What Is an Online Poll?

An online poll is an informal vote where people pick from a set of choices you create. Usually that means selecting an option and clicking a vote button. Anyone with the link can take part, which is why bloggers, social media creators, and anyone after quick feedback rely on them.

How Accurate Are the Results?

An online poll gives you a good sense of which option is most popular, but it stays informal because there is no way to guarantee every vote is legitimate. Most polls track votes by IP address, the unique identifier your internet provider assigns you. Anyone who knows how to change their IP address can vote more than once, which is a common weakness of online voting. Polltab adds security options that cut down on duplicate votes through authentication-based voting. You can read more in our guide to Polltab voting security features.

Online Polls Are Meant to Be Fun

Online polls are about engagement and getting a feel for what your audience prefers. They are not scientific surveys, so treat the results as a snapshot of your voters rather than hard data.

Why Create an Online Poll?

Here are a few of the most common reasons people reach for one:

• Bloggers. Ask readers what they think of your content or which topics to cover next. Drop the poll link into a post to collect feedback and spark engagement.
• Social media. Running a YouTube or Instagram channel? Let your subscribers help pick your next video or weigh in on an idea. Get as creative as you want.
• Live presentations. Share a voting link with the room, open the results page, and watch the votes land in real time. It is an easy way to keep an audience involved.
• Friends and family. Can't agree on what to eat, watch, or wear? Spin up a poll and let everyone vote. Polltab supports images and videos as choices, so your poll can be as visual as you like.

There are plenty of other use cases, but hopefully this gives you a sense of what is possible. Questions? Contact us.