First a brief overview of the new app, then some more on whether these polls will be useful or not.

You have the option of polling your existing network via the network notifications and the entire LinkedIn network via the Poll Directory. (I actually saw my first poll pop up in the directory when I went back to test the paid version!) You can also share the link to your poll anywhere you like. Take my Poll about Polls

You can also send your poll out to a specific audience. I didn’t want to pay the $50 minimum for those polls, so I’m not really sure how they get them, but I would guess its also through the network notifications. The more specific you make your audience, the more you’ll pay per response.

You’ve got the choice to narrow down your audience by company size, job function, industry, seniority, gender, age and geography. I really am curious how many folks out there will pay for these polls, and how accurate results will be, hopefully I’ll find someone who’s actually paying for them to get feedback from.

Great, Polls, Awesome. But will they work and will people abuse them?

So the big question I have is how will folks actually use the polls? Like everything else out there, some people will take advantage of and ruin a good resource. Think about the LinkedIn groups. I would say maybe 10% of the posts to those groups are worthwhile, honest to goodness, relevant posts. Everything else is trash.

I know very few, if any organizations will pay for polls and then abuse them, but I see an influx of links to the free polls coming. Instead of spreading organically, they’ll be forced on us through groups and direct messages. At some point people will get sick of the polls, at that point will they be useless for those of us who don’t abuse them?

I hope not, but we’ll all see. In the mean time, take my poll!