in a comment without being intrusive or feeling like I had to provide a whole critical essay to justify taking up the writer's time with my comment. (I know, I know: that isn't a logical thing to feel in the first place, but I can't seem to help it.)
What improvements would you suggest for those who might want to use polls?
I don't know. The only concern I can come up with, is any writer who ended up the target of any sort of wank (or was just the target of unwarranted envy) might find there would be people who would tick 'didn't like it', without even necessarily reading the story, when they wouldn't do the same in a comment, which seems that tiny bit close to face to face, and where the writer has more options (delete flames, reply then freeze thread etc). Polls are less under the original poster's control.
What was the most awesome dinosaur ever, as rated by science?
My mind has gone completely blank on this one. Which, given Primeval is one of my fandoms, is a pretty poor showing on my part.
Is receiving feedback via poll as satisfactory as receiving feedback in other ways? Why or why not?
Maybe not? It does seem a little ... mechanical, maybe? On the other hand, it's undoubtedly better than no feedback at all.