@eldritch_cookie seems like you make yourself use the mastodon service. That's not how it should be. I think it is (like most social networks) for writing, not for reading. You just post what you want to make available to the others. Like on a site or a blog. And only subscribe to those who posted a link to their blog somewhere else where you found it by accident. The whole concept of "searching" for something is strange (if you don't have a problem to solve, which you don't). You come to a thing when you need it. I don't think you often use google to find someone's personal thematical blog or tweeter, do you?
MASTODON IDEA: VOTING IN POLLS + SHOW who voted?... To make contact with people and their projects after poll is over?
@freeschool generally it is not so good idea. If people have the same opinion, it makes them closer. But if tastes of friends differ radically it can tear apart.
Will you vote for what you really want, if you see that comrades already voted for another thing?
Do you want to see only the people who voted the same? Isn't it like self-limiting to an information bubble? Facebook and Google does it similar ways. They would recommend what you like and people you have something in common.
"Vote for Trump and we'll be together until the next vote separates us."
And another point is you begin with a technical feature. You don't start with a human need that has to be satisfied. And you don't come up with another variants to satisfy this need.