Why do you guys "freep" polls

[VermontDem2004]

Why do you guys "freep" polls? I am a democrat so I will probaly be banned soon but I don't intend to come a disrupter but I signed up just to ask this question, why do you freep polls?

[HairOfTheDog]

You get a chance to ask us one question, and *this* is the question you are most curious about?

[VermontDem2004]

There are so many questions I could ask but most of them I can figure out why on my own. The question about Freeping polls is one that I don't understand.

[HairOfTheDog]

Perhaps it will be clearer in the morning.

[trussell]

Ping

[HairOfTheDog]

It's weird night in the General interest Forum....

If you just want to tidy up.... there is this one too.

This account has been banned or suspended. ^

[Mike Darancette]

Why do you guys "freep" polls?

Because we can!!!

OBTW: I doubt you'll be banned for a question like that.

[Teetop]

I don't think you would be banned just for admitting to being a democrat, get real. To answer your question, why not?

[jla]

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your being straightforward.
So can I ask you why you prefer democratic candidates over the Republicans? (Especially Conservative Republicans)

[jla]

Ya know, once in a while it may be a good idea to let these folks get to know us, and why we believe in what we do.
So even if this poster turns out to be a disrupter, what have we lost if we try to gain a potential convert?

[chicagolady]

Why do dogs bark? Why do cats Meow?

Why are the Vichy Chicks on a landslide?

Why does Natalie Maines keep opening her big mouth?

Why don't DemocRats see the light or smell the coffee?

These are questions we cannot answer because then we would have to kill you!

[petuniasevan]

We do it in response to a favored tactic at DU and other lefty sites. They often use scripts to generate votes on a poll (though sites are less and less vulnerable to this tactic lately). Multiple voting is the norm for them, especially at sites such as CNN.com. If CNN likes the results, they are publicized.

We mainly are countering the effects of this vote-stuffing.

[bluefish]

Multiple voting is the norm for [Democrats], especially at sites such as CNN.com...

And other "sites" too, like in Chicago, certain precincts in Florida, etc..

[Born on the Storm King]

1. There is no such thing as a "random" audience which make polls a fraud.
2. Polls usually ask stupid leading questions like "Do you believe in partial birth abortion, yes or no?," which assumes everybody believes in abortion!
3. Polling is taught a graduate school level and should be taught at the third grade level because that's about the mentality of people who believe in polls.
4. "Freeping" or destroying idiotic polls is an act conducive to the evolution of mankind!

[xJones]

Ya know, once in a while it may be a good idea to let these folks get to know us, and why we believe in what we do.

I'll vote with you, although I don't believe there's any hope to convert a Vermont Democrat, and he/she only asked a straightforward question.

Vermont, no one in their right minds believe internet polls. Sometimes you will see internet polls showing a 95% liberal bias. Since 95% of the country isn't liberal, you can assume the count has been run up. Some Freepers like to jump in and vote, and it's a harmless activity. Harmless, in that nobody who knows anything about internet polls believes them. In other words, it's a game.

[Common Tator]

Liberals put polls on sites that are visited by mostly liberals. It is like polling for baning booze among bar owners... The result is not likely to be accurate if presented as a poll of the general public.

We freep such polls to stymie the intent o the pollster which is poll liberals and present the results to the world as if it were a sample of the general public. The left does the same think to conservative sites that poll in the same way.

One reason I do it is it ticks off liberals like you and that is a lot of fun for me.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Something to do when NASCAR isn't on.

[sharktrager]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but poll freeping predates DU.

It is done because the polls are publicized, so skewing them is viewed by some as being useful. Personally I don't think it helps because nobody takes the polls seriously.

A better tactic would be to be more agressive about confronting the skewed pollsters the media really relies on, and making the nature of these polls a widely recognized issue rather than one only followed by news-junkies.

[GoLightly]

There are so many questions I could ask but most of them I can figure out why on my own.

But would your conclusions be correct?

During Clinton's impeachment I was one of those polled by one of the national polls cited by the press. I was asked, "should Clinton be thrown out of office?" The only answer that fit into the little box of the pollster was NO. It was late in Clinton's second term, so I knew he was going to be out of office soon anyway. I didn't want the Republican's to be up against an incumbent Gore in 2000. Was my reason reflected in my answer or the way my answer was reported by the press?

By their nature, results of polls don't tell you much, if anything. Use of them by publications is lazy journalism. Lazy journalism is dangerous to our freedoms, because it either creates or obscures information. Giving journalists unexpected results to their polls is the best way to get rid of their use.

Are the opionions of people who frequent this site any less valid than the opinions of the targeted audience a poll was written for?

[maxwell]

You get a chance to ask us one question, and *this* is the question you are most curious about?

Yeah no shhhhhiznit. A better question would be, "what kind of underwear are you guys wearing?" Though in my case you would probably not wanna know. [snortle]