Lots of thread resurrection lately

Post Reply New Topic

It is overdone here.

Sometimes I will search a topic and see if it was discussed before. Then I will stumble onto a thread written long ago on the subject and post a response.

This is not to elicit a response from other members. It is just to put my two cents into the discussion. These threads are searchable. They are like a history book. Thousands of members are passive and just review the responses without entering into any discussion. So even though these are historical threads, they have not disappeared. They are ALIVE.

When someone has a problem, they are looking for answers. In most cases they are not looking for when the answer was given but rather for the most complete answer to their particular problem.

When I was on here a few years ago reposting old threads was strongly (and imo irrationally discouraged) by various moderators. What is fascinating and saddening to me when looking at these resurrected threads is how very many really really smart people have left this forum. Why? I know why or at least can speculate: for some of the same reasons I left before and possibly will again. Actually certain conditions have improved, such as the discouragement of the reposting of old threads, and imo that is good, but some other conditions have gone downhill,

I like seeing bumped up threads. I get to see how much or how little I've changed.

When I first joined this forum, I had people reply to several of my posts with something like, "this question/topic has already been asked/discussed," with a link to a necro-post. I still see this type of reply on common topic threads.

That being said, this is the only forum that I have ever been on where people expected me to not ask questions, and instead rely on answers to other peoples questions that were asked years ago.

That's right, the question was asked multiple times over the years. That does not mean that I was on this forum years ago, or even last month and that I read it. If the question or topic isn't on the first page of the forum, it should be allowed to be brought up again. I don't want to spend hours researching a question. I just want to spend a few minutes to ask that question.

Well, Easter has only just gone...

(gets coat)

People like a personal touch. When they have a problem, they are asking for help. Many are not experts at searches. Sometimes they are concerned about nuances, small little elements of a question. So even though the topic was broached in the past, that particular nuance was not discussed.

So personally I have no problem with someone asking a question that has been asked before. Or bringing up a thread from the distant past that has some merit to be discussed some more. It is part of the fabric of a message board. At least a good message board.

I guess if I have a peeve it is with the meaningless (IMO) threads that constantly repeat day after day. They almost seem like someone inserted these threads in the sticky category to portray message board activity when membership is low. Examples of these are:
Post something that made you unhappy today. (began on 25 July 2011)
6 letter word game (began on 7 May 2015)
Three word story (began on 27 March 2012)
Keep a word, drop a word (began on 10 January 2013)
A-Z of cities/towns (began on 25 February 2012)
4-letter word game (began on 22 June 2015)
5-letter word game (began on 22 May 2011)

So I guess that is my peeve. They seem like a waste of time. But then again I am not a fan of working crossword puzzles or playing card games all night long. It is not in my nature. And I would guess that they fulfill a purpose. I just wish that the board didn't have an endless variety of these threads.

On the one hand, if you are going to post on a topic that has already been started, then just post in the already-started thread.

On the other hand, if the OP or the last post of a thread is more than a year old, then it's okay to start a new thread on the same topic.

On the gripping hand, the same person starting multiple threads in multiple fora on the same topic on the same day is spamming, and it should be dealt with swiftly and severely.

I can see both sides of it. I see what it could be irritating to "bite" on a thread and find out that it was started a decade ago and had been dead for 2-3 years.

On the other hand, I think the fact that some newer members are actually searching thread history and posting on a topic that has been created in the past rather than starting a new thread on a topic that's been brought up countless times seems like a diligent thing to do.

I like the necro threads. When I came across this site I realised that while few would respond to (am i on the spectrum type) threads, there was an encyclopedia of first had ASD experiences to access. I found it difficult to relate to ASD in books, it wasn't working for me.

Also I like being reminded of past members, their stories and the things I learned through their words.

Despite all the changes I've gone through, some things stay the same.

Me in 2004:



Me in 2019: