What makes a good topic?

The best topics are usually questions of one type or another, eliciting insightful and interesting responses from participants. Here are some tips:

• Use "plurals": Since respondents can vote for all the answers they like, consider using plurals in your question. For example, instead of asking "What is your favorite fruit?", try "What are your favorite fruits?".
• Add a couple answers to set an example for the types of responses you're looking for, and how you'd like them labeled.
• Yes/No questions can work, but you might consider a more inviting way to get at even better answers. For example: instead of asking "Do you ski?" you might ask "What winter sports do you enjoy?" ("skiing" would be a natural answer for such a question).
• Use your topic description to state any additional guidelines or requests for answers.
• Keep your topic description as succinct as possible. People may assume they have to read it all before answering.
• Don't "dupe"! After you submit your topic title, you may be presented with a list of "Similar Topics Found". Make sure you aren't duplicating an existing topic or, if yours is similar, consider clarifying your topic title to make it more distinct.
• Images! Adding a picture to go to with your topic makes your topic listing more interesting and helps to attract more responses from others.