Most Popular Character 2024

[atrus]

6 hours ago, Zig said:

i defs think that this poll should go back to fourm members only

I'm sort of agnostic on the question of whether it would be better to restrict to forum members, as I understand that's going to severely limit the voter turnout, which in itself brings severe limitations to what can be gleaned from any results. But I also imagine we'd probably mostly agree that if it was just forum members we wouldn't be seeing this degree of recency bias. I suppose it partly depends what question is being asked, or what people think they're being asked, too - I guess for some people who might not read the rules/small print carefully, 'Most Popular Character 2024' might imply 'most popular character of this year', and so if they're filling it in hurriedly/casually that might be exactly what they provide. And those who understand you can vote for past characters might well choose not to anyway, not necessarily because they think the 2024 contingent is particularly stellar but just because they don't want to scroll down a list or think about it for too long, and the current characters are freshest in their heads. But whatever you do, you can't eliminate recency bias in a poll like this - it's just a question of how much of a part it's playing. To mitigate it you could also look at weighting results in all kinds of ways, or even augmenting the results for 2024 with aggregated results from previous years in some kind of 'accumulator' system. But whichever way you did it you'd be open to accusations of bias and wouldn't please everybody. Arguably the poll name is perfect for the results we're getting - it's 'most popular characters' but through a 2024 lens, comprising viewers since 1988, those who started watching yesterday, and everyone in between, each with their own take on how memorable/relevant Sally, Bobby and Morag are, if they even know who they are.

As someone who's of the view that very few if any of the current non-veteran characters will be memorable/receiving many votes at all in ten years' time if the show is still going and BTTB is still polling, I think @SandsResort had it right - that essentially the most useful way of interpreting the results is to look at them as two separate datasets: one for past characters and one for current (or at least very recent) characters. The only difficulty with that (apart from where you draw the line between current/recent and past, because... how long is a piece of string?) is with the veterans who are still on the show, because they're drawing a lot of their popularity from their longevity/past glory but also are still much liked in the present, including I'm sure by many new and casual viewers, and non-forum members.

Edited December 16 by atrus

[Summerbaymagick]

It’s honestly gutting to see Sally so low. At least by her standards. Criminal tbh. The recency bias has definitely tainted the last couple of years polls. 

But also seeing Levi and Mali rate higher than Leah is just baffling to me! Am I watching a totally different show? 
 

I am glad that Mac and Dana have rated so highly as they’re two of my current faves(even though I didn’t vote for them lol), but seriously if Alf, Irene, Maz & John aren’t all top 5…THIS POLL IS OFFICIALLY MAD!

[christine king]

Surely this means that Alf/Irene/ John/Marilyn/Felicity are all top 5 contenders right?

[atrus]

If Alf and Maz are usurped by bland twenty/thirtysomethings this year then the show itself is at least as much to blame as the voters, to be fair, thanks to putting them at the centre of such memorable storylines as 'sitting in the Diner' and 'serving in the Diner'. At least Irene has had some material, which might just prove her saving grace.

[~Lynd~]

At least the better Matheson sister will rate higher and Felicity will be acknowledged as the bad b she was.

I think there's a high chance a lot of people might think only recent 2024 cast are eligible.Its hard to believe  people who have watched longer than a year or so genuinely think these are the best of the best.There's always been some recency bias at play but this is quite extreme.

Edited December 16 by ~Lynd~

[pembie]

Just popping on to say hope you all have a good Christmas 

[atrus]

Wow, Irene's dropped to 10. That blows my theory out of the water about her storyline keeping her high, then...

I suppose it's good to see John on the rise. I still think his character's completely wasted and could have a far more significant role, but he's done well considering that. Alf and Maz assured decent results, at least.

Given the remaining pool of characters we're inevitably talking about, Dana deserves to be higher than she is. I do think Eden has been deserving of some sympathy and even praise for how she's dealt with the Cash situation. But not a Number 8 slot, frankly. Though, she deserves it more than Cash deserves a Top 5 slot!

[j.laur5]

So this leaves Alf/Marilyn/Cash/Flick and Tane . 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Yes for a show that is knocking on for 40 years old, over time the voting will change. If this poll was taken in 1994 everyone would probably vote for Don, Alf, Shane, Angel etc. 2024 it is more recent characters like Palmer, Brax, Tane, Justin etc.

Sally did not become a major character until about 1994/1995 when she was older and able to handle more storylines, rather than pining for Milco all the time. Based on her secret twin brother.

[christine king]

I would have rated Tane higher if him and Felicity had of stayed together and Felicity didn’t die but he has been such a bad character since then. Urg.

Cash was a good character till Felicity died and he has since become crazy and obsessed and not such a good guy at the moment.

I hope Alf is number 1 and Felicity is number 2.