Now that most or all of the "X attacks you with Y" and "Y and Z are about to die, which do you save" threads seem to have finally been locked (even my own), I am wondering if we can draw out some actual discussion value from these wastes of bytes.
Every couple months or so something like these polls pop up, and over a few days there are many copies, devolving quickly into more and more asinine topics and then to exasperated and ironic attempts to make fun of them, and then they go away, either through moderator lock or declining interest. Something along these lines always seems to be in the process of developing at any given time.
My question is, where do these come from? Are we a large enough community that emergent phenomena are a cultural inevitability, like fashion trends in the real world? Is there a way to stop these stupid imitation polls, or are they just a constant cycle? Is someone or something controlling it, making sure we develop along the paths they desire, or is it something far stupider and non sequitor? Does anyone care, or do you just ignore the whole hullaballoo?
Every couple months or so something like these polls pop up, and over a few days there are many copies, devolving quickly into more and more asinine topics and then to exasperated and ironic attempts to make fun of them, and then they go away, either through moderator lock or declining interest. Something along these lines always seems to be in the process of developing at any given time.
My question is, where do these come from? Are we a large enough community that emergent phenomena are a cultural inevitability, like fashion trends in the real world? Is there a way to stop these stupid imitation polls, or are they just a constant cycle? Is someone or something controlling it, making sure we develop along the paths they desire, or is it something far stupider and non sequitor? Does anyone care, or do you just ignore the whole hullaballoo?
