I'd like to applaud our new zombie killing overlords

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1

I realize that TPTB have relaxed the rules on zombie threads. I know that I should get in the habit of checking the dates of OPs when I read them. But, I still find myself reading through 3 pages of an interesting thread only to find that the point I wanted to make would have been to a poster who hasn’t been active for a decade.

Lately, it seems that Zombie threads seems to be getting closed more often than not.

So, huzzah! I’m stuck in the old ways and that’s the way I like it!

And, you damn kids get off my lawn!

2

Generally I agree. However I think this thread had promise to try and guess how things worked out…

Very badly I assume.

3

I dunno about the other forums, but I’m still generally leaving zombies open in General Questions, at least if the new post (or following ones) provides significant new information.

I may post a reminder about the age of the thread if I see it, especially if I am moving it to a different forum. However, posters really should get in the habit of reading the OP, including the date of the first post. This would avoid any frustration experienced.

4

I agree Colibri, but the difficulty is that one in twenty or fifty (in my case) is a zombie. The best indication I get is when I see Dopers names which I don’t recognise or know are no longer part of the scene. Which of course does not assist later members.

5

I’ve been closing some in IMHO on subjects that tend to generate new threads periodically anyway. So, a menstruation thread from seven years ago or a sex fantasy thread from 10 years ago really doesn’t need to be resurrected. A new thread can be started without any loss of content.

The old thread’s still around if anyone wants to read it. My thinking is that these are subjects that people want to contribute to. It makes for more active, current dynamic threads to have them fresh, rather than trying to animate long-dead zombies.

So to speak.

6

I shut them down when the resurrectionist is posting to argue with people that have been gone for years, of course.

7

I’ll say it again: if it’s not personal and specific, who cares if the previous posters are still around? A political or cultural idea that would have been worth making to them should be equally worth making to whoever is reading the thread now… or in times to come, after you’re gone.

8

Hey! Where do you think I’m going?!?! Should I be scared?

J/K

It’s not about the poster, it’s about the time. Sure, on occasion it’s appropriate. But, if they’re complaining about Clinton era politics, Obama’s new policy isn’t going to be relevant to the discussion.
My only real complaint is that I don’t know that I’m reading a zombie until I’ve already read the zombie. I know I should just read the date, but like Cicero said, 95% of the time, I dont’ need to.

Besides, I’m not complaining about all zombie threads. I’m just applauding the mods for closing down the irrelevant ones.

9

I tend to leave them open, as well, but it really depends on just how old it is and what the poster who bumped it said.

If it’s a topic from, say 2004 and they actually are replying to the topic, that’s good.

If it’s a topic from 1999 or 2000 and they just bumped it up to say “This” to another quote…yeahhhh.

10

Yeah. For a moment I got excited when someone referred to the latest Absurd Notions comic, then I checked the date. Nope, it still hasn’t been updated for years. Sigh.

11

plus one

12

Take a look at each and every post and then say this again. The names are about 1/4" below the dates.

13

Well thanks for telling me something I have known for ten years.

I notice names. I don’t notice the dates.

14

Perhaps, but even you can see how silly it is to complain about not noticing the date but the name when the date is jumping right out at you. Like the old cliche that if it were a snake it would have bit you.

EDIT—I will admit I just checked it out in FF and it does seem to be slightly harder to read the date than in IE.

15

The names are bolded and in larger type Sherlock. The dates are in a pale grey.

16

Not in my browser they’re not. Did you see my edit above?

17

Zombies usually seem to be revived by new users stumbling across a thread in a google search, but in this case I’m dying to know…

Agent Foxtrot, what prompted the resurrection?

18

I still like the idea I suggested in this thread. Have an automatic change in background or font color kick in on any post that’s more than six months old. That way when you open a zombie thread, you’ll immediately see that it’s old posts and you also can easily see where the new posts start.