I spent too much time voting for Clay Aiken on an Internet poll this past week. I am not sorry that I added my votes in for Clay. I was trying to make a statement to the station and other fan groups that Clay still has an active fan base and that fan base still loves him!
For me, Clay Aiken doesn’t need to win a poll for me to know that he is the Ultimate Idol! I do think that Clay fans surprised a lot of people during this poll. They had no idea that Clay Aiken had an active fan base and that his fans proudly stood up to be counted!
However, with all the “interesting” things that happened in this poll, I began to think about Internet Polls and their results. The following are my ideas. You can agree or disagree and that is just fine. I just needed to think it through….AND…I will probably be right there, voting for Clay, when the next poll comes up.
On the long list of Things That Are Important In This World, Internet polls rank pretty low.
These polls aren’t meant to influence public opinion or even to represent the general opinion of the community. They are simply questions that are asked in order to collect a few opinions. They can be interesting and entertaining, but, they are not important.
One truth about the Internet is that people who read a particular website are likely to hold similar opinions. Any simple poll you find online is very unlikely to represent the true feelings of an entire community, country or world. These polls simply represent the opinions of the people who happened to vote on the poll.
On May 8, 2011, The New York Times published an article on Internet Polls. They said:
Most Internet polls should be avoided as measures of the opinions of the general population, according to a report released last month by the American Association of Public Opinion Researchers (AAPOR).
As I’m sure you know, these polls are not worth the pixels they are rendered in. They suffer from what researchers call self-selection bias, meaning that rather than reliably representing the views of the readership, it just shows which self-selecting groups were most mobilized to vote. Less a poll, more a clicking contest.
Steve Bromberg is the executive editor of FoxNews.com. His comments about Internet polls are interesting, especially since polls are used on FoxNews.com regularly.
He said:
“It’s just entertainment, strictly entertainment. How can anybody think that in a poll where you can vote a billion times that it is in any way representative of public opinion?”
Unless a professional company puts a poll together in a controlled manner, you shouldn’t consider the results to be worth much of anything. They are interesting, which is why we do them, but they should not be considered relevant.
For anyone who gets worked up over things like this, I can only suggest you take a deep breath. There are more important things in your life and in other people’s lives.
And for anyone who uses polls like these to guide their decision-making processes, I suggest you reconsider your information-gathering methods.
Did you vote in the latest Ultimate Idol Poll? Do you think it was a fair poll?
The talented SueReu put together the 2nd part of her video, “A Simple Thank-You.” When I watched this video, I started to smile. It helped me remember that every moment I spend supporting Clay Aiken is important. He is an amazing man!!
Another fantastic video by SueRue! I love these memories and scenes. Thank you for all your hard work and to Musicfan for posting. Made my day. 🙂
I'm voted for Clay too and I'm good. Top four out of all thoe Idols. It shows Clay does have his fans out there who love him!! And no, polls are never a lifechanging, important thing.
OH Sue I loved this video. He is so amazing and I will be here to support this man in whatever he does. Musicfan thank you for all you do in gathering relevant information. Yes I voted day and night in the Ultimate Idol poll, doesn't matter the results, because Clay Aiken will always be my Ultimate Idol.
Yes…As we all know that Ultimate Idol Poll…doesn't mean a thing. Clay is and always will be my Ultimate Idol.
Suereu: I love your second Video. I just loved watching his speech again. It was about damn time! Lol!!!
Clay's my ultimate idol too (actually, he's my only Idol 😀 ) It's not just the voice, although he's amazing, it's also what he does to make this world a better place, especially for children. He does it quietly, without fanfare, and because it's the right thing to do.
Thanks for the interesting blog musicfan. and thanks for posting the video I made. I tried really hard to pare it down to a more reasonable time, but, well, I just couldn't delete anything!!
Every minute of the video is important. I am glad you could not pare it down!! Next…….part 3!!
Clay is definitely THE ULTIMATE IDOL. He has done so much in the past eight years. He has never lost sight of what is important in this life…His character and foundation is strong. Living a good and decent life, helping others. He's not out partying and feeling he is priviledged to do whatever he feels like. This is why I adore this man, besides his voice and humour of course. I am more than proud to be a fan of Clay Aiken. Suerue..thanks for part 2. I don't know how you do it…but your montages are wonderful.
Ahh, yes, the Q102 rigged poll. Talk about funny, mad scramble trying to keep Lambert in the lead! Lot's of fun, and a good chance to exercise the voting fingers again. Love SueReu's videos!
and to answer your question – yes, I did vote on the Ultimate Idol poll. Do I think it was a "fair" poll? I guess that depends on who you ask 😀 There were some questionable things happening during the voting, and apparently they continued to happen after the fact. Do I care? Nope – I never expected to win, it was just a fun thing to do and to laugh about. That poll won't make me like someone I dislike or dislike someone I love – it has no bearing on my life.
and I want to say thanks for the nice comments on the Simple Thanks video – he's damn special and we are damn lucky (I think I spent too much time editing the It's About Damn Time speech)
MusicFan123 – I sense a bit of incredulousness regarding the Q102 Ultimate Idol poll. Someone suggested that because of the way that poll was being run, the supposed winner should be known as the Ultimate Fraudulent Idol. That observation probably hits the nail right on the head.
Sue Rue – Great montage, and of course Clay is always a great subject. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Clay's countless and sincere thanks to his many fans clearly evoke their undeniable love, affection, and loyalty to him. Besides, he can sing and entertain like nobody's business. Clay Aiken is definitely a true Ultimate Idol.
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Thanks for the Internet Poll info. Did I vote for Clay? Yes. Was it rigged against him? Yes. Would I vote AI polls again? Not too sure, but other polls ….yes. " Less a poll, more a clicking contest" says it all for me. Do I love and support Clay Aiken in all that he does? A resounding YES!
Sue, an absolutely a wonderful new montage. Thank you so much for your time and effort when it comes to all things Clay.
and the ultimite idol is clay aiken yes i did vote for clay and was it rigged yes and clay aiken is inded so amaazing
I also spent way too much time voting for Clay. Even though I knew by the call numbers of the station, who would listen to it and vote. It is interesting that only Kelly Clarkson, who was the winner of AI1, was one of the vote getters. How about all those other first place kids who didn't make it through even one round of voting! I'll just keep listening to my Clay CD's and read CANN daily to get my Clay fix!
I really thank you for all your support!!
Clay may not have won the Ultimate Idol poll, but we've always known that he doesn't need a poll to win. He technically didn't win AI either, but that didn't stop him from becoming successful at everything he's wanted to do. The poll did show that Clay still has fans who are just as dedicated and supportive as ever and even though there were some questionable happenings over the course of the week regarding the poll, we all pulled together and had a great time hanging out with each other. Clay will always be our Ultimate Idol. There isn't a poll in the world that can take that away from us. Being the winner of a rigged poll, doesn't make anyone better. It just means they won unfairly.
Suerue, I loved your video. Looking forward to part 3.
That 2nd montage by Sue is an extremely creative composition. I love it!
Also…..the articles about these polls is quite interesting. They are so rigged.
I really had to laugh at what the professional sites said about the polls. I am sad that the radio station allowed the voting irregularities and tried to flaunt it in our faces.
BUT…….I never have to listen to their station so…..someday it will turn around and bite them!!
I could not help but smile the entire time I watched the video. Thank you so much for sharing. Not only is Clay amazing, his fans are truly one-of-a-kind as well.
I knew early last week that the poll was rigged so Clay wouldn't win. So why did I continue voting? I too wanted to make a statement that the Clay fans are still here and are still very passionate about our favorite Idol.
I spent most of Friday evening voting. It was interesting to note that the numbers went
down several points and then went back up and down again. This happened several
times and I couldn't understand it. I agree with the article on internet voting. I finally realized after voting for hours it seemed like, this is not all that important. I know what Clay's talent is as well as all his fans and we don't need some worthess poll to give us numbers, we know the numbers – he is and will always be #l.
That poll was a real mess…..I knew Clay would not be allowed to win, but at least the station knows that Clay has plenty of fans!!
I love this quote!!
"How can anybody think that in a poll where you can vote a billion times that it is in any way representative of public opinion?"
Thanks for the article and the great video!!
I loyally did the polling, but I found out something strange when clay's point was getting very close to AL then in just only overnight, it changed totally. Clay's point suddenly so far away from the latest situation, then I knew something fishy has been going on.
I voted just because I wanted everybody know that we are who love Clay Aiken still exist, it's just fun to do :).
thank you for the blog musicfan, it puts everything about polling in the perspective.
Suerue, I know you visit this blog regularly…I just want to say thank you for the montage …it's so beautiful. Really reminds me a lot why I am 'obsessed' (aka. love) 😉 with Clay after all this years. He is really a complete person, wonderful singer with wonderful heart. Thank you verymuch, it really is very beautiful. One of your best series from all your amazing montage… thank you.
***Puteri from Indonesia