There are many potential reasons to discount this data, but I think we should take it on face value that "Top Ten" means pretty much what anyone would take it to mean.

With a data set of close to 200 to be collated, I think we'll find out some interesting things about the reach of film noir viewing that's occurred over the length of years from our Top 25 poll (which could be re-calculated to match this data set, and would produce somewhat different results in such an accounting than what emerged from the approach to voting that was taken).

My hunch is that the public at large (or a subset of same that is active on Twitter) is going to be about at the same point of "noir awareness" as what was manifested in our 2005 BB population. I think it will be interesting to see how a much larger voting group today matches up with our much smaller and somewhat more controlled sample from nearly fifteen years ago.

It will also be interesting to see how many films get included in such a "list your Top Ten" approach. That's why I've provided a running tally (101 films mentioned after 40 list collated) to see if that ratio holds up as we go along. I'm thinking it may slow down a bit, as that would mean that folks would at least give a single inclusion for close to 500 noirs in 200 ballots (I think it will wind up being closer to 300).

Then there are questions about time frames (early/late 40s, early/late 50s), etc. that can be examined in comparison to what we saw in our 2005 sample.

Your point about films seen at particularly defining moments is one to be noted, but keep in mind that there are many such lists (Top 10, Top 20, Top 25, etc.) available for neophytes to use as a way into film noir, and the lists that they create later may remain inordinately influenced from such a source or sources. But films are much more available to the neophyte now than was the case in 2005; that fact suggests to me that your caveat is not one we need to be inordinately concerned about.

Let's not fall into the habit of what is going on in the media-saturated world and pre-judge results that aren't even complete. We need to stay aware of what the "mainstream" is within this sub-world, and the data set here allows for a way to do that. Granted, it's not perfect, but it's not so fatally flawed as to be dismissed out of hand. Patience, grasshopper!

Here are the results after 60 ballots:

35 Double Indemnity
25 Laura
25 Out of the Past
24 In a Lonely Place
23 Maltese Falcon, The
20 Big Sleep, The
18 Touch of Evil
16 Gun Crazy
16 Third Man, The
15 Murder My Sweet
15 Sunset Blvd.
14 Killers, The 46
13 Big Heat, The
12 Killing, The 56
12 Kiss Me Deadly
12 Pickup on South Street
11 Detour
10 Asphalt Jungle
9 Gilda
9 Night and the City
8 Criss Cross
8 Leave Her to Heaven
8 Nightmare Alley
8 Scarlet Street
7 Dark Passage
7 Narrow Margin, The

The ratio of films mentioned to ballots is decreasing: 137 films now mentioned after 60 ballots (2.28) down from 2.52 (101 on 40 ballots).