Exhumation

Why do some folk re-open old threads ?
It's like it's being exhumed.

RubenR said:

Some things never get old
Sometimes, it is an hommage, or an anniversary
Sometimes, it just answers the questions you were dealing with
Sometimes, people just want to annoy
Sometimes, just, because we can

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and sometimes because people don't think to check the date on what they're replying.

*makes a note to revive this thread in five years' time*

Handley_Page said:

Why do some folk re-open old threads ?
It's like it's being exhumed.

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And yet when someone asks a question that gets asked a lot, they get told to "Use search" which is why old threads get dug up.

My I said:

And yet when someone asks a question that gets asked a lot, they get told to "Use search" which is why old threads get dug up.

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Exactly. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

If you accidentally post in a thread that's years old because someone revived it, then the thread has merit, because there's still discussion remaining, or you wouldn't have tapped "Reply".

If you did notice it, and don't want to continue the discussion, then don't. The thread will sink back into the bowels ( aka, page 2 ) in no time flat if it's ignored.

I've never understood the blind hatred of thread necromancy. I can understand individual threads. The current zombie shambling around is a political thread, and they aren't allowed in the AH any longer. It's a good example of one that should probably be put back to rest, because it no longer fits the forum.

But, it isn't blind, uncompromising hatred. If the right thread is resurrected by the right person, it's batted about as sweet reminiscence and cooed over.

That's the double standard that makes me slap my forehead and groan.

I resemble that remark!

Truthfully, a couple of times I have revived an old thread I was actually a part of just to see if I can spark some interest amongst new faces in continuing the conversation. (Particularly if I found it humorous. Which most probably wouldn't agree with my assessment.)

Other times, I'll be reading through an oldie I wasn't around for and decide I've got a little something to add. And crusty old farts (like me) can get snippy if you create a new thread the same as one that had gone before. Is what I feel I have to add as important as what was discussed at the time? Probably not, no. But, it feels important enough to me to formulate a somewhat coherent response. Probably at least as important to me as what the original posters felt theirs were to them (if not so well informed).

I don't know. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I can't help but think it's a mistake to think that just because a conversation was held a long while back that there is nothing else to contribute from one source or another. Or nothing to be learned from it by someone new to the forums. Even if it wasn't highly thought of enough to rate being stickied.

And, too, some days (most really) I find typing a painful procedure. Which many will probably wonder about considering how verbose I can get. (What they don't realize is it may take me an hour to formulate and type out a response.) So, if there's something that's been covered elsewhere I want to repeat, it just makes more sense to work some zombie magick so it can be read without me needing to ice and heat my hands when I'm done.

And, hey. Just because you taught Methuselah about it and are bored with it doesn't mean it isn't new to us young whippersnappers.

PuckIt said:

I don't know. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I can't help but think it's a mistake to think that just because a conversation was held a long while back that there is nothing else to contribute from one source or another. Or nothing to be learned from it by someone new to the forums. Even if it wasn't highly thought of enough to rate being stickied.

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Fair enough. The ones that annoy me are when somebody responds to a specific request for advice many years after it was posted, or the latest one where somebody tried to argue with a poster who's been dead since 2014.

Bramblethorn said:

Fair enough. The ones that annoy me are when somebody responds to a specific request for advice many years after it was posted, or the latest one where somebody tried to argue with a poster who's been dead since 2014.

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Yeah, I get that. But I don't have a problem with people exhuming old threads if they want to re-start the discussion. I'll assume that they've read all the back posts but want to see what their readers are thinking now, or they want come comment about a particular observation they've made. No point in starting a new thread, particularly if there's stuff on the old thread that's still relevant.

I remember putting something on another forum (not Lit). I started a thread, and then found that the Moderator had moved my post to another thread that was over five years old. On the one hand, I hadn't known the earlier thread existed. On the other hand, I'm glad that others who had visited that thread had a chance to see what I'd posted, which they might not otherwise have had.

I don't mind seeing these threads pop up again. If I find I can add something to them, well and good. If I can't, no harm done.