Is it weird? Is it rude? Should threads be archived?
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.
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top of the front page, so someone going through and commenting on multiple old posts would flood the front page with outdated discussions.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?”
Thanks.
Me posting in a thread that was last active in 2005:
Every thread on lemmy is dead
By reddit standards maybe. I’ll tell you though I am always delighted whenever I recognize a user from another thread.
It’s so easy bc there’s only dozens of them
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
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.
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 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.
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’ll let you know in a year.
I never understood the taboo.
Me neither, but someone commented here it’s a holdover from the days of forums where a new reply to an old thread would instantly put that thread at the top of the forums because the order was always latest reply. This was found annoying by some people especially if the new reply was short and meaningless or something. Makes more sense to me now.
It’s a holdover from old BBS forum style.
When you reply to an ancient thread, it immediately gets pushed to the top of the board. Now everyone basically is wondering what this 5 year old topic is doing on the first page. And they might have to read through several pages of messages to understand what the hell the newest reply is about because nobody remembers the topic in the first place.
With Reddit/Lemmy, the upvote system means it really doesn’t matter at all if you reply to an ancient thread, it won’t jump to the front page for anyone.
yes it will for those who (like me) are sorting by “new comments”
If you’re replying to a conversation that’s not hot-hot-hot, it’s because there’s new info.
Of course update a thread with new info. Threads aren’t lettuce.
This dainty notion of FOMO-based gatekeeping - you missed out, and the thread is just too stale for you - is quaint but valueless.
It’s really really funny to do. Hate anyone who does it to me though. Shit’s funnier than when Rick turned himself into a pickle when I do it though
Depends on what the thread was about. If it’s a technical thread, and if you have something to contribute that might help someone in the future with that issure, go ahead. Most of the rest of the time, it’s just bad form.
I hope we have threads stay alive for years
If the thread is still relevant - post away!
this was how it worked on forums back in the day, no? i see it as a revival of a good thing
