# How do ZOMBIE threads happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 8, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935 "2011-03-08T16:29:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/41 "2011-03-09T15:52:02Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > So…mystifying people is _not_ recommended? Yeah. We’ll send zombies to get you if you do so.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/42 "2011-03-09T16:38:45Z")
> [@Heyoka13](#): > > I think in future as folks post on more and more boards, these site to site differences are going to produce increasing friction over protocol and ‘tradition’ and ‘but that’s how we do it here’ concerns. What do you mean “in the future”? I’ve seen violent clashes like these back to the mid-1990s. Ever seen a fight over whether one should put one’s reply before the quote of the previous post or after? (Top-posting versus bottom-posting) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/43 "2011-03-09T16:48:35Z")
I think, at the very least, there should be a warning to new members on the Registration page that they should not join simply to resurrect a years-old thread. Too often lately we’ve had posts like [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13549399#post13549399), which not only disinter 9-year-old zombies, but do so in order order to post xenophobic and barely-coherent screeds that don’t make any real contribution. It’s really getting pretty fucking annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/44 "2011-03-09T16:53:23Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I think, at the very least, there should be a warning to new members on the Registration page that they should not join simply to resurrect a years-old thread. Those people don’t read the registration agreement anyway. Even people who plan to hang around on a more long term basis often don’t read it. And on reflection we don’t want to tell people not to join the board. We may pride ourselves on being a little exclusive but that goes a bit too far. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/45 "2011-03-09T16:54:41Z")
I don’t see the need to do anything about zombie threads, not anything more than is currently done (i.e., locking them when it’s appropriate). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/46 "2011-03-09T17:08:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Those people don’t read the registration agreement anyway. I’m not talking about in the Registration Agreement. I’m talking about some honking big red text smack in the middle of the page where they fill out their personal details like username and password. And it’s not telling people “not to join the board.” It’s asking people who are joining the board to follow the same sort of rules as regular members, and not to create annoyance and confusion by reopening long-dead conversations. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/47 "2011-03-09T17:14:50Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > So…mystifying people is _not_ recommended? Isn’t mystifying people the way that you get zombies? One of the ways, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/48 "2011-03-09T18:16:05Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > What do you mean “in the future”? I’ve seen violent clashes like these back to the mid-1990s. > > Ever seen a fight over whether one should put one’s reply before the quote of the previous post or after? (Top-posting versus bottom-posting) I’m new here, a refugee from a defunct Space/science board. But with some corrupting influences from other places as well. I have also seen a variety of board software; nothing in the universe is as bad as Pluck, and amazingly enough, the now moribund Info-pop remains my favorite. I hate image hosting too . . . I’m just experiencing some adjustment to being here, things aren’t categorically better or worse, just different. I remain amazed (and a little starstruck) at how Landover is modded and the strategies they employ in carrying out their mission. It is a very different kind of board, but in regards to intelligence and creativity, their denizens are on par with SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/49 "2011-03-09T21:55:47Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > \*\* harrumph\*\* > > That was Dan Aykroyd. Umm… You forgot the “ **Musicat** , you ignorant slut!” part. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/50 "2011-03-10T04:30:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > We may pride ourselves on being a little exclusive but that goes a bit too far. Exclusive? Come on..you let \*me \*in! You can’t be too exclusive.. or should I be expecting a “just kidding” PM soon? -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/52 "2011-03-10T13:14:07Z")
Soooo how long does it take for a thread to zombify? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/53 "2011-03-10T16:51:17Z")
Haha! I asked that exact same question once. Not here, somewhere, it doesn’t matter. The point is, was, that I had been verbally abused for posting in a thread, because it was “too old”, and I, being the foolish and naive idiot at the time, asked the obvious question. I think the answer was a definitive “it depends”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/54 "2011-03-10T17:02:02Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Soooo how long does it take for a thread to zombify? Anywhere from instantly to several days. My cite is that I watched AMC’s _The Walking Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/55 "2011-03-10T19:20:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Those people don’t read the registration agreement anyway. Even people who plan to hang around on a more long term basis often don’t read it. There’s a registration agreement? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/56 "2011-03-10T20:35:28Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > There’s a registration agreement? **Captain Amazing** you ignorant slut. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/57 "2011-03-10T22:17:05Z")
One reason I rarely post, is that I don’t understand the agreement, and the various sets of rules here. Good news, unless you feel the need to speak, one can enjoy any forum with little risk. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/58 "2011-03-11T00:22:42Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > One reason I rarely post, is that I don’t understand the agreement, and the various sets of rules here. Good idea. It can be very dangerous to post here without fully understanding the Squid Clause. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/59 "2011-03-11T01:01:51Z")
Ain’t that the way it always goes? A Squid Clause, but does anybody tell you about it? Noooo. They just sit back and wait … ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/60 "2011-09-13T22:50:18Z")
braaaaaaainsss ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935/61 "2011-09-13T23:07:44Z")
AAAHHHH!!! Kill it! Kill it with fire!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-zombie-threads-happen/573935.md?page=4)