bon - What would ease your frustration here? leave things alone?

and for those that doubt that the poll will help anything, do you have any ideas of what will?

I am still puzzled by the idea of voting to shut up discussions. First off, it never does. and second, lightbulbs and this thread are so easy to just leave when you hate a discussion. If I stop reading the annoying debate, then it is just like it shutting up.

I think the poll, should a poll happen, should include a question about general satisfaction with the board:

Do you like b.org the way it is? What would be the one thing you would add to it? remove from it? If you have dissatisfaction, can you pinpoint reasons why? things too fast/too slow/people no longer here/people I don't know/discussion in places I can't go/not the discussions I want/general malaise for "the way things were"/I like being upset so I'll never be happy with anything/other

When I have heard people raising the point of being unhappy with boards (certainly not just here) I remember reasons often being things out of the control of the boards. Boards do change and honestly sometimes we all need to take a break of find a new place to spend some of online time.

bon - What would ease your frustration here? leave things alone?

Of course! Or, at least, creating threads when there's a clearly articulated need, rather than polling to find out needs that seemingly can't be otherwise discovered or articulated. Jeez, how did this happen? I am sure I am annoying people, but this is the not a good way to find a "solution" to individual difficulties.

and a proposal being made, discussed and passed is not an articulated need?

Well sure, I agree it is not a need, it is a want.

And I didn't see at least the initial poll to be about thread creation at all, just about gathering board usage and satisfaction data. Not a decision being made at all.

But they're lurkers -- would they respond?

This is not so much on the point but...

I sometimes wonder how others perceive me (or if they perceive me at all). I've followed this entire discussion and the entire one on creating the SPN thread, but I'm not sure I ever posted. Most of my time reading posts is done in big chunks. I don't think of myself as a lurker - I think of myself as a buffistas, but one who doesn't have a chance to post often.

I have opinions on the issue at hand, but since I'm always catching up 30+ posts at a time, it seems that someone else has covered it already. I do like the idea of a poll though.

Most of my time reading posts is done in big chunks. I don't think of myself as a lurker - I think of myself as a buffistas, but one who doesn't have a chance to post often.

I think of those as totally different things. And I'd definitely consider you the latter.

But they're lurkers -- would they respond?

(Thank you!) And like everyone else, I do wonder how many people read along without ever posting. I think this board is to hard to read without registering and I can't believe many random people from the internet just stop by, but I would love to know how big the audience really is.

And like everyone else, I do wonder how many people read along without ever posting. I think this board is to hard to read without registering and I can't believe many random people from the internet just stop by, but I would love to know how big the audience really is.

Well, when I was in NY, my dial-up and schedule basically meant I could never post because I kept up mostly by threadsucking Natter, Movies, etc. But I'm sure I voted on a variety of issues, because I had already met the NYistas and cared a lot about the community and always hoped I would eventually be able to participate more.

I feel like I am mostly a lurker, although I am trying to actually post more. I think I have voted in things ever since I started reading Press and Bureau, even though people don't know me from Adam Eve. Maybe I shouldn't have? I've been reading here since Season 6 of Buffy, I think. Maybe earlier. I don't remember. I didn't register until Wonderfalls though? I don't have set anniversary dates like a lot of people as I sort of slid into b.org.

Frankly, I would like a poll to see what everyone feels and what they want. I can see good points for many different methods of discussion, and I would be happy to place my vote to make the board useful to the most people. I don't want to vote to shut anyone up and I also don't want to vote to appease only the loudest voice if it is a minority either.

Not surprisingly, I agree. I'll use the board however it is structured. It is the people not the thread structure that keeps me here.

I love polls, but I agree that they only serve to generate more conversation. My opinion on the lurkers - if you never post, never vote, never express an opinion, then you are not going to get a say, by choice. Infrequent posters are not lurkers. We just miss seeing you a lot.

I don't actually hang at any other boards, but it is my uneducated guess that usually some stompy just sets the structure and that's it. We seem to like the talking, polling, and voting. This is how we do it.

Or, at least, creating threads when there's a clearly articulated need, rather than polling to find out needs that seemingly can't be otherwise discovered or articulated.

I really don't want to add to your angst, bon, but it seems to me that there was a clearly articulated desire, which has been delayed. The delay was to give a cooling off period (I know, that's not the terminology that was used, but I hope it's close enough). It was also, I think, because the folks here tend to care about what each other think and wanted the opportunity to really determine what that was.

While we may end up with a vote, it seems to me that the genuine goal of most, if not all, here is to get as close to consensus as possible. A poll may or may not be effective, but I don't see how it could hurt, and it may help. Some have mentioned that the results may be mis- or differently interpreted. That's fair, but I think that it's happening already without the poll.

If we can get the data from usage stats, great. I would be interested in getting a better idea of how and why people come here, though.