I was looking through old articles and I came across a poll that I did on Whyville Backgrounds. This made to think over just how simple and easy it was to get the final product. The steps being: Asking for backgrounds in use on BBS, compiling a list, and adding in words based upon the results.
I think this would make a great addition to the categories we currently have for the Times. It's always fun to see what a majority of people think about a certain topic, and with the amount of people on Whyville today, it would be a pretty reliable number.
A Polls section would be a great place for someone who is interested in writing, to start. The Times could seem overwhelming to a person who wants to write their first article/poem/story and a poll could just as easily act like a baby step towards a full-length article.
Another advantage I see behind a Polls section, are all the voices that can come from it. It would be a great way to incorporate many Whyvillians at one time. You could also place in some quotes made by Whyvillians on the topic rather than only the poll, to add in more participation.
With an interview you'd be able to take a handful of replies for your topic, which is perfect when you want in-depth responses. If you wanted a more general view on a topic, the numbers and trends from a poll could definitely do just that.
If this were to be implemented, I think it would be a good idea to have 1-2 polls a week. The reason for this being that the polls won't come in greater quantity than articles.
Another good rule that would help in the success of polls would be having a required amount of people participating. I'd definitely trust a poll with 100 participants rather than 20. And, with the BBS and chat rooms to your advantage, the number wouldn't be a hard goal to attain.
When it comes to polls, I see a list of advantages and can't seem to come up with a disadvantage to tag along. What do you guys think?
