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I don't get the conclusion here. After determining that the majority in the poll result and the majority in the comments headed in opposite directions: > I gue

I don't get the conclusion here. After determining that the majority in the poll result and the majority in the comments headed in opposite directions: > I guess I was surprised because I assumed that the comments were more or less representative of the community (probably a naive thought), but they weren’t. Apparently you also assumed that the poll result is representative of the community. Thus the conclusion that, since the comments look different, they must not represent the community. But I don't see any good reason to assume that. Perhaps the comments represent the community, and the poll results do not. Or (most likely, I think) neither represents the community. I, for one, care about what shows up on HN, but I tend to ignore polls as silly wastes of time. What if most HNers are like me?

alex_marchant 14y ago
> Apparently you also assumed that the poll result is representative of the community. Fair enough. The poll results may not be representative either... but the sample size is larger and the effort required to participate is lower, so it's more likely to be representative than comments.
- ggchappell 14y ago
  A good point. But the more I think about this issue, the murkier it gets. You say "more likely to be representative", but I must ask: representative of what? What is the "community", anyway? Is it anyone who takes 30 seconds to make an account and 10 seconds to read & vote? Or is it only the commenters? The former seems awfully broad. The latter is probably weighted toward people with a lot of time on their hands and a serious net addiction. It might also have a hint of elitism. Another issue: comments can be deleted, but votes cannot be taken back. I thought a couple of the comments were quite convincing -- in both directions. I imagine reading and then commenting is the most common order. What if someone wants to change a vote?

alex_marchant 14y ago

> Apparently you also assumed that the poll result is representative of the community. Fair enough. The poll results may not be representative either... but the sample size is larger and the effort required to participate is lower, so it's more likely to be representative than comments.

ggchappell 14y ago
A good point. But the more I think about this issue, the murkier it gets. You say "more likely to be representative", but I must ask: representative of what? What is the "community", anyway? Is it anyone who takes 30 seconds to make an account and 10 seconds to read & vote? Or is it only the commenters? The former seems awfully broad. The latter is probably weighted toward people with a lot of time on their hands and a serious net addiction. It might also have a hint of elitism. Another issue: comments can be deleted, but votes cannot be taken back. I thought a couple of the comments were quite convincing -- in both directions. I imagine reading and then commenting is the most common order. What if someone wants to change a vote?