The misuse of the 'Net as a communicator

Any tool, no matter how sophisticated, will produce rubbish in the hands of a less expert craftsman. In the case of the Internet, not only is this trusim proved on a daily basis, but the exponential growth in blogs and Web 2.0 interactivity has resulted in the inceasing speed of the proliferation of said rubbish.

Take the opinion poll as an example. Many websites, particlularly news outlets, love to have a "minipoll" on their home pages to engage their readership. Unfortunately, the polls are of little or no value due to the inherent falaciousness of either the question or the yes/no nature of the allowable response.

Here are a couple of examples:

Q: Does Australia have enough troops in Oruzgan Province? (Y/N)

Q: Should (name footballer) be allowed to play even if he is a drunk? (Y/N)

OK, the 2nd question has been slightly altered :), but you get the idea! In the case of the first question, how would anyone give a considered or useful answer? In the second, it would be more insightful if they included a "D" option (for "don't care") to get a real gauge of public opinion.

I wouldn't mind if the publishers stopped taking themselves so seriously, and recognised that such "polls" were actually meaningless in gauging opinion and were just entertainment (like horoscopes). But many publish their "results" as newsworthy stories, considering them vox populi.

Oh, please!

Harry