2 ms·

Totally open to criticism, polls always need to balance completeness, clarity, and effort. What approach do you think would work better? I notice that Asia is

Totally open to criticism, polls always need to balance completeness, clarity, and effort. What approach do you think would work better? I notice that Asia is currently at one vote. Lower than the much less populous Australia/Oceania. If that trend sticks, I think it's meaningful. Re. Russia, I suspect Western Russia would select Europe and Eastern would select Asia. As much as possible, I'd like the commenters to decide which feels right to them.

smt88 3y ago
> What approach do you think would work better? There is no approach that will give meaningful data on HN. There are multiple reasons. 1. Most users won't be interested in completing the poll even if they see it. 2. Stories have short periods of high visibility unless they are highly upvoted, so your poll was visible for likely just a few minutes before getting buried. This means your results are highly dependent on time zones. > If that trend sticks, I think it's meaningful. It's not for the above reasons. Your sample size is absolutely tiny, limited to a brief (and time-sensitive) window, and based on flawed questioning. I suspect a large percentage of HN users are of Asian descent, with varying degrees of Asian culture lingering in their lives, but live in North America and associate themselves with it. I am one of those people, for example. > What approach do you think would work better? You're asking about culture using geography. I have a devout Muslim friend who would identify most closely with North America, where he was born and raised. His response would tell you nothing about cultural biases on HN. If you want to know about cultural biases, ask about them directly. A poll titled something like, "What are your biases?" might be provocative enough to hit the front page.

2 ms·

Totally open to criticism, polls always need to balance completeness, clarity, and effort. What approach do you think would work better? I notice that Asia is

by 8organicbits 3y ago

smt88 3y ago
> What approach do you think would work better? There is no approach that will give meaningful data on HN. There are multiple reasons. 1. Most users won't be interested in completing the poll even if they see it. 2. Stories have short periods of high visibility unless they are highly upvoted, so your poll was visible for likely just a few minutes before getting buried. This means your results are highly dependent on time zones. > If that trend sticks, I think it's meaningful. It's not for the above reasons. Your sample size is absolutely tiny, limited to a brief (and time-sensitive) window, and based on flawed questioning. I suspect a large percentage of HN users are of Asian descent, with varying degrees of Asian culture lingering in their lives, but live in North America and associate themselves with it. I am one of those people, for example. > What approach do you think would work better? You're asking about culture using geography. I have a devout Muslim friend who would identify most closely with North America, where he was born and raised. His response would tell you nothing about cultural biases on HN. If you want to know about cultural biases, ask about them directly. A poll titled something like, "What are your biases?" might be provocative enough to hit the front page.