Biggest poll on the planet on the Net

Biggest poll on the planet on the Net
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

October 5: The mother of all polls and surveys is about to take place on the Internet from November 15 to 18. Termed as the `Global, Internet-based poll of the human race', it will be available on the website www.planetproject.com, which was launched today by the 3Com Corporation.

3Com's Vice President (Asia Pacific) Marcel Jacobs today informed that millions of people from all corners of the world can simultaneously participate in the poll, and actually avail of the global results of the surveys in real time.

``The poll will be conducted in eight international languages and there will be eight topics in all spread over the four days in November. It will contain multiple choice questions on topics ranging from thought provoking to entertaining, all focussed on humanity's beliefs, hopes, fears, similarities and differences,'' added Jacobs.

The India Marketing Manager of 3Com, Soumitra Agarwal, further informed that even the villages in India that still do not have Net access will be enabled to participate in the global poll as thousands of pollsters assigned for the job will reach out to these `unconnected' regions.

Incidentally, the poll will be totally confidential. Indians who wish to register themselves will have to visit the website: www.planetproject.com/in.

The global and simultaneos poll will have questions on Religion and Beliefs, Health, Sleep and Dreams, Self Image, Marriage, Dating and Sex, Law and Order and Parenting. People may chose to respond to any or all the topics.

For example, the questions could be: `Have you ever had a dream and then actually lived that dream in real life?'; `When you die what do you think will most likely happen to you?'; and `How often do you think about your weight?'.

``The idea of coming up with questions for the first ever global survey was both exciting and challenging. We needed questions that would provide a glimpse of the human condition,'' said Gordon Black, the CEO of Harris Interactive which is the official market researcher of the Planet Project.

At the press conference, 3Com also presented Maitreyi Doshi, a 17-year-old girl from Pune, who is their International Youth Panel Member.

She will be among 20 selected international youths who will also pose a question during the poll.