The power of the masses: online polling at Davos

Something to make you think of the power of the Internet:

Facebook's marketing manager Zuckerberg arranged for Facebook polls to be conducted during twelve key sessions at the Davos World Economic Forum.

In one poll, during a session called "Advice to the US President on Competitiveness", Facebook users were asked if the stimulus package is on target.

120,000 responses were recorded in twenty minutes (!). 59% of respondents said “no,” 15% said “yes” and 26% said unsure.

The poll results were displayed prominently above the panelists, including Rupert Murdoch (CEO News Corp.), Ellen Kullman (CEO DuPont), Duncan Niederauer (CEO NYSE Euronext), David Rubenstein (Managing Director, Carlyle Group) and Ronald Williams (CEO Aetna).

The panelists largely approved of the stimulus package in their comments before the poll results came in. Facebook users obviously disagreed. (Full)

While I am not sure how much this poll will steer to better target stimulus packages, it shows one thing clearly: the 'masses' are watching, have an opinion, and will speak out. This should make "those at the helm" more responsive, and hopefully more conscientious.

Picture courtesy TechCrunch