The Official Blog of Toluna USA and Canada

Dear Members,

On December 5^th, 2011 we launched a new and exciting Christmas Game on our Facebook fanpage as well as Toluna.com!  You have until December 19^th to enter.

We want our members to express their creativity in decorating their Christmas trees for a chance to win a Christmas prize from Toluna!

So what do you do?

Step one – Create a photo, picture or video of your Christmas tree once you and your family have decorated it. Have it be Traditional, funky, modern, however you like and upload it to our opinion topic on Toluna. To help you out examples and models are available in the Christmas at Toluna album on our Toluna Facebook fanpage and we’ll throw a few up down below just in case. Just make sure the Toluna logo is somewhere on your submission so it can be validated & officially entered in the contest.

Step two – Then quickly post your creation in a poll on Toluna.com. To create a poll click on the create a poll tab & do not forget to upload your image or video from your computer.

Step three – Finally, send us a message with the link to your poll on this opinion topic! Don’t forget that this information is essential for us to properly credit your submission. Any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Step four – The most popular Christmas tree will be decided on the basis of vote counts by the Toluna team. Don’t hesitate to share your creations with your friends to get the maximum number of possible votes.

We will announce the winners of the competition on Toluna.com & our Toluna Facebook on December 20^th, 2011. Good luck & let’s see your Tree-mendous creations!

The aim of the game is to receive the highest votes on your Toluna poll! It’s that simple!

For more information about the rules and for a step by step guide, go to our Facebook Fan Page or check out our opinion topic on Toluna.com.

Be sure to check this out and get involved for a chance to win big!

Good luck!

The Toluna Team

Dear Members,

This is just a quick reminder that Toluna will be discontinuing Billboard song downloads as a rewards option.

What does this mean for you?

Members can continue to order download credits through tomorrow, November 30^th.  Any download credits purchased must be redeemed before December 31^st, 2011 – on this day they will expire on the Billboard site. Remember, please redeem those rewards as Toluna will not be issuing additional credits to members who fail to do so by the end of the year!

For additional news on this and other important rewards information please check out this previous blog post.

Let us know if you have any questions.

See you soon on the site!

The Toluna Team

Dear Members,

We have some very important information regarding two of our rewards partners, so please read the following announcement carefully.  It could have an impact on rewards you have already received or would like to order in the near future!

1. We would like to inform you that My Choice Works has discontinued their rewards program, and unfortunately, their vouchers will no longer be available on our site.  Any member with an outstanding voucher may still redeem it through December 31^st, 2011 by going to www.mychoiceworks.com and following the on-screen prompts.
2. In addition, Toluna will be discontinuing Billboard song downloads as a reward option, effective December 1^st.  Members will still be able to request the downloads through November 30^th, but please be sure to remember that all downloads requested throughout 2011 will expire on the Billboard site on December 31^st, 2011.  As a result, remember to redeem  your song downloads before the end of year as Toluna will not be issuing additional credits to members that fail to do so by December 31^st!

We apologize for any inconvenience and don’t worry we hope to be able to present you with some great new rewards options in early 2012.  Don’t forget to check out our rewards page often to see what great prizes you could earn!

Thanks for your time and see you soon on the site,

The Toluna Team

Dear Toluna members,

The Samsung Galaxy S2 sweepstakes is officially starting now with 4 Galaxy S2 smartphones for grabs!

Until December 30^th, you have the chance to get your hands on the new Samsung Galaxy S2.

It’s simple: Convert points into Sweepstakes tickets!

Buy as many sweepstakes tickets as you wish with your points (1,000 points per entry) and after the Sweepstakes closes we will draw 3 lucky winners. The more tickets you buy, the better your chance of claiming one of these great smartphones! As an added incentive to our most dedicated members, we will be offering the 4th and final Galaxy S2 to the member who purchases the most tickets!

To get your Sweepstakes entries, click here.

To view the Sweepstakes rules, click here.

Take your chance now!

The Toluna Team

Dear Toluna Members,

We are pleased to announce that our rewards’ partner Tango Card has recently added iTunes to their merchant list.  What does this mean for you?  Now, when you select Tango Card as a reward from Toluna you can use this gift card at the iTunes store to buy music, videos, films and TV shows.

Go ahead and check out Tango Card’s official page to see all the great choices on offer.  Also, don’t hesitate to stop by our rewards page to convert your points now!

See you soon on the site,

The Toluna Team

Hi Members!

It’s been a few months since we launched our Toluna iPhone application and we’re happy to celebrate over 20,000 people have already downloaded it and are taking Toluna mobile!

In case you haven’t yet had the chance, we wanted to give everyone a preview of  what you can do with the Toluna iPhone App in our new tutorial:

Toluna iPhone App Tutorial in 60 seconds

Share your opinions on the move!

Take pictures with your iPhone and upload straight to your poll or opinion.

Create polls in seconds and get thousands of answers from the global community directly on your iPhone.

The application is FREE and available for download now from the App Store.

Going mobile with our service means you can get feedback from the Toluna community faster than ever.

Tap into what the world thinks – anytime, anywhere.

Click below to download the app from the App Store today!

See you soon on the site,

The Toluna Team

Dear Members,

Toluna is an online community dedicated to making your voice heard!  You already know how to express your opinions through creating polls and opinion topics (for more info see FAQ), now you may have noticed that recently Toluna has stepped up its moderation efforts on the site.  As a result, some of your opinion topics or polls may have been removed.  This is not in any way meant to stop you from expressing your views and opinions; we want to encourage that great interaction between members.

So, why are polls and topics deleted?

There are several reasons why an opinion post or poll could be removed from the site;

They range from the obvious:

* Any violation of Toluna’s terms and conditions with a very strong emphasis on any kind of abusive content, violence, adult content;
* Any form of advertising or self promotion;
* Content created entirely in upper case letters (you can read more about this issue here).

To those which need a bit more explanation:

*  The internet is full of information, but we at Toluna want to know your OPINION.  Give your fellow members the opportunity to express their views. Please leave jokes, interesting facts and social opinions (‘status updates’) for posting on the walls of your contacts and/or friends, we will remove posts on these subjects.
* Repetitive content: if the moderators determine that a poll or topic are a variation on a theme which already exists in abundance on the site it might be deleted.

**In order to avoid this happening to your polls and topics, please run a search or browse the Toluna community before creating a new post or poll!  Many times topics have already been created numerous times!  You will increase the response rate to your posts by creating unique posts. (for info on how to search for posts please click here)

*  If you misspell a word don’t worry!  What we don’t want is so-called ‘text-speak’ and so many spelling and grammar issues that your poll loses its value!  So to help your fellow members out – use your browsers spell check feature.

* Choose your categories wisely!  This will make it easier for all Toluna members to search for content.  Usually our moderators will do their best to modify the category of a topic rather than remove it, but we can’t guarantee it.

* Respect the language of the site you are posting on.  Here at Toluna you are welcome to post on different language sites if you feel the topic is better placed there.  However, be sure your post is in the correct language or it will be removed.

* Don’t abuse the Toluna points system.  It is against our policy to ask members to vote in exchange for votes, offer ratings for feedback, etc.  Please earn points the legitimate way – by enjoying the site!

*  In the event of a clone or abusive member, please contact Toluna using the Report Abuse link located on the right-hand side of most opinion topics/polls and we will deal with the issue as quickly as possible.

Thank you as always and see you soon on the site!

The Toluna Team

Dear Toluna Members,

In light of the recent tragic events in Oslo and on the island of Utøya in Norway we would like to inform you that we have opened an opinion topic here on the Toluna website to express our solidarity with the victims and the Norwegian community as a whole. 

We would like to invite all of our members to leave comments and messages of support for our Norwegian members.  Feel free to leave your message in your native language, or in English, whichever makes you feel more comfortable. 

We at Toluna HQ would like to thank you in advance for focusing on positive messages of support.  Thank you for your input; we feel it will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

The Toluna Team

Dear Members,

Here at Toluna we’re always trying to find new and exciting ways for you to spend your points.  So, we are pleased to announce that our newest reward option is now live and you can now redeem 60,000 points for 200 Facebook credits.

Facebook credits are the official currency of Facebook and a safe, easy and fast way to purchase items in games and other applications on Facebook. If you want to find out more about Facebook Credits click here.

Use your credits to purchase items to use or to send to friends in your favorite games on as well to acquire goods in other non-gaming applications. Soon, you will even be able to use Facebook credits to purchase deals on Facebook and other exciting opportunities are developing as we speak!

Simply copy and paste the promotional code into the special link you receive and your account will be updated with your Facebook Credits.

We hope you take the opportunity to try this new reward which can be purchased by going to the ‘Rewards’ page on the site!

Best Wishes

The Toluna Team

The 4th of July, a time to remember the approval of the Declaration of Independence and the United States freedom as an independent nation is here again!

Toluna would like to wish everyone a special day of celebrations and we hope have all been enjoying the long weekend so far!

In true American spirit we asked you, the community, what July 4th means to you!

We tapped into some of the key words on the Community regarding Independence Day at the moment. Check out the results in the image below!

We also asked the community the important question “Do you feel that the Declaration of Independence is still relevant today?” and we discovered that from over 6000 respondents over 30% still feel the declaration is important to them today, with another 30% voting that the Declaration is more important today than ever.

You can find the full results and cast your own vote by clicking here.

We hope your enjoy the rest of the holiday and our proud day of independence.

Regards,

The Toluna Team