Stop putting abstain on polls

[iamgoofball]

If you want to abstain, then actually abstain and dont vote for an option.

If you want to argue for this, give me a good reason or two for why simply not voting isnt enough.

[Steelpoint]

I like putting abstain up so I can vote abstain on my own poll so I can see what the vote is without having to always click "show poll results" every time I open the thread.

[iamgoofball]

I'm pretty sure there's a PHPBB option to show results by default on a poll. Check your settings.

[MisterPerson]

It's useful as a "I don't care" option. A poll with 30 likes, 20 dislikes, and 20 abstains is very different from one with 30 likes, 20 dislikes, and 120 abstains.

[duncathan]

Percentage.
Say ten different people look at a poll. Two of them vote "yes." One votes "no." That would make it seem like 66% of people polled voted yes, wouldn't it? In reality, only 20% did. 70% of people polled didn't care. That is significant information. Lemme make another example.

Say there's a poll about some significant, supposedly controversial change. Again, we'll say ten different people look at it. If three people vote against it, one person votes in favor of it, and the other six abstain, what does that tell you?
It tells you that 60% of the people who cared to vote in the poll simply don't care about the change. The difference between 60% of people not caring about a change and 75% of people (3 out of four of those with an opinion voted against) being against a change is huge. With the abstains, the nay-sayers make up 30% of the vote. They're a minority. Without the abstains, they make up 75%, a greater than two third majority.

tl;dr: accuracy

[Not-Dorsidarf]

Abstain is a way to tell the difference between the community not giving a shit and the community not noticing the poll.

[Takeguru]

Or being like me and choosing abstain to make a joke in the thread

[MisterPerson]

Or being like me and choosing abstain to make a joke in the thread

You don't have to vote to make a post.