We no longer have a topic of the week that is funded or supported by Stack Exchange.
Would people support a community driven Topic of the week?
I would support this move but I fear I couldn't take the lead on it.
Would peole prefer a Topic of the month?
I would support this move and would take the lead on it, or any well spaced out period, 2-weeks, every other, 15 days....etc.
I'd prefer periodic targeted Topics, corresponding to particular "events", i.e. popular movie releases, book releases, comic events, etc. A Topic a week or other regular time periods generally leads to a degradation of quality and/or a lack of motivation over time.
Edit: Since this seems to be appealing, my suggestion on managing this would be to have a community wiki question where people can add their suggestions plus dates for upcoming sci-fi/fantasy release events as answers and if they get voted above a certain threshold, to migrate those into the question similar to the old Topic of the Week post.
I prefer a Topic of the Bi-Week. Having two weeks to post questions gives people more chance to rewatch/reread/etc the works in question and get some questions or high-quality answers posted.
I prefer a Topic of the Month, as it allows a slower pace to the competition where we can spend longer on a topic, and would allow one sole person to maintain it more easily.
I propose a modified topic of the Bi-Week, similar but not identical to Keen's suggestion: every other two weeks (that is two weeks with contest and then two weeks without). I would call it Topic of the Month, at four weeks are roughly a month (we could start the new topics on the first day of a given month).
Additionally, winners (and I think there should keep this tradition) are determined not by question count, but by total score of non-closed questions. That is, if I ask a question on the current topic which gets a score of 7 and one with a score of -2, my entry will be a 5. Somebody who asks a question with score 6, will still beat me.
The winner wouldn't receive a prize, but be displayed during the two weeks without contest in e.g. the bulletin box like Arthur Dent won the Topic of the Month or something like that. I'm open for suggestions :)
I am actually fairly indifferent as to whether or not Topic of the Week/Biweek/Month continues. I think it's fine if we continue with it; I think it's equally fine if we let questions roll in more organically. I did like getting a prize the one week I won (Star Wars), but I would have fun competing for points and props just as much.
"I prefer not doing Topic of the insert time period. It invites posting low-quality questions in an effort to get into the ballot so that you have a chance to win."
This is not the same as Slytherincess's post, which is about being indifferent.
I don't want Topics of anything. I realize participation is completely optional, and that I don't have to take part in any contests if I don't want to. It's just that I think SF topics should be driven by the asker's natural interests, not by an external motivation such as winning a contest (even if there is no material prize, and even if the contest is community-driven -- but see below).
That is, I should ask about "time-travelling robots" (sorry, inside joke) because I just watched a movie or read a book about them, not because they are the topic of the week or month. I shouldn't be artificially encouraged to ask about them.
I especially dislike when StackExchange staffers, CHAOS or whatever they are named -- especially those with no natural interest on SF -- decide to "mix it up" and start a, say, Futurama contest or month or minisite or whatever. We are not children. We don't need external encouragement.
That said, that's just my preference. If contests are reactivated, they won't spoil this website for me.
I would like a topic of the month. It gives people time to mull things over and let thoughts come to the surface without feeling like you have to spazmodically post something right away. It would also let people have time to do some research on a topic, learn more about something and then ask questions that are genuinely interesting to them, rather than shooting off a basic question - fast.
Also, I'd just like to say that 'topics of the month' (or whenever u decide to do them) are a good way to get newbies involved. They generate a feeling of 'safe territory' and encourage people to try their hand at asking a question.
I prefer a Topic of the Week, as it allows a more driven focused topic, despite the need for more people to maintain such a construct.
If I am not opposed to some weeks being skipped, I will leave a comment mentioning as such below
