So How Do We Get A "Survey" Forum?

I think it is a great thing that so many academics want to study Second Life. After all, part of the reason it was started in the first place was something of a social experiment.

Many forum veterans hate seeing surveys posted in Resident Answers. Maybe Resident Answers isn't appropriate for posting surveys. But, unless surveys are just pure evil, why don't we just have a special forum for them?

That way, academics can try to use forums to help them do their research. Those who don't want to see the survey requests can avoid them by not reading the survey forum.

(I'm fairly sure I've read others suggest having a "Survey Forum" before. I can't credit the suggetions because I don't remember who suggested it, and I can't find it in a quick forum search.)

I don't have any friends named Linden, and I'm not used to being able to really affect anything SL-related. So if I wanted to get a "Survey Forum" added here, what do I do to kick off the process?

Edit: I do remember a thread that had advice for people who wanted to do a forum survey. If we had a forum specifically for surveys, we could distill some of the information from that thread and make it a sticky.

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Nobody would visit the survey forum. Like surveys in RL, you must corner people in the street and ask them questions with your cleavage showing.

This is why Amazon is so popular. Shoppers were tired of being surveyed in the streets and decided to go shop online instead.

I don't think posting a survey here is the same as cornering someone in the street. It's much easier to avoid the survey here. (Topic says "Survey," I don't read.)

Now it may be that no one would visit a Survey Forum. I would think that as long as some of the surveys were actually interesting, that there would be some traffic in a survey forum. People love telling others about themselves.

And maybe all the surveyers can mutually help each other out by answering each others' surveys.

But if it is the case that no one would actually read a Survey Forum, I would still think that letting the surveys die quietly would be better than all these Resident Answers threads about how surveys here are rude.

Who'd go there?

If I were running a message board that would be my main concern. Why devote space on a page that's just gonna gather pixel dust.

As an academic myself I'd like to point out that it isn't academics that are posting the constant stream of "surveys".. it's bone idle students who can't be bothered to put any effort into getting marks and want other people to do their work for them.

I suggest starting a new forum for them called /dev/null

It does seem that information gained from a forum survey, no matter where announced, would be pretty limited. Much more interesting would be to set up social experiments in world. That would take a lot more knowledge and work, though.

Ee: It must be. No real academic would go about it the way 98 perecent of them, or more, seem to here.

Which only makes it worse for everyone - then some poor professor comes in and wonders why the natives drag him to the nearest stew pot.

But presumably learns something from the experience.

And effort, which people don't want to put into it.

Some people just get a research assignment and go, "Hmm.. how can I make this assignment pop out with very little effort on my part? Oh, I know! I'll post it in the SL forums! I'm sure I'll be the first to do this kind of 'research!'"

I wish to M that LL would consider us and put up a, "In order to keep our resident forums from being spammed, all research and survey groups must send a request to HelenWaite Linden or supportatlindenlabs.com before conducting any form of research involving our residents."

This.

Especially since any academic studies might have PR impact, for good or ill, upon their game and investment, LL might want to do things that way.

I think we should have a survey forum just so surveys can be moved to it.

If noobs want jobs for $L or something they can try their luck there.

It's market research most of the time anyway, really. People can pay to get it just like in the real world.