Is it weird? Is it rude? Should threads be archived?
Perfectly fine. Bumps don’t do what they used to do in messageboard/BBS contexts, so if you have something useful/clever/funny to say in a dead thread I say go for it.
Heck, sometimes it can prompt a follow-up when someone says “You know, I should do [x related to topic]” after some time has passed, which is fun.
We had the opportunity to do something really funny, here
You still can if you come back in 5 years
The wording had initially confused me.
I thought this was about posts that got no comments, not about necro’ing posts.
Honestly, I think necro’ing posts is really only a problem when your forum software doesn’t have many options for sorting the feed. Lemmy is more advanced; if you don’t like necro’d posts, then just don’t sort by recent activity.
Not if we keep this thread alive.
In memory of the lost ones: *Bump
If I come across a post and I have something significant enough to comment, I leave it regardless of age. But I don’t think I’m ever going to see anything more than a few days old with how I browse.
I acknowledge it. I preface my post with something, usually /rezz or I’ll comment “I know this is old but…”
It is a holdover from the old forum days when adding a comment would pop a thread to the top of the front page, so someone going through and commenting on multiple old posts would flood the front page with outdated discussions. Generally those people would also post worthless comments, like ‘Thanks’, that didn’t add anything.
Now that we have more ways to sort the underlying problem is no longer relevant, but some people still hold on to that mindset. Some people who weren’t around for the older forums may have caught the disdain from others, or could even just have it in their minds that discussions always have limited time frames for whatever reason.
I don’t care unless someone relies to my comment to continue some stupid argument they started four months ago.
Oh I didn’t know that! I didn’t grow up on forums but I used them a few times here and there. You’re right new replies do push a thread to the top. Kind of a bad design lol.
It was a great design when the intent was to make new discussion visible. It was great for reviving threads when new and prodictive discussion was added!
Like any design, there will be cases where it doesn’t work as intended. It is hard to design around people adding non-productive comments.
Fair point
There’s only one forum I visit nowadays and it gets older threads revived every now and then. Usually to say “Whatever happened to that? Is it done yet?”
If it’s a question that has no answer (or no useful answer) it’s totally fine to comment with an answer.
I figure that someone will eventually stumble across the same thread that I did if they have a similar question. Might as well contribute and share some knowledge.
My favorite was a specific problem I had modding Morrowind on Linux years ago and posting to reddit.
Only for years to pass and I search for the same problem, only to find my own damn post with no replies.
Depends on the type of community, forums it’s potentially disruptive since it bumps it to the top. Redsit/Lemmy style it matters less.
I certainly would advocate against archiving Lemmy posts in a way that “locks” them, I can’t tell you how many times an old reddit post shows up in a search result and helpful newer replies with the most recent information is still getting added sporadically.
I get comments on months old posts, I’m fine with it since it will help future users
If the person is looking for a discussion (ex. They need help with the software I posted about), then it’s usually better they make a new post
The older the thread the funnier necroing is. If the forums I was on in middle school were still around you can bet I’d be bumping some of those threads just for teh lulz.
If it’s relevant for future people who found the thread the same way I did, sure. It’s like of you were looking for a treasure in a network of caves, and you see writing in the wall from previous treasure seekers saying “beware of bats.” If I add “left cave has dragon” it might help someone else.
Also, if the OP or other accounts are still active, they might get still a notification.
Oh like dark souls lol.
I was thinking more like the end of Month Python and the Holy Grail, but sure.
Even on reddit I’d get replies to years old comments. I remember one user watching Breaking Bad and reading the old response threads and engaging with me from there.
I don’t mind at all, especially as I’m trying to be uplifting with my comments.
In my experience people primarily get annoyed at thread necro when it’s to ask/discuss something tangential to the initial thread. Just start a new one in that case, instead of potentially bumping notifications to several people for your barely-related issue/discussion.
OTOH if it’s relevant info for a long dead thread then by all means add it or ask your query, that info could be valuable to someone with the same issue or it could be a pertinent update to an old discussion with new info.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with necroing a thread though. Automated archiving of threads is mostly counter-productive. Like when I find a closed and locked thread on GitHub that I have a fix for I just go “oh well guess they can find the fix themselves”.
do whatever you want, who’s going to stop you the thread police?
I think people call it deadposting. I’ve heard someone be like “Sorry for deadposting” so I thought if they’re apologizing it must be frowned upon.
I mean… Sometimes it’s weird, but sometimes it’s not. Depends on what the thread is about and how long it’s been, I guess.
Generally speaking, if the thread isn’t “time-sensitive,” if you want to reply, just reply. That’s my take.
RemindMe! 1000 years
