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Thread resurrection - a rant

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  • #1

    Thread resurrection - a rant

    What is up with resurrection of very, very old threads?

    It's always some new poster that provides a boiler plate answer to a string of threads long resolved, then we never hear from them again.

    This isn't the biggest deal in my life, far from it.

    I can see the value of keeping old threads around. It's nice when an OP comes back a year or 18 months later and gives an update on their original question or issue.

    But, in my mind the problem is that still current threads can get pushed half way down the page when there is a string of four, five, or six resurrected threads.

    Can there be a policy on this site that before a user can provide an answer to a thread that they must already have started their own thread?

    I'm sure I'm making a mountain over a molehill, but it is annoying.

    End rant
    Tags: None
  • #2
    This complaint comes up regularly. As you say, it is always new posters and often spammers doing this. I would be happy to see threads closed when there has been no activity for some set period of time like 3 months or 6 months. If someone wants to give an update after that, they can start a new thread and link to the old one.
    Steve

    * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
    * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
    * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

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    • #3
      Most of the time those postings remind me of Jack Handy's Deep Thoughts from Saturday Night Live. A time or two they've come really close to an almost poetic Haiku.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by disneysteve View Post
        This complaint comes up regularly. As you say, it is always new posters and often spammers doing this. I would be happy to see threads closed when there has been no activity for some set period of time like 3 months or 6 months. If someone wants to give an update after that, they can start a new thread and link to the old one.
        If there was a way to program threads so after 6 months only those which already responded can respond that would work- sometimes people come back and give a 1 year update.

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        • #5
          Everything is wide open on here. Anyone can respond to anything.

          This issue has come up before.

          I guess there are arguments to be made both ways.

          I've locked a few threads when new posters make posts that don't really make sense to a discussion that's years old.
          Brian

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          • #6
            vBulletin.org has mods for automatically locking an old thread, putting a warning on an old thread so that the poster has to check a box to post, and allowing posts on old threads but not bumping them up. (And probably many others!) I don't know of one specifically that can determine if a user has posted in a thread before it was locked and allow that user to post again. (Of course the person returning, if it were an update years later, for example, could always just start a new thread but link to the closed one for the history.)

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            • #7
              I've always assumed they do it so they can get the requisite number of posts in to be able to post links.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by LuckyRobin View Post
                I've always assumed they do it so they can get the requisite number of posts in to be able to post links.
                That doesn't really explain it though. Why not just make 15 posts to current threads? It's a lot more work to dredge up threads that are several years old.
                Steve

                * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
                * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
                * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Originally posted by JulieAlbright View Post
                  A time or two they've come really close to an almost poetic Haiku.
                  LOL - post of the day!

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                  • #10
                    Maybe because they might be recognized more immediately as spammers? I don't know. People are weird, which is pretty much my blanket explanation for everything.

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                    • #11
                      I would not object to having a review board of sorts. So before you are able to post to the general public, you have to post to the newbie forum, where a 20 question form awaits your answers. Then handle some Q&A from members of the review board over the period of a few days. After they are satisfied that you are simply not a troll, then they unlock the rest of the site.

                      There has to be a balance between accessibility and not scaring people away. But to be honest, if this (or any measure) scares away 90% of the trolls and 10% of legit people, I'd be ok with that. But then again, I don't run the site, so all I can do is offer this up.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by disneysteve View Post
                        This complaint comes up regularly. As you say, it is always new posters and often spammers doing this. I would be happy to see threads closed when there has been no activity for some set period of time like 3 months or 6 months. If someone wants to give an update after that, they can start a new thread and link to the old one.
                        I second this. I enjoy updates a year or so later, but a new thread can easily be started for that purpose.

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