serious question - is the propostion/voting tool a joke?

I just discovered and was using the voting tool for the first time (I used all ten votes on the "get rid of libsecondlife" thing), and decided to search for what other proposals were up there and what was popular etc.

What I ended up wondering was, are any of these proposals even examined by the Lindens? Or any ever completed?

if you look at the stats page you can see that almost none of these proposals have been implemented - even some that have been up there for ages - and the majority have not even been commented on. Many of those that are commented on just have a brief "wouldn't this be nice" kind of comment but no commitment to actually do anything or even if they are thinking of doing it.

Also, there are a very high number of really popular propositions (*thousands* of votes in some cases!!), that are either not commented on at all, or have some purposely confusing overly polite bafflegab attatched to them.

The most popular proposal I saw by far, was the one to have the free accounts eliminated, and all there is as a reply is a round-about Linden comment that basically amounts to.... "forget it." What's the point of voting if they can just say no to the most popular proposals?

So now that I have used up all my votes, I am wondering if it really makes a difference. Have they ever really listened to any of these proposals, or are we just shouting on a windy day with this stuff?

They are re-creating the voting tool, and have been largely ignoring it for several months. Don't hold your breath waiting for replies to the proposals there, no matter how many votes they have.

The last proposal I remember being approved was the Live Music Events should be seperated from Nightlife/Entertainment Events... when was that? march?

My recollection is that right after they initiated the voting thingie, nothing happened at all for months and months.

Then there was a post from a Linden that essentially said, "Ah geez, we really f*cked up and haven't even looked at the votes, but we will start tomorrow."

The next day five or six comments from a single Linden appeared and then nothing again for several months.

Over the whole life of the feature I would seriously doubt if even two proposals (other than ones that just happened to be covered by stuff they were already doing anyway), have been picked up and implemented or even attempted to be implemented.

The voting tool is and always has been (just like the blog is), a kind of feedback/marketing tool. It lets the Lindens know what is "on our minds," (which to them is the same thing as "communicating" with us ), and that is a good thing, but it's nothing like what it's advertised as.

These tools are closer to a traditional "focus-group" approach where motivated volunteer consumers make comments and suggestions about a product that are noted (and interpreted by), the corporation, but there is no obligation on the part of the corporation to act on the focus groups feedback.

It is not democratic, it is not a "two-way conversation," and it is not "including the users in the development of the product." That's all a complete dodge on LL's part.

There is no commitment on LL's part to do anything based on the votes received as the OP realised when he notes that some of the most popular proposals are simply denied.

Short answer: Yes.

Anyone wanna buy my 10 votes for $1000L?

Nah, I'll jsut hack them from you like the election.

The voting is a playcation tool. When the people here cease being one, I am sure they will start responding again.