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Language of the Month was fun. Then it died. Now there's interest in bringing it back!

I had assumed that we would just go back to the original nominations thread and pick the top-voted answer as LotM for September (which would be R, unless the voting changes significantly in the next few days). However, Bubbler suggested that maybe it would be better to start a new nomination thread, resetting the votes. I can see merit both ways:

  • Keeping the current thread provides continuity, avoids cluttering Meta with unnecessary threads, and gives us an immediate answer on which language to choose for September.
  • Starting a new thread allows newer languages with active users to rise to the top. Part of what made LotM work was people who knew a language teaching it to others--but several of the nominators on the original thread aren't active here anymore.

How shall we proceed?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I'll be excited to see this come back, I remember it ended just after I joined. \$\endgroup\$
    – rydwolf
    Commented Aug 27, 2020 at 15:45

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Start a new thread

People are no longer interested in the old LotM, so we should start a new one.

  1. Since the votes are resetted, we can easily prevent specific languages that are very popular in 2015 to get an unfair advantage in the voting, since these languages aren't necessarily popular in 2020.

  2. Part of the thing that made LotM work was people who knew a language teaching it to others. New threads mean new languages that can be introduced to others. Newly nominated languages that people haven't heard of can easily replace the voting position of the languages that people are already tired of.

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    \$\begingroup\$ People have shown interest in reviving LoTM, that's what we know so far. Are you assuming they want a new one instead of the old one (as in, you know for a fact that's what people want), or proposing it (as in, this is my view, upvote if you agree with me)? \$\endgroup\$
    – Luis Mendo
    Commented Aug 27, 2020 at 15:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ The "cluttering meta" problem can be somewhat mitigated by closing the old one as duplicate (which is exactly how some other recurring threads already work). Random idea: if we want to run LotM for longer period, maybe we should reset the votes every year. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bubbler
    Commented Aug 27, 2020 at 23:37
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Start a new thread, but let R be LotM for September

In the interests of having cake and also eating it:

The main problem with starting a new thread is the lack of an obvious winner for September. Rather than wait a month for new nominations to be posted and garner support, we can start with the previous thread's winner. R is still an excellent candidate for Language of the Month. While the person who nominated it is no longer active, there are others still golfing in the language (such as Giuseppe, Robin Ryder, and Dominic van Essen), who would doubtless be happy to share tips and tricks. It's also a practical language, which means there are lots of resources available for learning.

Starting in October, there will be enough nominations and votes to pick a meaningful winner from the new thread.

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