Should 'fun' tags be purged from SO?

Question

Based on a conversation that occurred in the comments of this question:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6654617/if-you-were-to-ever-tattoo-yourself-with-a-piece-of-code-what-would-it-be

Would it make sense to purge tags such as fun polls play that are no longer on-topic? These tags exist from the early days of SO before these type of questions were considered off-topic.

Alternatively, is it possible to 'lock' a tag, so as to disallow new posts using that tag, but keep it around retroactively?

Answer 1

Yes, those tags probably should be removed, but I'm reluctant to just have the tags themselves burninated without going through and removing most of the posts themselves. Just removing the tags feels like treating the symptom without curing the disease.

Alternatively, is it possible to 'lock' a tag, so as to disallow new posts using that tag, but keep it around retroactively?

I don't think so. I think we need to remove the tags before unsuspecting new users will be unable to create posts with those meta-tags. (And hopefully more experienced users won't be tempted to recreate them despite knowing better.)

Answer 2

I agree with @Bill: I think at least polls and play should be removed as well as their corresponding questions. Their continued existence is in conflict with Stack Overflow's stated don't ask policy. It would improve the quality of the the site.

It is possible for tags to be blacklisted -- essentially locking users out of posting with them. However, this is something that's a very sensitive issue and is performed very much in the server backend: See here