Say you ask a question in GQ, and when you check back the next day, the thread is at the end of the second page with one or two responses which answer the question. Would you post a reply saying “thank you” and bump the thread to the top, or just let the thread die? Which do you think is better?
Bump it.
If that doesn’t get it there, try again in a few days.
It’s all the luck of the draw.
Except for 1 thing - Make sure your thread has a full description of the question. Coy descriptions get lots of looks but from people who don’t care.
If you have something to add, then post it. If you don’t, do not just bump it. It’s annoying and if it catches on, then when everybody bumps old threads, you’ve pretty much killed the whole point (I’ve seen at least one message board where this has happened).
If your question is answered and it has fallen to the second page, do not bump it. Doing so will force another thread, which may not have been answered yet, from the first page to the second.
I’ll admit to trying to keep my threads on the front page as long as possible. If there’s a good reason to add to it, I will. I try to avoid going to extreme lengths to keep a thread alive. If it died, it died. Then again, I’ve got a total of three (myabe four) GQ threads to my name, after eight months, so I really wouldn’t be concerned much with it brining the board to a halt either way.
I’ve posted a couple threads that I was tempted to bump, but never did, for the reason David B cites. My solution? Don’t post on the weekends. There seems to be much less traffic on the boards at that time, and therefore less chance to get responses.
-
In another (more active) thread, make some obscure reference to the thread you’d like to see revived, such as this one. Hopefully somebody else will have something to add and they’ll bump it back up for you.
-
If that doesn’t work, send an email to handy@redshift.com and handy will post some comment to your thread about how you could have gotten an answer just by looking in the dictionary.