LEO came out with polls a while back. Unfortunately, as I write these words, the polls are not working.
This is a feature exclusive to threads. It does not apply to long form content nor the comments related to that. Here is where we are starting to run into issues.
In this article we will explore why this is so important and how necessary it is. We also will see how it will separate Leo completely.
Decentralized Polling: It Is Time
The idea of polling on the blockchain is incredible. Think about the opportunities to have polls where all votes are transparent. When someone places a vote, it is registered on chain, for all to see. There is no way to game the system or monkey with the results.
Naturally, this might not work for stuff where voting is meant to be secretive such as with elections. However, there are many use cases where decentralized polling could be utilized.
When we look at the Web 2.0 world, there are a lot of polls out there. Yet, how do we trust the results? In each instance, there is a counterparty to deal with. It is long held that the one who counts the votes matters more than the ones placing it.
Decentralized polling puts an end to this. Therefore, it is something that can separate Leo from the rest of the Web3 simply because there is nothing like it out there. Few are even considering something like this.
For that reason, it is time we start stressing the importance of it and how we need to bring it into being.
10,000 Polls
How would having 10K on-going polls simultaneously changes things in Leo? Do you think there is an opportunity for some more activity?
Personally, I think this is a treasure trove waiting to be tapped. However, we still are lacking the database to have that happen. That said, it is something that will be alleviated over the next few months.
Take a look at this image. What is missing from it?
If you said "a poll", give yourself a digital star.
There is no poll associated with this song. Why not? To be honest, the one who posted couldn't put a poll there since the feature is not working. However, there is now a goal of 10K songs on Leo, we need each to have a poll.
This is something that was available for threads.
Revamping Polls
Before going any further, we have to state that the polls much be robust. What was up before left a lot to be desired.
To start, there were only 4 places, this should be more. Also, we need a better system associated with polls.
Here is what the poll looks like on Rotten Tomatoes.
It takes it star rating system, basically one through 5, and tallies it up to find an average. As we can see, this film got a 94%, or about 4.7 out of 5 stars on average.
Compare that to the polls we have on Leo before. This is something with so much potential but we have to push for it to be reworked. People posting the polls should have more options as to style, layout, and number of results. We also need the polls to calculate in a manner similar to this.
Long Form
It is my understanding there are technical challenges with this but polls needs to be on long form posts also.
There are a number of use cases with this. To start, if people are serious about their content, they can ask for feedback in the form of polls. Something like "Rate this article" with a poll could help. A spin on this could be the old "did you find this page useful" idea. Instead, of a yes or no, we put up a poll.
We also have another use case forming. There are now over 1,000 pages of films and actors/actresses on Leo. All of these could use a poll.
Let us look at the film Casablana:
We have most everything other traditional movie revue sites have except polls. What is ironic is the others can be manipulated and botted. On Leo, that is not going to be the case. We can become a more trustworthy source simply because we have the ability to be transparent.
The possibilities really start to add up if we get a robust polling system tied to blog posts. Anything that solicits user feedback like restaurants or hotels could be eligible to utilize the site. They could put up a page for their services, with a decentralized poll allowing people to vote.
Here we see more utility being added to having a Hive account.
The idea of decentralized polling has enormous potential. It is time we start talking about it more. Personally, I have two projects that can use it today.