2012 In Review

[AB Editor]

Afternoon All,

I was just looking through a few bits and bobs and found this: a round up which I apparently intended to send on the 1st January! There's nothing like being a month late to the party - so, without further delay, here's our AnswerBank 2012 End of Year Review:

Whether you're recovering from the excesses of last night, or merely gloating at those who are - we thought it was time to take a moment to look back on 2012, warts and all, and see what the world looks like from the lofty heights of The AnswerBank.

So put the kettle on a join us for our round up of the year's events.

Did you know that members of The AnswerBank are a fairly charitable bunch at Christmas time? 67% give something at Christmas (although many pointed out they give ALL year) while just over 1 in 10 (11%) give between £30-£50. 5% give over £100 this time of year - if we assume that this poll is representative of AnswerBankers in general then if 5% of our entire 319,545 strong membership gave £100 (15,977 members) AnswerBankers may have given over £1.5 million to charity this Christmas time - and that's got to warm your cockles (even if it is via wild extrapolation).

In November we asked if the world was getting better, worse, or was on an even keel. Sadly, most thought the world is going to pot with 45% of the vote - we put it down to the weather!

One of the great political follies this year was the introduction of Police Commissioners - we asked the simple question: "Do you feel informed enough to vote?" The answer was a deafening NO! with 87% of the vote. Sadly, with many aspects of politics, we're stuck with it for the time being.

In the cake and TV crossover of the year, The Great British Bake Off drew millions to the warm, gentle glow and existential angst of waiting for a timid soufflé to rise to the occasion. Members chose Brendan as the frontrunner throughout the show with 52% voting him as most likely winner - however, the fickle hand of cake-based fate turned against him as John, a young man with only the support of 5% of AnswerBankers, managed to wow the judges for the final furlong.

In other, less important news, the US presidential race would have been a lot less close than it was - if it had only been AnswerBankers voting for it; with a landslide of 86% of the vote Obama wouldn't even have bothered to tidy the desk "just in case", and we could all have gone to bed a little bit earlier.

Another hot political button last year was the proposed badger cull - pulling hard on the caring nature of AnswerBankers towards animals a huge 70% believed the proposed cull to not be necessary. The minority did their best to talk through the practical reasons, but there's no argument to be had here! An interesting thread well discussed through an emotive issue.

Further proof that The AnswerBank is a good place to pick up betting tips, we came up trumps for Bradley Wiggins winning Sports Personality of The Year. 36% picked the winner in August while still in the heady daze of (m)Olympic fever.

Before the Olympics and Paralympics kicked off there was some concern about whether the British Public Transport system would cope during the games, and whether, specifically, the disabled were being let down. The answer was sadly yes in the eyes of AnswerBankers, but not because it fails the disabled particularly, but because it's failing everyone! 63% believed the UK's public transport system failed most passengers

Way back in January of 2012 there was much moral kerfuffle about the bonuses allotted to the exiting and current leaders of waving/drowning big banks, some happily taking their 100% salary bonus. While there was much moral outrage we thought this would be an excellent time to see if AnswerBankers would turn down such a bonus - sadly it seems that only 8% can really say they've got the moral fibre to rail against such bonuses! (Don't worry though, we're right with the 92% who would take it and scarper!)

Thanks for reading.

[jno]

Sadly, most thought the world is going to pot with 45% of the vote

Well, no, most thought it wasn't.

[jno]

of course, that's only ABers. if you'd taken a vote among badgers the result would well have been different

[ludwig]

It's the standard of maths education that's going to pot.

[AB Editor]

:)

Stats were:

A. Getting Worse 44.58% (37 votes)
B. On An Even Keel 28.92% (24 votes)
C. Getting Better 26.51% (22 votes)

So you're quite right. No wonder I didn't send it :)

[AB Editor]

"It's the standard of maths education that's going to pot."

I think that's unfair, I'm an exceptional case!