Do other people's votes influence your vote on polls and comparative discussions?

The New Intimacy

Do other people's votes influence your vote on polls and comparative discussions?

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Contributor: PassionCpl PassionCpl
I try not to let it, but if my thoughts don't tie in with what the majority are voting then it makes me want to find out why.

Great idea for a poll question by the way. Now we just need one asking whether people actually read the reviews they're voting on, especially some of those people who do nothing on here but point farm and give low votes to reviews...
02/06/2013
Contributor: sweetpea12 sweetpea12
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
When you're voting in an EF forum poll or comparative discussion, do you ever vote differently because of the way other people have voted?

I've found myself second-guessing my vote, and even changing it, when I've seen that the ... more
Almost never
02/06/2013
Contributor: kitty1949 kitty1949
10-15 minutes, but sometimes less if I'm in a hurry.
02/06/2013
Contributor: mlmac mlmac
never really. I always try to be honest about my vote.
02/06/2013
Contributor: PeaceToTheMiddleEast PeaceToTheMiddleEast
I find myself doing it sometimes but I try to vote on how I feel.
02/06/2013
Contributor: Nickki Hard Nickki Hard
Nope, never.
02/06/2013
Contributor: KittiezToyz KittiezToyz
My votes are my own.
02/06/2013
Contributor: amazon amazon
I'd be lying if I said they votes don't impact me a little
02/06/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Quote:
Originally posted by toffee
Other people's votes never influence mine, but I do think it'd be more interesting if we saw the results only after voting ourselves.
I totally agree. I like online polls which keep the results private until you vote, but also have a "show results" option for people who either don't want to vote or would like to know how others have voted before casting their own vote.

I'm not sure where/how to suggest this, but maybe someone will read it here...
02/06/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Quote:
Originally posted by Bubba29
i was gonna vote "always" but there was only one vote there so i voted "never".
Good one. I can't help but wonder, though, if there isn't a "pile-on" effect even in this poll. That would be supremely ironic!
02/06/2013
Contributor: Mrs.Tee Mrs.Tee
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
When you're voting in an EF forum poll or comparative discussion, do you ever vote differently because of the way other people have voted?

I've found myself second-guessing my vote, and even changing it, when I've seen that the ... more
I always write how i feel regardless of anyone else's opinion or what they have put
02/06/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Quote:
Originally posted by amazon
I'd be lying if I said they votes don't impact me a little
Me, too.

It depends on the question, for sure. Some things I already have a strong opinion about and really, for those things, it would take a very persuasive argument to change my mind.

But for other things, like products I don't know much about, if I see that one option has 90% of the votes, I'm definitely more inclined to choose that option. And I know we're not the only ones by a long shot. That's why I think it would be better if voting results were revealed only AFTER you cast your vote.
02/06/2013
Contributor: Rory Rory
I had to say occasionally because sometimes I don't agree with the majority so that makes me read it again before I vote. I still vote how I feel about the review.
02/06/2013
Contributor: sillylilkitten sillylilkitten
Just for comparisons of toys that I've never used, I tend to assume that the people who have used them would have a better opinion than me, since I'm just judging the toys on appearance and reviews.
02/06/2013
Contributor: Missmarc Missmarc
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
When you're voting in an EF forum poll or comparative discussion, do you ever vote differently because of the way other people have voted?

I've found myself second-guessing my vote, and even changing it, when I've seen that the ... more
Never!
02/06/2013
Contributor: tortilla tortilla
do my own thing
02/06/2013
Contributor: damnbul12 damnbul12
Quote:
Originally posted by spiced
When you're voting in an EF forum poll or comparative discussion, do you ever vote differently because of the way other people have voted?

I've found myself second-guessing my vote, and even changing it, when I've seen that the ... more
Occasionally
02/06/2013
Contributor: JennSenn JennSenn
I'm occasionally influenced. It will make me look closer or think more about the other options. But I won't necessarily be swayed by the other votes. Sometimes if I'm split I vote for the option with less votes.
02/06/2013
Contributor: Lily Night Lily Night
Sometimes I do vote slightly differently than I would otherwise if the choice I pick has no votes, and a secondary choice has a vast majority.
02/06/2013
Contributor: Real or memorex Real or memorex
I am a rock.
02/06/2013
Contributor: spiced spiced
Quote:
Originally posted by Rory
I had to say occasionally because sometimes I don't agree with the majority so that makes me read it again before I vote. I still vote how I feel about the review.
I like the way Eden does review votes, where you can't see how other people have voted until you vote yourself. I guess they did that to guard against the pile-on effect? I haven't been active on here long enough to know if it was always that way, or whether at some point they changed it.

It does matter more for reviews, since that affects people's rank, but I hope at some point they'll do the same thing for polls and comparative discussions.
02/06/2013
Contributor: EmuLove EmuLove
I don't but I could definitely see people doing it out of ease.
02/06/2013
Contributor: Inkkythesquid Inkkythesquid
occasionally
02/06/2013
Contributor: Avant-garde Avant-garde
Nope
02/06/2013
Contributor: table38792 table38792
Not really. Maybe for a public vote poll where your name is shown and nobody or very few people have selected your option.
02/06/2013
Contributor: noway noway
Probably more than I think...
02/06/2013