Has there been an unusually large number of zombie threads in the past week or so?
It feels like it.
Spring Break?
Wal-Mart is having a special on brains.
No. Just lots of ATMB threads about zombie threads.
I still don’t understand why they happen so often. I mean, the internet has been around for quite a while now, and if I ran across something online, I sure as heck wouldn’t assume that was currently active, or that the people who last wrote something would still be around to see my response. I’d at least look for a date stamp.
I agree, Thudlow, but not everyone on the internet is that savvy. And, in many cases, it doesn’t matter that a thread is old. If you think you’ve got something new and interesting to add, then so what if it’s an old conversation?
Frankly, I think the most surprising thing isn’t the existence of zombie threads, it’s the monthly question asking about zombie threads.
There’s a search function. Sometimes people search for stuff, find it interesting and then add a comment. And get this, SOMETIMES THEY DO IT WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE DATE.
Shocking, I know. They should be beaten with sticks.
Couple years/20 months back I needed some info on some odd toy soldiers. I posted here and got a little info but not much. I found a website and message board that looked to answer some of my questions but not all but the last post or activity was 2005. What the heck? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. So I signed up and made a post. A week later one of the old members responded, e-mailed me and the questions got answered. The whole site was basically a zombie but the mail forwards from the old message board still worked and at least one guy still have the same e-mail address.
This is a long way of saying I don’t really care what the last date stamp was. To fight my own ignorance I’ll revive a zombie if I have to and sometimes it gets good results. Sometimes not. But I can live with that.
Now, on the other hand, resurrect one to give my favorite color? Probably not.
There are members that have been here for years that claim that they answer zombie threads without looking at the dates, and that seems to get some of them upset. It’s ironic that they complain about “newbies” posting in zombie threads when they do the same thing.
They complain about newbies creating the zombie threads. They feel they shouldn’t have to check the date stamp every time they open a thread on this MB, but people stumbling on it for the first time should. Bit of a difference.
Somebody needs to bump this thread in 2017 or so.
The only difference (IMHO) is one of degree. And, as kopek notes, even if some newcomer does look at a date stamp, why would that stop them from commenting in that old thread? How’re they supposed to know to start a new thread (starting a new thread, they might be scolded for not searching for the old thread.) In short, to repeat, the mods just don’t see it as much of a problem, if there are occasional thread revivals – sort of like theatre and Broadway.
No, I’m talking about the ones that respond, and then get all bent out of shape when they realize it is an old thread because they didn’t look before responding. There is no difference other than the new people don’t care, and the established ones get bent out of shape.
If the people that don’t even respond get upset, then there is something wrong with them as well.
Weird thing I’ve noticed is that most of them seem to be from 2010, way above any other year.