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[2020] 8th Mini Poll Results
One of my top votes so I am happy. If we get another 2 week one at some time, that will be good.
I wouldn't mind another 2 week one either!
I voted against multi-week prompts, but this was actually the prompt I found most interesting of the 20, so I'm glad it made it. Oddly, I think the bottom one was one of my other couple of upvotes!I think this might be the most fun to brainstorm, too. I'd love to find titles that are the polar opposites. Like Pale Fire and Ring of Bright Water.
I like this one now more than I did at first! There are so many options. Iām planning on requiring one of the books to be a book I own. The 3 word pairings that I could easily do are old/new, under/over, and black/white.
Nice surprise to see the results today, because for some reason I had it in my head that they were coming tomorrow. No idea why.This prompt is just okay for me. I neither up-voted nor down-voted it since it's doable but not particularly inspiring for me. But I also voted against a multi-week in general since none of the prompts really jumped out at me.
I have to say, I'm a bit surprised Brains, Beauty and Brawn didn't make it though given how much people were talking about it in the discussion.
Rachel wrote: "Nice surprise to see the results today, because for some reason I had it in my head that they were coming tomorrow. No idea why.This prompt is just okay for me. I neither up-voted nor down-voted ..."
I think it is another example of no matter what people here talk about here, a large number of voters don't read it
I feel like discussion before/during a vote has never been very good at predicting winners. Too small a subset of voters, I guess. I agree that this prompt is very doable, but not super inspiring.
I did not get to vote because I use the app and was not able to link my profile. While I understand your reasoning I am disappointed that I was unable to participate this time due to the restriction.
Rachel wrote: "Nice surprise to see the results today, because for some reason I had it in my head that they were coming tomorrow. No idea why.This prompt is just okay for me. I neither up-voted nor down-voted ..."
I thought they were coming tomorrow too - because the date is always a day out for me (e.g the 7th there is the 8th here) so it's the 7th for me today but I figured still the 6th for others...very confusing :P
I actually voted I didn't want a multi-week poll, not because I'm against them but because there were more on the list I disliked than liked. So i upvoted 1 and downvoted 5. The winner was neither up nor down for me but should be doable as it's only 2 weeks and relatively simple. I downvoted the bottom one.
Anastasia wrote: "I did not get to vote because I use the app and was not able to link my profile. While I understand your reasoning I am disappointed that I was unable to participate this time due to the restriction."Yep I saw that was an issue too - I normally vote via the app on my phone but had to go to a laptop to do it specifically due to having to link to my profile.
Anastasia wrote: "I did not get to vote because I use the app and was not able to link my profile. While I understand your reasoning I am disappointed that I was unable to participate this time due to the restriction."Perhaps you can log into goodreads using a web browser app like Safari or Chrome on your phone to access your profile link so that you can participate even if you don't have easy access to a computer. Maybe that can be helpful for next time.
Mod
Kristina that shows up as a mobile site not the desktop one. It is upsetting that I am being penalized for not having access to a desktop computer. Surely I am not the only one. Just the one who is pointing it out.
Anastasia- I also use my phone and do not have a larger computer. I went to my phones browser and was easily able to copy the link to my user profile. I do not get sent to a mobile site- I go directly to the desktop site. Maybe try a different browser on your phone and see if it will get you to the regular Goodreads site.
Lisa I should not have to jump through several hoops, or download a new browser to my phone etc. to vote. I guess I will just not be able to vote from now on.
The winner was my 2nd choice, so I'm happy with that. I was really hoping that Brains, Beauty, and Brawn would win. it may have been the alliteration or just the uniqueness of that one.
Anastasia, the goal of adding the link to the profile was in no way meant to ostracize people. I wish you had brought up your concern while the voting was open so that we could address it for you and make sure you were able to vote. If you did bring it up and we're somehow missed it, I'm especially sorry. Group members here taught me a few months ago that when using the browser to access goodreads, there's a button to use desktop version if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. I like it a lot better than using the app because all the functionality I like is there.
But that being said, if people don't want to make changes to their defaults, that's okay too. Putting a full name or some other defining information that would allow the mouss to identify you as a group member would also be acceptable. Let us know if you have any issues with this is the next poll.
For those who may be interested, the beauty, brains and brawn topic came in second in voting. If we were having more than one winner, it would've made the list too. Personally I wouldn't have minded 2 winners, especially since the 3B prompt was my favorite, and the winner is just a 2 book prompt.
We have 23 prompts now through 8 polls. Last year we had 28 by time the 8th poll ended on Aug. 19. (We had a pre-poll last year so it was really like 9 polls, not 8).
So we're maybe slightly behind, but we're also 2 weeks ahead calendar wise.
I voted against a multi-week prompt, but I feel okay with the one that one, since I feel like it offers the most flexibility. And I'm glad it's just a two-week prompt.
Yay! I would have been thrilled with two winners. šš»
I would have loved two winners. Does this poll mean that multi-week prompts can be submitted for future polls or was this poll the only one with multi-week prompts?
Martha wrote: "I would have loved two winners. Does this poll mean that multi-week prompts can be submitted for future polls or was this poll the only one with multi-week prompts?"We haven't come to a definite decision regarding this yet. What do you guys think?
Well I can see why this one one, it's kind of a choose your own multi-week, but I have enough indecision picking what book to read next! I guess I'll wait till the list is complete and look for something that's missing.
Aw shucks. I think I actually did vote for the Binary Opposite prompt but now that itās the winner Iām slightly let down just because it seems so easy to fill. Happy to be back to prompt submission day though! I love the discussions!
Mod
This was my personal reaction exactly!
Iām sure Iāll still enjoy finding books for it, especially given the list of suggested opposites. I was just so excited by some of the others.
Boohoohoo I wanted the loser to be the winner. I think I can get my head around āfiction and nonfictionā being binary opposites, and still do the prompt I wanted. I donāt know. Iām a literalist and hate stretching the prompt.
I voted no to multi-weeks but I am happy with this one winning. It'll be fun searching through my tbr for binary opposites. Sophie, you mentioned that the mods hadn't decided if we would allow multiweeks in future polls, but I thought the group (mods included) actually had decided that this was a one and done thing? I'll have to go back and find the recap that Emily posted of the conversation.
Nadine wrote: "Boohoohoo I wanted the loser to be the winner. I think I can get my head around āfiction and nonfictionā being binary opposites, and still do the prompt I wanted. I donāt know. Iām a literalist and..."You could have your binary pair as true and false.
I found it! This is message 176, a recap from Emily that was "approved" by Laura:- No pre-poll or automatic prompts (like the GR one or published in year)
- Distribution of votes as you want (8 total votes to choose as you want vs. top 4 and bottom 4)
- Mods will put any changes to the voting process in a second comment rather than editing the first, default comment
- One day of discussion in the voting thread before voting becomes available, to allow for research and further explanation of the topics
- Amy will make another BIO/KIS list this year (yay!)
- For multi-week prompts, we will have a poll to first vote if we need one at all, and then choose from the list of suggestions if we do choose to include the multi-week prompts
--- This would restrict all multi-week prompts to be limited to that one poll
--- This poll would be later on in the process to allow for members to have an idea of how the list is looking BEFORE putting in a multi-week prompt
--- We would choose a max limit of weeks (4?) and can have one that satisfies all weeks, or multiple smaller multi-week prompts (one prompt covering 4 weeks vs. 2 prompts covering 2 weeks each)
Thanks Amy, I did remember something like this! However now that we can see how half the list looks like, we wouldn't mind opening it up to discussion again.
Yes I thought that was the way it would be worked. As this vote came up with a 2 week prompt, any other multi prompt was only to be 2 weeks. That would mean that any of the prompts suggested in this poll, if resubmitted, would have to be cut down to 2 weeks.
Mod
The above summary was a summary of the discussion back then. It doesnāt reflect complete group opinions and opinions could have changed since, based on the way the list has shaped up. As weāve seen, discussion doesnāt always represent majority opinion.
I think we should have some sort of discussion or vote about more multi prompts before going through the whole suggesting/voting process again. I think it's noteworthy that the multi prompt that did go through is one of the 2 book options (rather than 3 or 4) and of the 2 book options in the poll it was probably the simplest to fulfill. I think this indicates that people only want small easy multi prompts or they don't really want them at all.
Iād be curious to see next year what might happen if multi-week suggestions were just nominated like any other prompts, having to go up against whatever else gets nominated for that poll, rather than having a dedicated poll. They are definitely the hardest suggestions to figure out how to handle, voting wise.
Avery, that was my reaction too. It is an easy prompt to fill, but there were other ones that sounded more fun to figure out. I almost didnāt vote for it, but threw it in as a āsure, why not.ā
I think there are a lot of ways to make the prompt more challenging, for those of you who feel itās too open-ended. My thought is to add a second level of binary complexity like fiction and non-fiction, owned and borrowed, on TBR and not on TBR, classic and contemporary, east and west. No, the prompt doesnāt help narrow your choices but I like that it encourages you to link books in a different way than you are used to doing.
Chinook wrote: "Iād be curious to see next year what might happen if multi-week suggestions were just nominated like any other prompts, having to go up against whatever else gets nominated for that poll, rather th..."I agree it would be interesting to try that out!
Liz wrote: "Avery, that was my reaction too. It is an easy prompt to fill, but there were other ones that sounded more fun to figure out. I almost didnāt vote for it, but threw it in as a āsure, why not.ā"
I'm sure that's exactly why it won. We actually wondered if it would have won if we only had 4 votes to spread...
It amuses me to fill my prompts about binary opposites with nonbinary characters. Iām thinking of either reading a transmasculine and transfeminie pair or perhaps a book about learning a parents is trans vs raising a transgender child.
It amuses me to think of all the planning time I spent assigning several books to each colour of the rainbow. š¤£
I'd prefer to let the second place prompt go onto the list than have another two-week prompt but I wasn't that keen on any of the two-week ones suggested. I don't see the result as being people "don't really want them at all" otherwise they would have voted not to have one. Sophie said "an overwhelming majority" voted to have one.
Chinook wrote: "It amuses me to think of all the planning time I spent assigning several books to each colour of the rainbow..."I've just made that one into a "six-week" rejects prompt.
I thought the plan was just one multi poll also if there was a majority of yes votes. I am not excited about the winner but it is open enough that I can make it more interesting. It does not make sense to me to start allowing multi prompts in regular polls or have another poll for them. If there was going to be two multi week winners, they should have been picked from this poll. I voted yes to this multi week poll but would vote no to a new multi week poll.
Ellie wrote: "I don't see the result as being people "don't really want them at all" otherwise they would have voted not to have one. Sophie said "an overwhelming majority" voted to have one."I wonder if people agreed to a having a multi-prompt because it just made sense to go ahead and agree to one rather than wasting a whole week of suggesting/voting/etc. I mean, we'd spent all this time coming up with a list of prompts to vote on. It would be disappointing and frustrating for the mods to post the voting results as, "Never mind about that whole list. Nobody wants a multi prompt."
I would also prefer for the second place prompt to be added instead of opening future polls up to multi weeks, especially considering there was the question in the first place about whether people wanted a multi week prompt at all.
Chinook wrote: "Iād be curious to see next year what might happen if multi-week suggestions were just nominated like any other prompts, having to go up against whatever else gets nominated for that poll, rather than having a dedicated poll. They are definitely the hardest suggestions to figure out how to handle, voting wise. "I think this would be a good idea for next year.
dalex wrote: "I wonder if people agreed to a having a multi-prompt because it just made sense to go ahead and agree to one rather than wasting a whole week of suggesting/voting/etc. I mean, we'd spent all this time coming up with a list of prompts to vote on. It would be disappointing and frustrating for the mods to post the voting results as, "Never mind about that whole list. Nobody wants a multi prompt."
"
I think, that was part of why I voted yes.
Rachel wrote: "I would also prefer for the second place prompt to be added instead of opening future polls up to multi weeks, especially considering there was the question in the first place about whether people wanted a multi week prompt at all. "
I think that there are fewer ideas for the multi week prompt than regular polls in general so the mods already have the numbers on how people voted up or down with these prompts.
I guess there could be a mini poll to decide if we add the second place winner.
I think this winner just follows the pattern of the easier to fill prompts coming top this year, rather than being an indication people weren't really that enthusiastic about multi-weeks. The 3Bs that came in second was another one which would've been quite easy, whereas the bottom prompt was a hard one. I like the harder ones, so I'm totally out of sync with the voting this year, but I'm going to have a great rejects list to choose from.
dalex wrote: "I wonder if people agreed to a having a multi-prompt because it just made sense to go ahead and agree to one rather than wasting a whole week of suggesting/voting/etc. I mean, we'd spent all this time coming up with a list of prompts to vote on. It would be disappointing and frustrating for the mods to post the voting results as, "Never mind about that whole list. Nobody wants a multi prompt."I totally agree that is what happened. I'd also be much happier including BBB as the second place winner than in allowing multi-prompts in future polls. The majority voted to have multi week prompts based on this list, not on what might come up in the future.
dalex wrote: "Ellie wrote: "I don't see the result as being people "don't really want them at all" otherwise they would have voted not to have one. Sophie said "an overwhelming majority" voted to have one."I w..."
I mentioned that in the voting thread because it did seem like there were a few comments being made that sounded like some people were of the belief "Well, if we're going to spend a whole week on this anyway..."
I don't think we should be allowing any more multi-week prompts at this point. We went into this week's poll with the impression that this would be a one and done. So I think that also influenced voting, too. You could vote "yes" now knowing that there was a "control" over it being only one of these prompts.
I also think adding the BBB prompt would be inappropriate for the similar reasons.
EDIT: I basically just said what Amy said in her final sentence, too!
I am fine with having 2 winners and wonder why if there were lots of votes for B,B and B it wasn't just added. What I am not fine with is another multi-week vote or having multi-week prompts included in future voting. 1 or 2 multi-week prompts is an interesting exercise, more than that is overkill.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
A Gentleman in Moscow (other topics)My Year of Rest and Relaxation (other topics)
The Bastard of Istanbul (other topics)
When Rains Fall (other topics)
Captain America: The First Avenger #1: First Vengeance (other topics)
More...
Winner:
- Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites (e.g. hot/cold, top/bottom, high/low, etc.)
Bottom:
- Two books: A memoir, biography, or novelization of the life of an author and a book by that author
Results are calculated by subtracting the number of voters who put a prompt in their bottom 4 from those who put a prompt in their top 4 (top 4 - bottom 4). The totals are then compared to find the top result(s).
The next round of suggestions will open tomorrow, Wednesday, August 7 at 5:00pm EDT/9.00pm GMT.
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Thank you guys for adding a link to your Goodreads profile, it allowed me to contact a few members to allow them to resubmit their votes. Don't hesitate if you have any feedback regarding our new voting platform, we're still hesitating between the two.