Advertiser poll on fiber redux

3/1/05 @ 11:01: This obnoxious Advertiser poll on a bond vote is at 54.9 for fiber and 44.2 against fiber. I still think both sides ought to denounce this poll and demand that it be pulled down. I’ve done that already; the fiber411 guys should do the same. It’s poison and the sort of thing that causes folks to say what they later regret. I see over at the fiber411 site that Bill is saying [Chatbox: Tuesday 01 March 2005 – 18:01:21] that the profiber boys are rigging the vote. Come on. We’ve been making a little progress here. This is a dumb, divisive poll. It can’t be trusted by either side. And no side can legitimately take any comfort from a positive result for their cause.

The only advantage gained by this “poll” is to the Advertiser’s page counts. Popularity polls are promotional devices for the websites that post them. Notice all the obnoxious pop ups/pop unders? My bet is that the Advertiser is being paid for each and every “pop.” If we were smart we wouldn’t play that game.

Lafayette Pro Fiber has denounced it. LUSFTTH has ignored it (probably smarter.) Fiber 411 has promoted it. Guys who ignore it and who denounce it aren’t likely to have much motive to rig it since they would look a little strange promoting a good outcome for the home team.

Doug, Tim, Bill, Neal, (gumbofile, baycock, whoever): let’s actively denounce this in the comments. Let’s neuter this thing.

Note: why the change in the poll numbers? Not absolutely sure but I do know that profiber folks like myself hit their email address book and listservs starting mid-afternoon. I don’t like promoting this thing in any way and held off doing so hoping first that the poll would come down and then that the fiber411 guys would join me in denouncing it in order to build their good government credits. I finally gave up. I know for a fact that at least one other round of emails entirely independent of my effort went out.