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FAQ About Megapollster

What is Megapollster?

Megapollster is an online polling system that can be used for any kind of poll created by any individual or organization for any audience. The questions can be fun or serious, relevant to a few or relevant to all. It has a number of important features that we hope will make it something used by lots of people.

Features

Free - Megapollster is free. It's free to ask questions and create polls. It's free whether you're an individual or an organization. It's free whether you are an adult or child, rich or poor. It's free in every sense.
Open – Megapollster isn't open source in the sense that you can take the code and use it for your own system. However all code and data (Except user specifics) is open to public analysis, correction and improvement.
Anonymous - Without total anonymity the system wouldn't work. We have made sure that the system is in every sense anonymous by default. We store no data on any pollster that they have not opted to store. If the CIA and MI5 and Interpol all wanted to know who asked question X or who voted in such-and-such a way we would not be able to tell them, even if forced by any means.
Peer Managed - The management of Megapollster is now in the hands of the users. Non-cosmetic changes will only be implemented if the users vote that they should be.
Fast Login – You can create a user account in less than ten seconds, all you need is to think of a password and username.
Neutral – Megapollster is not affiliated with any political, moral, religious, national or other point of view..

Who manages Megapollster?

You do, the users. We gave birth to it , as it were, but you the pollsters will be able to partake in its Democratic Development. This means we won't install any changes to the Megapollster system without polling you first.

Within the Megapollster system there are two types of people:

Pollsters: these are anyone who answers or asks a question.
Megapollster: these are pollsters who have enough brownie points and who want to get involved with the arbitration of Megapollster. Absolutely anyone can become a Megapollster. Read the FAQ entry on Megapollsters for more.

Why was it created?

Megapollster uses some interesting voting technology that we are trying to test with regards to using it in Eferendum.org. The idea is that we want to investigate if it is possible to have a secure, open source and reliable online voting system that could be used by governments and organizations.

It is early days yet, but if you would like to help out with the philosophy, technology or policy of this project please visit Eferendum.org.

Can I see the source code and back end data?

Yes, you can see it all if you want to apart from the table that contains the email addresses, usernames and passwords.

How valid are the results?

That depends on how many people use Megapollster. The more people who get involved the more accurate the representations of the opinions are. So tell all your friends and workmates and families to get involved.

If you use Stumble Upon please stumble www.megapollster.com.

Are the rankings in any way altered?

No, not at all. There is no human intervention and the rankings are 100% accurate to the polling.. The only exception to this is that we will put polls about the Democratic Development of Megapollster at the top of the list from time to time. Please will you answer these as they make the whole thing work in a truly democratic manner.

What is Democratic Design?

Although Megapollster is managed and maintained by Proporta Ltd its design and direction are going to be decided by everyone. We don't know if this will work out or turn into a mess but we think its worth a try. So when we or someone else comes up with an idea to enhance Megapollster we will create a poll and ask people to vote on it. A typical poll might be:

“To prevent children from viewing Censored questions, should Megapollster look into non-profit making adult verification options?”

There are three cases currently when we would make changes outside of Democratic Design:

Cosmetic Changes – We intend to keep improving the look and feel of the site. If Democratic Design proves successful we will start to use it for the cosmetics, but not at the moment.
Critical Performance Issues – If an aspect of the system is slowing things down to a point that unacceptable then we will make the change without using Democratic Design. We cant see this happening but as the system expands unforeseen performance issues may arise.

To get involved with the Democratic Design just enter the passwordless group “Megapollster”. (You need to have at least 20 Brownie Points to enter this group)

FAQ about Security and Anonymity

What details do you keep on me?

If you are a WelcomeGate user, then none. WelcomeGate is our system of anonymous user creation.

If you are a full user then the minimal details we keep are your username and password and the questions you have answered - NOT the answers you gave. This is so we can reduce fraudulent voting but give you total anonymity about your opinions. If you want us to we can also store your email address (In case you loose your password) as well as details about you, like your gender and country of origin. These will allow you to participate in Specific polls should you wish to. EG Polls only for Women.

Do you log my IP address?

Nope. Though WelcomeGate uses an anisotropic IP address hash that cannot be traced back to you.

If I enter my email address will you give it to anyone else?

No, absolutely not. Feel free to use a honey trap email address if you wish.

FAQ About My Details

How do I view my account settings?

Click on the My Details link from any page.

What are the numbers besides People's usernames?

They are that persons current Brownie Points.

Should I fill in the extra fields in My Details?

You don't have to at all. The only required fields for Megapollster membership are your username and password.

There are Reasons for Filling in more of your details:

It will allow much richer results for the polls. Seeing how many people believe in X is interesting but not as interesting as seeing how many American men or Sri Lankan women believe in X.
You can create groups and polls just for specific demographics, eg Scottish people or Men and you can only participate in these if you belong to the demographic.
If you forget your password or username and you have entered an email address we will be able to reissue you with them.

FAQ About Brownie Points and Relaiblility Score

What are Brownie Points?

Brownie Points are tokens of merit within the Megapollster system. The more Brownie points a pollster has the more they have been involved in a productive way.

How do you gain or loose Brownie Points?

Every time you answer a question you get one brownie point.
Every time someone answers one of your questions you get one brownie point.
Every time one of your questions get moved into the censored area you loose a certain amount of brownie points.
Every time one of your questions is trashed you loose a certain amount of brownie points.

What is the Reliability Score of a Poll?

When you answer a poll no record of what you answered is kept. Nobody, not even us, will be able to find out what you voted. However the system does retain the fact that you have voted on that poll.

By using this information we can calculate the average current brownie points of everyone who has answered this poll and this number is the Reliability Score.

The Reliability Score is an infallible guideline as to how… reliable.. the results of a poll are. The higher this score the greater the number of its voters who are genuine and active within the system.

If a Poll has a thousand votes and a reliability score of 3 you can assume that it has had an attempt at faking on it.

FAQ About Pollsters and Megapollster

What are Pollsters?

A pollster is our term for anyone who asks or answers questions and polls. If you have already voted in a poll then you are already a pollster. Ahhh the warm feeling of knowing you belong.

What are Megapollsters?

A Megapollster is someone who through sufficient interaction with the system wants to help out a little bit more. Megapollsters have the following benefits:

They get a wonderful little M before their nickname letting everyone know that they are Megapollsters.
They can choose to ask questions anonymously as Megapollsters or using their normal nickname.
Megapollsters can bookmark questions and have emails of bookmarked questions sent to them every, day, week and month.
Megapollsters get a button to go back and forth through answered questions,
Megapollsters get free banner space directly proportional to their brownie points at the bottom of every Megapollster page - see below.
They can untrash polls, thus reinstating them back into the main system
They can edit questions to correct typos.
They can move polls into the appropriate categories.
Other secret benefits that only Megapollster can know about so you should try extra hard to become oneJ
Oh… and they get wonderful little M before their nickname letting everyone know that they are Megapollsters.

More on the Megapollster Banner Space

Once there are 10 Megapollsters we will activate the banner space at the bottom of the pages. If you are a Megapollster then you can upload a banner and it will be shown in this space, free of charge, with an exposure proportional to your brownie points.

The banner space can be used for any banner you want, simply upload the banner from you're my Details page once you have Megapollster status.

We are not going to charge for or sell this banner space, the only way to get on it is by becoming a Megapollster.

The banner space is going to only be at the bottom of the pages where it is unobtrusive.

How can I become a Megapollsters?

In order to become a Megapollster you must first satisfy the following criteria:

Have more than 2000 brownie points (This number may be increased in the future).
Asked more than 10 questions (This number may be increased in the future).
Be a full (Non WelcomeGate) user – which is free of course.

Once you have satisfied these criteria click on the My Details link and you will see a button “Become a Megapollster”. Click on that button and you will be invited to become a Megapollster.

FAQ About Answering Questions/Polls

What's the difference between a Question and a Poll?

Relative to Megapollster, nothing at all.

Though in terms of terminology we would say that you view the "results of a poll" and not the "results of a question".

Or you might think of a “poll” being the combination of questions plus results.

Why can't I see the results of the poll before answering it?

One of the essences of Megapollster is that in order to see what other people think about a topic or issue you have to first say what you think.

What is to stop me putting stupid answers in open polls?

Nothing at all. The rating system, the trsh system and brownie points will pretty much eradicate stupid questions getting very far, but there are no comparable safeguards against stupid answers in open polls. If it becomes a problem we will install Democratically Designed systems to reduce it – but we would rather not have to J

FAQ About Asking Questions

What kind of question can I ask?

You can ask any question you want. If you ask a stupid , meaningless question it will probably be killed by the other pollsters pretty quick. If you ask a question that people might find offensive or of a non-general nature it may be censored pretty quick and moved into the censored area.

Before asking the question please does a search on its keywords to see if it has been asked before.
If you type in a question and it is already in the system verbatim you will be told that question has already been asked and you can then vote on the question.
Please use as simple English as possible and try to keep the question grammatical.

What's the difference between Fixed and Open Polls?

A Fixed Poll has 2 or more answers specified by the person creating the poll. The most common has the answer “Yes or No” but you could create a long list of possible answers.

An open poll can have any number of answers and these are provided by the pollsters, not the person creating the poll. In an Open poll users can either type in their question or they can access answers that other pollsters have entered using the drop down. If you are typing an answer to an open poll please check its not already there in the drop down and make sure you spell your answer correctly.

Why would I censor my own question?

Censoring a question is basically saying: this question is intended for an adult audience who have agreed to contribute in censored polls. If you don't censor a question and it doesn't belong in the general ratings it will get moved into the censored area by contentious pollsters. If you don't censor your own question and it gets censored then you will lose Brownie Points.

Why would I uncheck the Anonymous Asking box?

By default nobody would ever know that it was your Username that asked the question. But, if you want to you can uncheck the Anonymous Asking check box and then your username will always be associated with the question. People will be able to see it was you who first came up with the question.

Will my question be edited in any way?

Yes. In one of two cases:

If you have bad grammar, typos, punctuation, capitalization or spelling mistakes these will be corrected, especially if the poll is proving popular.
If you create a poll that is identical in meaning to an existing poll then this will be merged with the other poll. We are aiming to have peer managed merging if this problem is common.

We will never remove or change the meaning of a poll.

FAQ About Groups

What are Groups?

Groups are collections of polls that are not shown in the main poll list. To view a group's questions you need to know its Name or URL and if it has one, a password.

Once you are login in to a group then you can only see questions within that group.

How do I join a group?

Just click on the Groups link and enter the name of the group. If it has a password you will also need to enter that as well.

What kind of groups can I create?

You can create a group about anything you like. Here are some suggestions:

Whatever your hobby or your interest find out other peoples opinions about it by creating a group.
Start a group for you and your friends or family and ask fun questions about you all. “Who of us is the best looking”, “Who of us is the most generous”… Don't forget its all anonymous so let your imagination go wildJ
If you have a business you can create a group with questions about it that your customers can answer.

FAQ About Categories

What are Categories?

Categories are used to filter the main list. When you first visits Megapollster you will see all of the (Non-group) polls irrespective of their category. But you can click on the country or topic categories to filter down the list to just that category.

How do I add a category?

In the Megapollster group there is an open poll, “What categories should be added to Megapollster?” Either vote there or add your own suggestion.
Note: In order to enter the Megapollster group you need at least 20 Brownie points

FAQ About Trashing Questions

What is trashing a question?

Its inevitable that people will enter stupid questions, questions that don't make sense or that are relevant to only 4 people - and 3 of them don't have a computer. These are questions that just clog up the system and so it is in everyone's interests to find a fair way to remove this “trash”.

When pollsters view a poll (that they have not already answered) they have the option to trash the poll. If a poll is Trashed then:

The pollster who trashes it will never see it again.
The pollster will be taken to the next poll – in this sense trashing is like skipping the poll.
The poll will have 1 trash point added. When it has more trash points than half of its votes it will be removed from the main system and placed in the Trash List.

How do I view Trashed Questions?

To view all of the trashed polls click on the Trash List category hyperlink from the main Megapollster screen. Note that this list will contain a whole lot of trash. You can still vote on and censor polls in the Trash List.

Can polls be “un-trashed” and put back in the system?

Megapollster strives to find a balance between freedom of expression and sensible, useful operation. So if there are polls in the trash list that one of the Megapollsters can see no reason why it should be there then it will be un-trashed and removed back into the system.

This method will allow the trash to be quickly removed from the system whilst allowing for human corrections in against unnecessary censorship.

Will polls be trashed without having been trashed by the pollsters?

No poll will be trashed by a Megapollster because of its content, no matter how silly or offensive. However, if a poll is meaningless then it will be trashed according to the following guidelines:

The poll question requires an answer that does not fit with the type of answers provided. For example. “Which is the best seafood?” with a yes/no answer type would be classed as meaningless.
If the poll question or answer set has ambiguous or confusing statements. For example “Red or Green?” as a poll question would be classed as meaningless.
The poll contains a semantic category error. For example, “Would you rather eat cheese or wine?” would be classed as meaningless.
The poll has been placed in the wrong category.
The poll is by a pollster with – brownie points. This is based on the assumption that most other people think that other polls by this person were very trashable. It is pretty hard to get minus brownie points.

Will polls ever be deleted permanently?

Even though racism and other forms of prejudice are abhorrent, polls endorsing such position will not be removed from the system. This is a hard call to make but it is essential to preserve the freedom of expression. However Polls will be permanently removed from the system if:

They use rather than mention hate terms. For example, where xxxxx is any hate term: “Do you like xxxxxxs?” would be removed instantly whereas “Is there any case where using the term “xxxxx” is appropriate?” would not.
They slander a named individual. For example “Did you know that Betty Swollocks from London earns extra money helping sailors?”

FAQ About Censoring Polls

What is censoring a poll?

The Megapollster Ratings tables are split into two types. Censored and All. In order to partake in the Censored polls a pollster must be over 18 and have agreed to a disclaimer about partaking without complaint in the censored polls. Once they have agreed to this any adult can join in.

If you are reading in the All area and you see a question that you believe is inappropriate for general consumption then click the Censor button next to the question. When 100 people (this may change) have voted to censor a question it will automatically be moved into the censored area.

If you are writing a question that you think is not appropriate for general polling (Kids and people who don't want to get involved with such issues) please flag it as censored when you create it.

If you have a poll you have written censored you will loose brownie points.

FAQ About Reporting Poll

What is reporting a poll?

If you see a question that you have an issue about then you can report it. Perhaps it contains a typo, perhaps it is slanderous, perhaps you would like to use the results on your own website. If you have any such issues about a poll then click on the report link from the question results and enter the message.

Notes:

· Please do not report a question to have it trashed or censored, this can only be done by the Megapollster system.

· You can only report a poll if you have voted in it.

FAQ About Using Megapollster on your own site

Can I use Megapollster polls on my own site?

Yes you can, free of charge. It is actually very easy to do. Simply find the poll you want to add to your site, it can be one you asked or not. Once in the poll you will see a link “Add this poll to my site”. This will take you to a page where the HTML you need for an Iframe is included, simply paste this into your site at the point you want the Iframe to occur.

You do not need to inform anyone about this inclusion

Click here to ask your own question/create your own poll.

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