Anonymity in Best Novel MobileRead Polls

[Catlady]

Why isn't the poll anonymous?

[pdurrant]

Why should the poll be anonymous? I think it's interesting to see how others have voted.

Tell you what - if five people tell me (either here or via PM) that they'd rather the poll was anonymous, I'll make it anonymous.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Why should the poll be anonymous? I think it's interesting to see how others have voted.

Tell you what - if five people tell me (either here or via PM) that they'd rather the poll was anonymous, I'll make it anonymous.

It's interesting to read comments, but to my mind voting should be anonymous. Personally, I make it a rule not to vote in a poll that isn't anonymous, even when the information being collected seems innocuous, as here. But you're also going to be asking for demographic info, aren't you?

I don't always wear my tinfoil hat, but sometimes I do have privacy concerns.

[Glorfindel]

I'd rather it not be anonymous

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Catlady

But you're also going to be asking for demographic info, aren't you?

Yes, but that poll will be anonymous.

[treadlightly]

Originally Posted by Glorfindel

I'd rather it not be anonymous

I agree.

[Catlady]

Assumption #1: You want people to vote in the poll.
Assumption #2: Some people may not vote because the poll is not private (at least one--me!).
Assumption #3: No one is going to refrain from voting if the poll is private.

Conclusion: More people will participate if the poll is private.

Not going to belabor this, but that's my thinking on polls.

[BearMountainBooks]

I generally prefer polls to be private. I would probably prefer this one be private too, but I probably won't vote most of the time anyway because it's been made clear that some people don't want votes for books that are votes AGAINST other books (and I totally would vote that way because for me it is part of the fun to vote against a book I did not like).

[Lynx-lynx]

I prefer the vote to be public. (Are you going to consider 5 votes 'for' being public as sufficient number sample for voting to be public. In the same way that you're indicating 5 votes is sufficient for names to be silent?)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I prefer the vote to be public. (Are you going to consider 5 votes 'for' being public as sufficient number sample for voting to be public. In the same way that you're indicating 5 votes is sufficient for names to be silent?)

No. Those wanting a private poll might not vote if it's public. That's unlikely to be the case the other way around.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Assumption #1: You want people to vote in the poll.
Assumption #2: Some people may not vote because the poll is not private (at least one--me!).
Assumption #3: No one is going to refrain from voting if the poll is private.

Conclusion: More people will participate if the poll is private.

Not going to belabor this, but that's my thinking on polls.

It's irrelevant to me. We're arguing aesthetics in which there are no right or wrong answers, only opinions. People can say how much they love whatever book, but some books just don't hit me. Some books I don't really appreciate until many years later. That's the nature of art.

I'm not casting a vote this round because I only read two of the titles in the list and didn't think they were better than a book that I didn't nominate because I didn't feel I had a wide enough experience in the decade to make a reasonable choice. I do believe I will be voting in all of the subsequent polls.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Assumption #1: You want people to vote in the poll.
Assumption #2: Some people may not vote because the poll is not private (at least one--me!).
Assumption #3: No one is going to refrain from voting if the poll is private.

Conclusion: More people will participate if the poll is private.

Not going to belabor this, but that's my thinking on polls.

So do you also have a craving to be anonymous when you state in a post which books you like?



No demographic info is being made public, and even if it were, you don't have to vote in that poll.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

So do you also have a craving to be anonymous when you state in a post which books you like?

No, when I state something in a post I make a specific choice to shed a layer of anonymity. When I vote in a poll, I want privacy.

Likewise, I am generally willing to express my opinion of a political candidate if asked, but still expect my ballot on election day to be secret.

No demographic info is being made public, and even if it were, you don't have to vote in that poll.

I won't.

[Lynx-lynx]

On the matter of whether the poll is public thereby showing the avatar names of those who voted (at the completion of the poll), or concealing the avatar names (at the completion of the poll), I add the following comments.

Book nominations for each decade are public, and those who didn't want to publicly nominate at all or for a particular decade didn't. (For reasons that may or may not have concerned 'privacy' or 'openness')

On 9 May, Paul advised that 'Voting totals will be hidden until the poll ends on 15th June 2015 (so that no-one is influenced by previously recorded votes), but voting will NOT be anonymous.'

No comments were posted about the public display of 'voting preference until 15 or 16 May (depending on one's country).

If someone wants to vote who didn't contribute a book in a particular decade, or at all, then the poll is open to them to vote. If someone doesn't want to vote in a particular decade then that option is open to them.

Each voter can choose what 'best' means to them for each decade of the poll, and this may change from decade to decade. As a result a person who nominated a book for a particular decade may not vote for the book because after looking through the list of nominees they identify a different understanding of what 'best' is for them.

If someone doesn't want their vote to be seen by others then that raises issues relating to internet privacy as well as MR privacy, because irrespective that the poll becomes anonymous that doesn't mean that it won't be hacked by whomever at some point. As with anything posted on the internet, there always seem to be ways and means for data to be 'got at' and revealed. (And no, I don't know how people break into data or do whatever they do - but they seem to succeed with some mighty powerfully 'secured' data eg Adobe, Sony etc. So what hope MR, eh?)

I respectfully suggest that those who don't want their avatar's publicly associated with their vote, don't vote in the Best Book poll given some remote (?) likelihood that that information could become known at some point in the near or not so near future.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

On the matter of whether the poll is public thereby showing the avatar names of those who voted (at the completion of the poll), or concealing the avatar names (at the completion of the poll), I add the following comments.

Book nominations for each decade are public, and those who didn't want to publicly nominate at all or for a particular decade didn't. (For reasons that may or may not have concerned 'privacy' or 'openness')

On 9 May, Paul advised that 'Voting totals will be hidden until the poll ends on 15th June 2015 (so that no-one is influenced by previously recorded votes), but voting will NOT be anonymous.'

No comments were posted about the public display of 'voting preference until 15 or 16 May (depending on one's country).

If someone wants to vote who didn't contribute a book in a particular decade, or at all, then the poll is open to them to vote. If someone doesn't want to vote in a particular decade then that option is open to them.

Each voter can choose what 'best' means to them for each decade of the poll, and this may change from decade to decade. As a result a person who nominated a book for a particular decade may not vote for the book because after looking through the list of nominees they identify a different understanding of what 'best' is for them.

If someone doesn't want their vote to be seen by others then that raises issues relating to internet privacy as well as MR privacy, because irrespective that the poll becomes anonymous that doesn't mean that it won't be hacked by whomever at some point. As with anything posted on the internet, there always seem to be ways and means for data to be 'got at' and revealed. (And no, I don't know how people break into data or do whatever they do - but they seem to succeed with some mighty powerfully 'secured' data eg Adobe, Sony etc. So what hope MR, eh?)

I respectfully suggest that those who don't want their avatar's publicly associated with their vote, don't vote in the Best Book poll given some remote (?) likelihood that that information could become known at some point in the near or not so near future.

Geez. So sorry I missed the announcement on May 9 and didn't comment then.

In all this verbiage, I seen nothing at all to suggest a reason for the names of the voters in the poll to be public. Nothing at all.

And, once again, I will not vote in a public poll. Others may have the same quirk as I and refrain from voting in a public poll. Therefore, participation is reduced. What's the trade-off for this reduced participation? What greater purpose is served by making the poll public? What's the reason to attach the names to the choices?

I said I wasn't going to belabor the point, but since you took so much time to lecture me, I felt I should respond.