Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 19:07:58 GMT
Governance Committee Meeting #1
1.5: Increasing Voting Participation: Discuss how can we increase voting participation
Please use this thread to discuss how we might increase voting participation. This discussion may not lead to any proposals, and rather help supplement the discussion regarding Items 1.1 and 1.2. If any proposals do arise, please make a motion, and if it is seconded I will add a poll regarding the motion.
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zan nen
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Post by zan nen on May 3, 2019 19:24:47 GMT
I think the goal should be to widened participation in general.
People should especially be encouraged to actively participate in committee work. I think that really should be the goal here. Peeps that are actively participating in the work are almost always going to vote. On the flip side, doing nothing else except only voting pretty obviously can lead to feelings of alienation...which we can see happening pretty starkly IRL. Also, I feel positive enticement and encouragement to actively participate and vote should be the way to go. I'd suggest not trying to "shame" people... again, this kinda negative goading fails pretty obviously IRL.
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Post by spidercrab on May 3, 2019 19:31:10 GMT
Does the forum software allow mass emails? At least for me, getting an email notification or at least a PM that there's a vote would increase my likelihood of voting.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 20:40:55 GMT
I think allowing non committee members to post in this forum would encourage people to feel more involved and more likely to vote in any matters that are put to a vote by the whole membership. I've raised that issue as it pertains to our current proceedings here exiledpolitics.freeforums.net/post/11757/thread/136 |
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Post by lapka on May 3, 2019 21:10:48 GMT
I completely agree that people should be encouraged to participate. I would also suggest to post the voting polls in the forums itself. Because no matter what we do majority just won't look here. People come to the forum for "their" threads. It might also help to word the voting proposals short, on point and illustrated in some way by SA. And I am completely serious about that. spidercrab Tx for the suggestion. I think it is super good idea. |
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Post by skydiver8 on May 4, 2019 0:23:13 GMT
Definitely agree with the mass PM. The new forum needs to have this ability. I also think a bigger/more noticeable banner than this forum has would help, as well. I barely noticed the one here, tbh. I know that's technical stuff, but this board moves fast and sometimes you have to put information right in peoples' faces for them to know or do anything about votes.
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Post by commonWealth (admin) on May 4, 2019 7:17:58 GMT
Are we trying to increase voting in the short-term on this site or in the long-term on the permanent site? Key difference if we're talking about notification methods, etc...
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Post by Louis Cyphre on May 4, 2019 15:29:10 GMT
We should consider that many posters just might not be interested in voting. We have seen how many lurkers the politics forum had on 2+2. If they are perfectly content just reading and rarely or never posting I don't think they will be all that motivated to vote.
Having too many votes/polls will also be overwhelming and decrease the turnout imo. I imagine the casual poster after a certain point will see another vote and think "ugh..again? Not even going to bother to read what it is this time". Not everything has to be decided by plebiscite.
My suggestion is to reserve site-wide votes for really important matters and have everything else decided by delegates.
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Post by lapka on May 4, 2019 21:18:38 GMT
We should consider that many posters just might not be interested in voting. We have seen how many lurkers the politics forum had on 2+2. If they are perfectly content just reading and rarely or never posting I don't think they will be all that motivated to vote. My suggestion is to reserve site-wide votes for really important matters and have everything else decided by delegates.Completely agree with bold.
But the first sentence is exactly the problem in my POV. Whay are people not interested?
- They think that question in polls don't matter - They don't care, are generally frustrated and bored - They have no clue that voting on something takes place - something else?
Resolution for the first is like you suggested, to put only important stuff into site wide polls. For the third -> emails, bigger banner.
For the second -> really invest a thought or two into formulation of the polls.
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Post by Rexx14 on May 5, 2019 1:00:37 GMT
A lot of people just view forums as light fun and have no interest in this sort of stuff and that's perfectly fine. I do think these threads should be open for everyone to post in though as not only will it foster inclusiveness but it also makes it less likely for people to get shitty about decisions made as they have the ability to voice concerns and be heard. If people choose not to and still get annoyed by decisions well that's on them really.
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zan nen
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Post by zan nen on May 5, 2019 16:06:01 GMT
Long term, and depending on what the long term forum software is capable of...
Maybe having custom under-titles, colors, stars or other virtual bling for participation.
Perhaps those active in committee work get a custom under-title naming a committee they are on. For everyone else, those that voted in the most recent site-wide election get an "I voted" under-title.
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Post by Ezeem, the Second Thirsty on May 5, 2019 21:13:39 GMT
I completely agree that people should be encouraged to participate. I would also suggest to post the voting polls in the forums itself. Because no matter what we do majority just won't look here. People come to the forum for "their" threads. It might also help to word the voting proposals short, on point and illustrated in some way by SA. And I am completely serious about that. spidercrab Tx for the suggestion. I think it is super good idea.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2019 22:16:26 GMT
I think there are two components to increasing participation in votes: 1) increase awareness of votes when they are needed, and 2) increase probability that members will vote once being made aware.
Some solutions to #1 are obvious and have already been brought up:
- mass-PMs
- banner notifications / universal stickies
- mass-emails
Among those I'd prefer the first two used by default while mass-emailing is reserved for "major" decisions (however that gets defined). Relying on email could be tricky--I assume throwaways are common.
#2 is tougher. A few ideas, including repeats from above--none of these are as cut-and-dry as #1, and will require an ongoing effort. Also, some of these overlap with the governance procedure discussions.
- foster a collaborative culture where everyone feels involved in governance. this could include laying out expectations in a welcome message/PM, opening up a comment thread within the governance forum for non-governance-committee members to provide opinions, or encouraging frequent rotation of committee membership
- make voting as painless as possible by clearly articulating the decision being voted on and the implications of each option
- reduce voting fatigue by combining multiple votes at the same time. obviously depends on our governance framework and the frequency of decisions, but this could look like a monthly or bi-monthly 'voting week' where users are encouraged to vote on all the matters that made it through committee at the same time
- reward frequent voters with 'virtual bling', as zan nen put it--custom undertitles, custom user name colors, displaying vote count as well as post count
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Post by MrWookie on May 6, 2019 4:06:49 GMT
Long term, and depending on what the long term forum software is capable of... Maybe having custom under-titles, colors, stars or other virtual bling for participation. Perhaps those active in committee work get a custom under-title naming a committee they are on. For everyone else, those that voted in the most recent site-wide election get an "I voted" under-title. I like this idea. It's been a long ass time since I had anything other than Carpal Tunnel or Don't Call Me Shirley as my undertitle on 2p2, and I don't really care about post count titles, but people do value that recognition. Maybe something like undertitle tiers based on vote count instead of post count, and serving on a committee or as committee facilitator or as other important fuctions earn additional points as votes? And nixing post count tiers entirely? I could dig it. |
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Post by lapka on May 6, 2019 4:53:50 GMT
I completely agree that people should be encouraged to participate. I would also suggest to post the voting polls in the forums itself. Because no matter what we do majority just won't look here. People come to the forum for "their" threads. It might also help to word the voting proposals short, on point and illustrated in some way by SA. And I am completely serious about that. spidercrab Tx for the suggestion. I think it is super good idea.
I think you are sensible enough to find good pictures suitable for whatever question is in the poll and also generally contribute to the design of communication between "Government"  and the masses. And pictures of women are used to sell everything. I mean..... just take as example this question above....... If I compare how you made it with a post of zan or Mr Wookie (sorry guys....), what will be rather read and looked at? And I know that this point can become a controversial point.... |
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Post by commonWealth (admin) on May 7, 2019 2:23:08 GMT
I like the idea of having a voting week.
I don't think we should spend too much time worrying about increasing voter participation. Our goal should be to make as many people as possible aware that votes are going on when they're going on, and to make that timing as predictable as possible. If someone is ambivalent about something that's being voted on, I don't think we want them to feel like they have to vote so that they get an undertitle or something. On some level, not voting is their way of saying "Whatever others prefer is fine, I don't have a strong opinion on it."
And that can be just fine for the issues we're deciding via votes here - it's not like sitting out a real world election. If people don't care whether we use phpBB or Discourse and want to leave it up to those with a strong opinion, then we're getting the most important votes anyway - those that really feel impacted one way or another.
I do, however, love the idea of undertitles or whatever for being on committees and such as a way to encourage more active participation in the process - rather than just the vote.
And actually, on that note, maybe a cool option to spread awareness of the votes and encourage it without turning it into something people do just to get permanent undertitles is to turn everyone who's voted's avatar into some sort of GOTV sticker type thing while the voting is open. That way people who are just posting as usual will start seeing "I Voted" avatars popping up and realize they should go see if it's something they want to vote on.
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Post by Ezeem, the Second Thirsty on May 7, 2019 2:35:41 GMT
you could probably do badges for that. but i wouldn't want to overuse badges.
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Post by whosnext on May 7, 2019 2:37:52 GMT
To echo what was posted above, I view voting participation as a manifestation of participation. Be it participation in committee activities or overall site activities. If people feel empowered, they will participate, and if they participate they will vote.
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Post by zikzak on May 7, 2019 12:15:21 GMT
I like this idea. It's been a long ass time since I had anything other than Carpal Tunnel or Don't Call Me Shirley as my undertitle on 2p2, and I don't really care about post count titles, but people do value that recognition. Maybe something like undertitle tiers based on vote count instead of post count, and serving on a committee or as committee facilitator or as other important fuctions earn additional points as votes? And nixing post count tiers entirely? I could dig it. you could probably do badges for that. but i wouldn't want to overuse badges. As I've been playing around with software that we may or may not end up using I quickly got annoyed with the gamification features and disabled them, but using them this way actually seems like a great idea to me. Rather than rewarding pointless "engagement" and page views, we'd be rewarding meaningful involvement with the community. |
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Post by catfacemeowmers on May 13, 2019 16:20:19 GMT
Long term, and depending on what the long term forum software is capable of... Maybe having custom under-titles, colors, stars or other virtual bling for participation. Perhaps those active in committee work get a custom under-title naming a committee they are on. For everyone else, those that voted in the most recent site-wide election get an "I voted" under-title. I like this idea. It's been a long ass time since I had anything other than Carpal Tunnel or Don't Call Me Shirley as my undertitle on 2p2, and I don't really care about post count titles, but people do value that recognition. Maybe something like undertitle tiers based on vote count instead of post count, and serving on a committee or as committee facilitator or as other important fuctions earn additional points as votes? And nixing post count tiers entirely? I could dig it.I'm very on board with this. |
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Post by catfacemeowmers on May 13, 2019 16:24:43 GMT
On the topic at large, I'm not sure where I fall. I agree that increasing participation in polls and committees needs to be a priority, but I am very against anything that makes it compulsory or shames people for NOT doing so. People don't participate for a large variety of reasons, one of which is that they just don't feel like it - and that's fine. The site needs a large base of people who are happy consumers but don't care enough to make waves about site management. Their input needs to be welcomed at all times, but never demanded.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2019 16:40:17 GMT
I will try to look In here more often and vote when needed... I didn't participate itt because I'm inexperienced in online stuff, committee's/tech etc..
Ill happily participate more often & take on advice/criticism when necessary.
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and the masses. And pictures of women are used to sell everything. I mean..... just take as example this question above....... If I compare how you made it with a post of zan or Mr Wookie (sorry guys....), what will be rather read and looked at? And I know that this point can become a controversial point.... 
