nycindie
Active member
I am wondering if anyone here feels we shouldn't be able to resurrect an old discussion or not. Or do you consider it "necroposting" and undesirable?
I was prompted to write this after Dirtclustit was scolded for posting new messages to some pretty old threads. People do this sometimes - they search for a topic, find a thread they like, and post to it without looking at the date. I've done it, too. Sure, it can be strange or perhaps even annoying if someone addresses a new post to a person who hasn't logged in here in 3 years. But sometimes people purposely look for older threads simply because they're interesting! However, the purpose of this thread is not to talk about Dirtclustit, but the response from Ariakas in that particular thread.
Even though the discussion was continuing, Ari told Dirtclustit to "stop restoring ancient threads." I then stated to Ari that there is no rule in the Forum Guidelines prohibiting posting to old threads. In his reply, Ari told me he "wasn't necessarily speaking as a mod," when he scolded Dirtclustit. So, since Ari says he wasn't wearing his Moderator Hat when he posted to that thread, I feel I should be able to discuss the statements he made. I was going to reply over there, but rather than create a tangent on the other thread, which is here: The superiority complex against monogamous people... , I decided to start a new thread about it.
First, here is my response to Ari's last post:
Not true. I joined at the end of 2010 and have been very active here ever since. I've never seen anyone get scolded by a moderator here for posting to an old thread in all that time. In fact, one of my earliest posts was a resurrection of an old thread. Like you, I've been a moderator elsewhere and a member of numerous forums for many years (though I don't know why you brought that up - plenty of people here have lots of forum experience). Every online community is different. Most forums I've belonged to ask people to do a search first before posting a new thread.
The fact that there are no rules here against reviving old topics makes this forum more fun and user-friendly than some others, IMO. In fact, to quote one of our members:
But, let me see, "beaten with a big stick," hmmm. I did a little search... and these are just a few examples:
This was just a small sample, which I only posted to show you how much "reviving ancient threads" has indeed been encouraged and the norm here. So, where were all the big sticks? Maybe you were thinking of a different forum you belonged to?
I hope that something ImaginaryIllusion once wrote still applies here:
I think it's better to be able to continue as we have and not worry about how old a post is, though of course using common sense is important. Yay or nay, folks, on reviving old discussions?
I was prompted to write this after Dirtclustit was scolded for posting new messages to some pretty old threads. People do this sometimes - they search for a topic, find a thread they like, and post to it without looking at the date. I've done it, too. Sure, it can be strange or perhaps even annoying if someone addresses a new post to a person who hasn't logged in here in 3 years. But sometimes people purposely look for older threads simply because they're interesting! However, the purpose of this thread is not to talk about Dirtclustit, but the response from Ariakas in that particular thread.
Even though the discussion was continuing, Ari told Dirtclustit to "stop restoring ancient threads." I then stated to Ari that there is no rule in the Forum Guidelines prohibiting posting to old threads. In his reply, Ari told me he "wasn't necessarily speaking as a mod," when he scolded Dirtclustit. So, since Ari says he wasn't wearing his Moderator Hat when he posted to that thread, I feel I should be able to discuss the statements he made. I was going to reply over there, but rather than create a tangent on the other thread, which is here: The superiority complex against monogamous people... , I decided to start a new thread about it.
First, here is my response to Ari's last post:
Exactly half of the people who posted to this thread before Dirclustit did are still active members who either logged in or posted very recently. Why would that matter, anyway?No one in this thread posts anymore, or very few do.
It's just as easy, if not easier, to add to an old thread.Just start a new thread, with new people and reference this as a topic. Its relatively easy.
What two other mods? In those other cases, I believe that he was addressing his posts directly to people who hadn't been back in a long time, in topics that seemed more personal and less general. Nevertheless, if there is something specific about his posts that someone objects to, that is one thing, but for you to make a blanket statement against reviving old threads -- when doing so has long been not only accepted but encouraged here, and there is nothing in the Guidelines against it -- is unfair. We've usually just pointed out to people, "Hey, I don't think that person will see your post since they haven't been here in two years," or teased them about it, and let it go at that. But now all of a sudden, he's told he shouldn't post to "ancient threads" because we supposedly don't do that here? We've been able and encouraged to do it for a long time, why would it have changed now? Doesn't make any sense!(. . . I just know looking at his other threads, the two other mods both asked him to stop including other users), and is actively enforced on every forum I have ever been on or run.
. . . actually its always been discouraged, at every turn. Yes search, yes learn, no don't bring back the dead. Unless for two years they weren't saying that, this was actively enforced when I started here (in fact I watched many people get beaten with a big stick, so I was polite.
Not true. I joined at the end of 2010 and have been very active here ever since. I've never seen anyone get scolded by a moderator here for posting to an old thread in all that time. In fact, one of my earliest posts was a resurrection of an old thread. Like you, I've been a moderator elsewhere and a member of numerous forums for many years (though I don't know why you brought that up - plenty of people here have lots of forum experience). Every online community is different. Most forums I've belonged to ask people to do a search first before posting a new thread.
The fact that there are no rules here against reviving old topics makes this forum more fun and user-friendly than some others, IMO. In fact, to quote one of our members:
JaneQSmythe said:I love that this forum doesn't object to resurrecting old threads . . .
JaneQSmythe said:I have no problem with people responding to a thread where the OP is unlikely to respond. The post and the answers may be relevant to someone else's situation who is browsing/lurking.
But, let me see, "beaten with a big stick," hmmm. I did a little search... and these are just a few examples:
In Jan. 2011, Senga posted to a thread that had been "dead" for about a year. I teased her about "dredging up old threads" and two members who were moderators at the time wrote to encourage that practice:
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In Feb, 2011, Rarechild (whom I believe was still a Mod at the time) revived a thread Mono started, which hadn't had any posts since Dec. 2009. Several members, including other Moderators, continued the conversation, and indeed GS wrote:
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In Mar. 2011, LovingRadiance posted to an old thread of Maca's in General Discussions that also hadn't had any posts since Oct. 2009:
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In June 2011, questioningperson resurrected a thread that hadn't had any posts since May 2010. You obviously had no objection to rejoining the discussion back then, Ari:
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Again in June 2011, Rory posted to a thread that had no posts since 2009:
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In Nov. 2011, Rory revived another 2009 thread:
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This past June 2013, JaneQSmythe found an old thread from late 2010 and posted:
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redpepper said:that rocks. I love that shit... just cause they are old doesn't mean they aren't awesome! Thanks for the memory.
Another member added:NeonKaos said:i think it's super-grooovy when people read what has already been written on here instead of expecting everyone else to summarize and regurgitate things for them.
And then eight months later, the OP came back with an update:Lemondrop said:LOL Wow! I remember this thread! I'm still wishing them success.
No one was beaten with big sticks! Posting to an old thread was encouraged! Doing so even brought an old member back to post an update - and that is not the only instance when something like that happened.midnightsun said:Well, it's been a long time since we were here and since I posted anything on the poly board. It's good to know that people have kept us in their thoughts and care enough to check on us.
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In Feb, 2011, Rarechild (whom I believe was still a Mod at the time) revived a thread Mono started, which hadn't had any posts since Dec. 2009. Several members, including other Moderators, continued the conversation, and indeed GS wrote:
No one reprimanded RC for reviving a nearly 2-year old thread. Everybody was glad that she did.GroundedSpirit said:Old thread resurfaced - good !
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In Mar. 2011, LovingRadiance posted to an old thread of Maca's in General Discussions that also hadn't had any posts since Oct. 2009:
LovingRadiance said:So much time has passed . . .
The conversation continued for another month, and no one berated LR for reviving an "ancient" thread.LovingRadiance said:Yes, this one is an old thread, that I brought back up . . .
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In June 2011, questioningperson resurrected a thread that hadn't had any posts since May 2010. You obviously had no objection to rejoining the discussion back then, Ari:
You added your comments and then the conversation continued and several people expressed how much they appreciated that the thread had been revived:Ariakas said:Wow this is an old thread. Almost a year since I posted in it . . .
Erosa said:Wow, I love reading through this! It gives me lots of a ideas and it's very inspiring.
sage said:Interesting thread!!
Arrowbound said:Wow. Great thread.
The thread was still going as recently as Feb. 2013. QP was not scolded by anyone for resurrecting it.RainyGrlJenny said:This was a very fun thread to read!
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Again in June 2011, Rory posted to a thread that had no posts since 2009:
Several people participated in the conversation after that, including you, Ari. No mods intervened to say that old threads should not be "bumped."rory said:This is quite an old thread but I'll bump since we were talking about this with my girlfriend just yesterday.
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In Nov. 2011, Rory revived another 2009 thread:
Redpepper, then a moderator, even added:rory said:This is an old thread, and people have moved on from these situations. But I found these thoughts extremely helpful.
Lightning did not strike Rory for resurrecting it.redpepper said:Oh man this is an old thread! Nice! nice to have the chance to look back. Thanks rory.
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This past June 2013, JaneQSmythe found an old thread from late 2010 and posted:
JQS was not admonished for doing so, and the conversation continued into August.JaneQSmythe said:Poking around in old threads today and came across this one - thought I'd revive it.
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This was just a small sample, which I only posted to show you how much "reviving ancient threads" has indeed been encouraged and the norm here. So, where were all the big sticks? Maybe you were thinking of a different forum you belonged to?
I hope that something ImaginaryIllusion once wrote still applies here:
ImaginaryIllusion said:Our approach is generally hands off as much as possible . . . for a few key reasons.
We want people to be able to express themselves with minimal fear of censorship, even when what they have to say may be controversial. . . .
The community is mostly self regulating on it's own.
I think it's better to be able to continue as we have and not worry about how old a post is, though of course using common sense is important. Yay or nay, folks, on reviving old discussions?
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