Lots of thread resurrection lately

Post Reply New Topic

I noticed there has been a recent trend towards bringing back threads from 5+ years ago lately. I know some forums don't like this, but the rules on WP don't actually prohibit this.

So what's your opinion?

Is it annoying to post in threads just to realize that the original poster from 10 years ago won't ever get your response?
On the other hand, is is more annoying to see many threads pop up about the same topics, even when they could all be in the same thread?

Honestly and I know it's sad, I rarely feel like OP is guaranteed to answer anyway.

I just search to see if someone else has asked the question before I bring it up as there isn't a distinct rule like 'no resurrecting threads from last year or before'. I'm too aspie to figure out the unwritten rule on it.

I just do it to put my opinion out there in the hopes someone will read it. Not necessarily OP.

It can be periodically necessary to bump-up old threads if the posters in the old-threads are currently still active on WP.

Some old discussion-thread topics remain timely, and contain helpful/useful content which can remain important over time. What's old can be new again!

It's can also be necessary to begin new discussion threads when the content of recent/current discussion threads become too cumbersome in length AND/OR are too confusing to understand, and hence difficult to make quotes, or post replies.

Personally, my use of the forum involves not merely discussing in terms of absolute truth, but also developing relationships. There are members whom I will never respond to under any circumstances, and other members I try to respond to whenever possible.

I also try to tailor my posts to the needs, context, and intellectual level of the OP.

For these reasons, once I've detected that a thread is a necro-bump, I just skip it. If OP is no longer here, I see no point. Of course, that's just me. But I do consider "is there a relationship here?"

I think you should have bumped one of the other "there's been a lot of bumped threads" threads!

Seriously though, I don't see any need for a hard and fast rule. If the content of a thread is still prescient and any important links are still live, I don't have a problem with threads being bumped. At the same time, we can't expect everyone to have a black-belt in Google-fu, and the search facility here isn't exactly the best. I think that quite a few are accidental anyway; I know I've done it myself. I sometimes forget that I reached a thread through the suggestions or a search, and I use "posts since last visit" most of the time, so I forget to check posting dates. When there are little flurries of it, it might just be new members learning the ropes.

I don't see why a polite "hey, have you realised" should be a problem if someone seems to be replying to nobody, nor if they respond that they're aware of that but the thread's still relevant to them.

I prefer to respond with a joke if applicable , I hope the OP has fixed their problem as it was 10 freaking years ago lol

Useless information department - if you look at the very earliest pages of a sub-forum (eg pages 1540-43 of this one), you will see a number of threads dated 1 January 1970. If you click on them, you will be told 'The requested topic does not exist'.

^ I wonder who wrote them ? I was just a twinkle in the milkman's eye back then

Annoying...
When I don't look at the time stamp before I write a reply...

As a default I ignore necro-posts...

Indeed...
We are absolute opposites...
I suspect you are an NT...with an autistic daughter...hence your participation here...

If I had, you probably wouldn't have perceived the timely relevance of my post, as I wouldn't be OP, and the thread would have seemed old and out-of-date in the majority of the conversation.

You don't know that. You know what they say. If you've met one person on the spectrum... then you've met one person on the spectrum.

I just resurrected one. I figured it was better to do that than start a new thread on the same topic, though I can see why someone would do that too, especially when it's a rarely discussed topic like this one.

i find it romantic to reply to an old post, there is something about the passage of time, major time, like i'm sending a message in a bottle out in the misty distances of the future. or is it the other way 'round?

True...

I just read in another thread that Bea said she was evaluated for autism...
While there was no verification, the possibility is there...

Psst...
I will let you into a little secret...
I was on a fishing expedition...

Romantic?
Oh, I see now...