A right-wing media outlet, The Daily Caller, wrote a post provocatively titled, “POLL: 91% Of People Want Colin Kaepernick To Stay Out Of The NFL.”
The only problem? It was based on a Twitter poll, which is not considered a serious “poll.” Even worse, it was a twitter poll of the right-wing reporter’s own followers!
The NFL has put together a workout for Colin Kaepernick. Should a team take a chance and sign him?
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) November 13, 2019
Twitter polls are when a user creates a poll and asks their followers to answer based on their opinion. These polls only indicate what a certain kind of sample thinks or believes. According to Science Friday, those who respond to Twitter polls “might not represent a typical population of people or even a typical sampling of Twitter users.”
The NFL would have made $$$ if they opened Colin Kaepernick workout to the public and televised it. Thousands would have showed up at stadium in Atlanta and millions would be watching at home. The NFL is totally underestimating his market value. #StillWithKap
— 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 (@exavierpope) November 16, 2019
Other problems with Twitter polls: one person can answer multiple times if they have multiple accounts. Bots can answer polls, skewing the information even further. And finally, some people don’t answer honestly. Some users might also pick the option that they think will be the most popular among that group.
The Daily Caller asserted, “This poll right here is the only thing NFL executives need to see in order to know that Kaepernick has no business playing again.”
But other professional athletes disagree. The Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady said in an interview that he thought it was “pretty cool” that Kaepernick was trying to make a comeback.
Colin Kaepernick was blacklisted by NFL since 2016 for speaking the truth: "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." #StillWithKap
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) November 16, 2019
Brady said, “To have time off is a challenge, but Colin’s overcome a lot of challenges in his career, and he’s always found a way to produce. He’s very mentally tough, and I think it’s pretty cool that he’s getting that opportunity.”
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe dedicated her Glamour Woman of the Year award to Kaepernick. She described him as “someone whose courage and bravery was so bright and so bold, a person filled with conviction, unafraid of the consequences because he knew it really wasn’t about playing it safe, it was about doing what was necessary and backing down to exactly nobody.”