# About how Zombie threads come back to life **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 12, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554 "2022-08-12T14:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554/22 "2022-08-16T03:30:47Z")
Do you mean attach as a tag? The only reason that I don’t think tags are a good solution is that I’ve never seen any evidence that anybody pays attention to tags. They never seem to get referenced inside a thread. Last October What Exit? asked [if anyone was using them](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-tags-was-adding-tags-to-many-cafe-threads-to-organize-them-better/921842/12) and got no answers until one question four months later about their not working. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554/23 "2022-08-16T05:54:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The only reason that I don’t think tags are a good solution is that I’ve never seen any evidence that anybody pays attention to tags. I usually forget they even exist. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554/24 "2022-08-16T06:11:48Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I (and many other mods) started leaving the zombies open to see what would happen to them. Sometimes no one would care and the thread would just drop off of the main page, so no biggie. Sometimes the thread would take on a new life, which was a good thing. And if the thread was problematic, we could still close it. I’m on team Leave a Relevant Thread Open, even for dopey bumps. Unless it becomes problematic in a way that it can’t be corrected by moderating individuals (rare) or is an expired topic (Hillary!), threads should be left open. For newbs, bumps, spammers bringing to light previously unseen discussion: Leave open: potential more content. Close: no more content forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554/25 "2022-08-16T14:07:00Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The only reason that I don’t think tags are a good solution is that I’ve never seen any evidence that anybody pays attention to tags. I do. For instance, if I’m looking for a thread about books, the tag means I don’t have to wade through all the threads about movies and food. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554/26 "2022-08-16T14:08:38Z")
I’ve found the ability to automatically watch or mute all threads with a given tag rather helpful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-zombie-threads-come-back-to-life/969554.md?page=1)