Should Polls Be Left Open Indefinitely?

[Glenn]

I'm wondering how people feel about polls that keep getting voted in even though the conversation has long died out and no one ever even posts in them anymore. I find them annoying.

 

[thomas]

I guess it really depends on the nature of the poll. If it refers to a current issue/development/situation it wouldn't make a lot of sense to keep it open forever. In case of more general questions ("Your favourite xxxxxx in Japan") I see no reason why we shouldn't keep them open, as they attract forum newbies in particular. Just MHO.

 

[Glenn]

What about beaten to death topics, like Should Japan Abolish Kanji? I can see the case being made for some topics, I suppose, but 6 years for this one? I don't know. I just don't ever see anything new coming out of that one. I certainly haven't seen anything new come out of it recently. But people come by, vote, and don't say anything, so the whole thread gets refreshed, and I think "I wonder what insightful thing someone had to say about this topic," and I check, and the last post is from 3 weeks ago, and it says something that's been said 45 times in the thread already (I'm speaking more generally here, and not specifically about that thread as it stands as of now). It feels like beating a dead horse to me. I just wonder if I'm alone.

It might be a personality thing, come to think of it. I like seeing things left alone when they've been settled, generally speaking. Along the same lines, I'm not a fan of seeing a question that's already been answered be answered again by someone else. I just don't see the point. I imagine my feeling is similar to Mike Cash's about seeing the gaijin/gaikokujin thing come up over and over again.

 

[Petaris]

Some topics change enough that more or another conversation is warranted. But for polls, I think I agree with thomas that some have value in being left open, others really don't. Is there a way to set an expire date when you create the poll?

 

[Glenn]

Yes, when you create it it gives you that option. This one will close 21 days from when it was posted.

 

[Nuala]

It's a concern of personal taste. Anyone in the future can contribute to threads that were made years ago without an issue. Let's say that aliens visited our planet today and we were to create a thread/poll discussing whether or not we should greet them with open arms. The year afterwards is peaceful and so on, but on the anniversary of their arrival to Earth, they take down our global infrastructure and put themselves in command of our species. This is a situation where it might be inappropriate to have a poll left open indefinitely. Whereas a poll discussing whether or not the US military should leave Japan would still be pertinent after several years of the poll's creation. Opinions may change, but polls in actuality have little importance to the discussion of the overall subject at hand.

My opinion? It's a matter of taste.