GOD!!!
Jokes. In messages posted on this board. Tired and weary jokes. What a shock.
I make mention of the fact that a thread is a zombie not to make the person (often a newbie) feel bad about resurrecting an old thread, but to alert people reading the thread that the thread is a zombie. It’s not always easy to figure that out, since many of us simply click on the “go to first new post” button, and won’t see that there is a substantial gap in posts.
If I’m making mention of the fact that the thread is a zombie thread, I can say something like, “Just FYI: this thread is a zombie.” Or, I can be cute and make some sort of light-hearted comment that has an element of humor. I guess that’s annoying to some people; I won’t apologize for it, as I suspect that the number annoyed is substantially fewer than the number not annoyed.
I see that I received a request from Colibri about this very thing in a thread he closed. “Personally appreciate”. With respect, sir, you do not as a Moderator have the authority to “personally appreciate” that posters modify their behavior to make you happy. As I stated above, the point of the post is NOT to a) get a moderator to close the thread (I would report it if that was what I thought was needed, as I have in the past) or b) inform the new poster of anything. It serves the VERY VALID PURPOSE of informing every other poster following that the thread has been resurrected.
I have personally appreciated things people have done for me many times over the years(a few times as a mod here), but apparently I didn’t have the proper authority to do so. For this, I personally apologize to all those I have offended…unless I don’t have the proper authority to do that, either.
I suggest the word “Reported” be changed to “orgasm donated”, and the function renamed; “Orgasm donation.”
Then we wouldn’t have 3 or 4 “reported” posts in a row, as in a current thread. And, the mods could brag about who got the most orgasm donations.
No it doesn’t, which is my main point. This was the entirety of your post in the thread in question, which was the first one after its resurrection:
This only informs veteran posters that the thread is old. It will be enigmatic not just to the newbie who bumped it but also to anyone else not familiar with the joke. The point of your post specifically was merely to make the joke, not to inform people that the thread is old. It is not some kind of public service to other posters. You could accomplish this much more effectively in another way.
If you want to inform people that a thread is old, then you’re welcome to do so. You can even post a zombie joke if you absolutely must. But the way you did it is not courteous to the person who bumped the thread, nor to others who may be not be familiar with this board.
Why is this so important that you that you want to persist with behavior you’ve been informed is annoying?
I disagree. It helps to serve as an indicator that the thread is, indeed, a zombie thread. Many people read posts and reply without looking at the dates, both new posters who resurrect zombie threads and established SDMB members who are replying to the new post (I know I’ve also seen people reply to a zombie and then reply again when they find an older post they made from back when the thread was newly current).
Are we also prepared to ban replies to the effect of “Hey, New Poster, just FYI this is an old thread and many of the people who participated in it may no longer be around (or even remember this thread)”? Both serve the same purpose, just one has a snark/comedy angle to it.
ETA: I see that many others have made the same point; cool.
There’s an old adage that goes something like “You only get one chance to make a first impression”, and I wonder if someone might take “ZOMBIE!!” and/or “Brains!!” as a personal insult about their intelligence. I know that some want to get their tired jokes in, but I also know the the difference between telling a joke to someone(your fellow jokesters), and telling a joke about someone(the first-timer who probably doesn’t know why you are mocking her/him).
I think you’re wildly overstating the harm of zombie jokes. Most thread necromancers never post again even if they are not made fun of. My cite is the Stewart Sandwiches thread, which has dozens of well-meaning and even insightful bumps and very little teasing. How many of those posters stuck around?
It’s reasonable enough to be annoyed at tired jokes, but not so much the “won’t somebody think of the newbies” argument. Nobody is being driven from the dope because of braaaaaiiiins.
I was 100% kidding, but honestly I would prefer quality over quantity. Maybe from a financial standpoint the Dope just wants as many members as they can get, but from where I’m sitting I would much prefer a smaller group of thoughtful, well-educated people than a larger group of one-word posters who contribute nothing to the thread. And you know exactly who I’m talking about.
I’m with you one the one word posters. But if all you want on this board is “well educated” members, I kind of think you’re missing the point of this board’s mission charter. And ironically, I find this sentiment more abrasive than any “zombie joke” I’ve ever read.
I apologize, I didn’t literally mean “well-educated”. I mean people who are able to string together a complete sentence on a text-based medium. I myself am not well-educated, haha, but I do think before I post and try to use correct grammar.
Anyway, back on topic, I never got the impression zombie jokes hurt anybody’s feelings, but I still think a simple warning message when posting to an old thread would solve it, if it’s possible to implement something like that.
I"d prefer just a, “Welcome Newbie. FYI, this thread was started back in 2004 and most of the participants are no longer on this message board.”
Maybe I’m just really sensitive, but I’ve always hated the experience of starting a new job and everyone in the department is constantly dropping inside jokes. Me, as the newbie, and desperately wanting to fit in as a ‘team player’ getting all queasy because I don’t know the reference.
Now, of course, a message board isn’t as big of a deal . But still, as a newbie, I’d be taken back if I’d posted a legitimate response to a thread and then I"m bombarded with references to brains.
I’m not sayin’ NUTHIN’!