REPORTER’S NOTES
Typically, when writing a news story, the reporter’s job is to write about things that happened to other people, but this report focusses on a survey I was sent a few days ago.
Many readers have likely received text messages in the past seeking participation in statewide or national opinion polls. This reporter certainly has.
Typically, I ignore these texts, but I’ve noticed recently the overwhelming majority of these polls were sent by an organization called “Research-Polls.”
Since it can be risky to click on links from unknown senders, I did a little bit of online research, and I was able to find the company’s website, along with a few other independent mentions of them being a legitimate (if not frequently biased) polling service.
So, with that in mind, I decided to respond this time, curious to see what the group wanted to know about.
Advertised on the top of the page as a “Nationwide Opinions Survey,” it became clear that this “nationwide” survey was very Texas specific and related to an extremely hot topic: data centers.
The questions began with simple political generalizations; they asked how likely I was to vote in the next election, and which party I was most likely to vote for. Then they asked about my personal opinion of President Donald Trump. All pretty standard poll questions.
More Interesting Questions
After the preliminaries, the survey jumped right into the heart of the matter, and began asking about my opinion of data centers, especially those closely associated with artificial intelligence.
They asked my opinion was of every major tech company, on a scale of “Very Favorable” to “Very Unfavorable”
After introducing each company and introducing the basic concept of what a data center is, the survey then asked respondents to indicate the issues they might be concerned about if a data center were built in their area.
While seeming pretty unremarkable initially, the survey soon started to feel less like an opinion poll, and more like a lecture intended to teach me about the benefits of data centers, and how the common concerns I listed were actually nothing to worry about.
Over the next dozen-or-so slides, the survey presented arguments one by one, refuting these worries. Stating specifically that data centers would not have any impact on water or electricity, as all these costs would be borne by the data center.
QUESTION:
“As Texas grows, it needs more power. Data centers are helping drive investment in new energy supply and infrastructure — adding capacity to the grid to support the state’s long-term growth and the continuation of the Texas Miracle.”
“Please indicate whether this statement is a very convincing, somewhat convincing, not too convincing, or not at all convincing reason to support new data centers in Texas.”
Wrapping Up: My Take
After hammering me with blinding logical analysis, the survey then asks, “now that you know…how do you feel about data centers?”
I personally found the arguments to be not-so-convincing, and I answered the same as before.
Wrapping up, the survey asked if I personally knew of any data centers being built near me, to which I replied “yes,” prompting the survey to ask which company was building it.
Emergent Data Centers, the company currently in talks with the City of San Angelo to acquire land north of town, was not among the choices offered, and there was no option to list it separately, so I had to answer falsely to continue the survey.
The survey ended with another series of questions asking me how likely I’d be to support a data center “now that you know the facts” about them, which again felt much less like an opinion survey and more like a manipulation.
And, of course, asking again which political party I felt like I belonged to.
I answered “Independent,” and as if the little man behind the survey curtain was winking at me, it asked again: “Okay but…which party are you more likely to vote with.”
To say the whole thing felt highly suspect would be an understatement.
Where Did This Survey Come From?
It was pretty hard tracking down exactly what Research-Polls’ job is. While it’s advertised as a normal polling company, from reviews online it seems that they are typically employed for hot button political issues on both sides of the aisle, with respondents noting on social media that the poll had a notable slant to it, either Republican or Democratic.
If my basic training in literary intent is serving me correctly, this survey felt like it probably came from a state level political interest group, likely Republican, based on the use of the term “The Texas Miracle,” which has appeared out of nowhere in the last few months, and is now ensconced as a concept in Texas’ proposed grade school history curriculum.
The blatant propaganda used in several of the questions reminded me of the texts we all get bombarded with before an election.
Like I said before, the survey felt less like a dipstick to measure public confidence, and more of an advertising pitch for data centers.
People Don’t Like Being Sold To
The general public has some form of basic “BS-detector” — having spent a few years as a salesman, I can tell you firsthand that people do not really like being “sold to.”
Is it any surprise that so many people feel that they’re being sold a bill of goods with this whole data center thing?
It’s kind of like that classic line your elders repeated to you at a young age: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
It seems like for whatever reason, despite their increasingly hard-headed sales pitches, data center companies and political interests definitely feel like the tide of public opinion has turned against them.
QUESTION: Did You Respond To This Survey?
Let us know what your thoughts were in an email to news@conchoobserver.com; or in a comment down below or on Facebook.
Did you get the same survey I received? Did the questions differ from mine based on how you answered?
1 Comment
You are correct. This was not a survey other than trying to match your phone and opinions with a party preference. This was an attempt to steer the conversation.