Taking any Twitter poll seriously is a bad idea. Making business decisions via Twitter poll is an even worse idea. Elon Musk seems determined to do both, polling Twitter users on policy changes and even his status at the company (although as of this writing, he has not clearly acknowledged or commented on poll results saying he should step down).
On the methodological side, opt-in polls like Musk’s offer little control over who is answering or even whether each vote represents an individual person (Twitter does only allow one vote per account, but nothing stops people from creating many accounts). …
The lessons from Musk’s Twitter polls show how we should treat any poll we come across. The basic question of “does this represent who it seems to represent?” should anchor how any consumer views a poll. In Twitter’s case, the answer is no. CONTINUED
Natalie Jackson, National Journal
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