Did you take Al Qaeda / bin Laden seriously before 9/11?

[OilemFirchen]

67. You're ignoring an obvious factor in your presumption.

To wit, that the commercialized world wide web was essentially non-existent at the time, so contemporaneous news accounts were rarely available in digital form. That's why it's a fool's errand to attempt to prove the existence, or lack thereof, of media accounts from the period. You are welcome to disagree, but you'd be wrong. The tiny bit of evidence I provided upthread - an abstract of an article along with the opportunity to purchase it in its entirety, should be a clue.

For the "average person", "taking seriously" is a matter of their own perspective. Insofar as this poll is concerned, you might ask the author or the individual respondents. For me, it simply means (in this context) being aware of world events and, as warranted, a consideration toward the broader implications of those events - either as a movement or taken in isolation.