# What's with all of the zombie threads lately?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [February 24, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866 "2012-02-24T19:27:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/1 "2012-02-24T19:27:36Z")

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Anyone else noticing this? Is this the start of the zombie thread apocalypse?

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**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/2 "2012-02-24T19:33:08Z")

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Zombie threads are trending.

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/3 "2012-02-24T19:34:13Z")

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I think it’s due largely to the extreme and immediate search provided by Google. People with special interests sign on to services that promise to notify them quickly if a certain topic comes up anywhere on the Internet. This could be a commercial interest or a hobby, but it obviously benefits spammers or shills.

Many is the time when I replied to a very new thread, then thought I would try to learn more about the subject before continuing. Googling, I find the first reference shown is the same thread on SDMB. They’re just too darn quick.

And the only hint that a thread is a zombie, not that the new posters care, is a fairly insignificant data field with no apparent value to the uninitiated.

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/4 "2012-02-24T19:40:33Z")

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**Musicat** , that sounds like a good explanation. But we’ve been Google-searchable for years. The zombies have increased in the last month or so.

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**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/5 "2012-02-24T19:42:46Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> **Musicat** , that sounds like a good explanation. But we’ve been Google-searchable for years. The zombies have increased in the last month or so.

Obviously you haven’t been paying attention to either ATMB, or the board in general. This subject comes up at least once a month.

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/6 "2012-02-24T19:43:06Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> **Musicat** , that sounds like a good explanation. But we’ve been Google-searchable for years. The zombies have increased in the last month or so.

It feels like it, but I wonder if that assertion can be supported by evidence like post-counts. Or does it just seem that way?

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/7 "2012-02-24T19:57:00Z")

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Maybe it just seems that way. If there’s at least a thread per month about it in this forum – well, I don’t visit this forum very often.

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/8 "2012-02-24T20:45:18Z")

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Has there been a upsurge in new members or guests lately? It seem a lot of the zombies are brought back by brand new people, some of them registering for the express purpose of replying to a thread that probably came up in a Google search.

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/9 "2012-02-24T20:49:02Z")

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> [@Boyo\_Jim](#):
>
> Has there been a upsurge in new members or guests lately? It seem a lot of the zombies are brought back by brand new people, some of them registering for the express purpose of replying to a thread that probably came up in a Google search.

Don’t know about the new member count, but that’s pretty much what I said in post #3, isn’t it?

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**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/10 "2012-02-24T20:50:45Z")

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> [@Musicat](#):
>
> I think it’s due largely to the extreme and immediate search provided by Google. People with special interests sign on to services that promise to notify them quickly if a certain topic comes up anywhere on the Internet. This could be a commercial interest or a hobby, but it obviously benefits spammers or shills.
> 
> Many is the time when I replied to a very new thread, then thought I would try to learn more about the subject before continuing. Googling, I find the first reference shown is the same thread on SDMB. They’re just too darn quick.
> 
> _ **And the only hint that a thread is a zombie, not that the new posters care, is a fairly insignificant data field with no apparent value to the uninitiated** _.

(bolding mine)

If you click on “go to last post” without bothering to go back to the beginning of the thread, (after someone has brought it back to life) one may not realize that they are posting to a zombie thread.

The thread titles give no hint as to _ **when** _ that particular thread was started.

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**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/11 "2012-02-24T21:07:53Z")

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> [@JBDivmstr](#):
>
> If you click on “go to last post” without bothering to go back to the beginning of the thread, (after someone has brought it back to life) one may not realize that they are posting to a zombie thread.

Quite a few of them either read the OP or actually quote posts in the thread, so that excuse kinda disappears. A more likely explanation is that they simply don’t care or think that no one here cares (as many other sites that care lock old threads automatically).

EDIT—I know that doesn’t pertain to what I quoted, but it does pertain to your bolded quote.

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**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:** [February 24, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/12 "2012-02-24T21:28:35Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> **Musicat** , that sounds like a good explanation. But we’ve been Google-searchable for years. The zombies have increased in the last month or so.

Not as far as I am aware. There was a notable increase in zombies when the board became Google searchable. I haven’t noticed any particular increase in the last month.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/13 "2012-02-24T22:46:30Z")

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Must be that the new season of _The Walking Dead_ is only 2 weeks old. Well, the 2nd half of the new season, anyway. I hear Walkers love to post on this MB!

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/14 "2012-02-24T22:51:58Z")

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We’ve had a lot of “What’s with all the zombie threads lately?” threads lately, too. People notice them at different times. There are more zombie threads than there were years ago because of the indexing and because there are more threads to be resurrected, but there hasn’t been any particular upswing recently.

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**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/15 "2012-02-24T22:56:17Z")

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> [@srzss05](#):
>
> Obviously you haven’t been paying attention to either ATMB, or the board in general. This subject comes up at least once a month.

Seems as if people seem to think that because they personally are noticing a lot of zombies that there’s suddenly a huge influx.

Here are a few previous ATMB threads on zombies

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=641801&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=641801&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598635&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598635&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634954&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634954&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626907&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626907&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=624601&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=624601&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=609827&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=609827&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=599906&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=599906&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267500&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267500&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619362&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619362&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619101&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619101&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617207&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617207&highlight=zombie)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613763&highlight=zombie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613763&highlight=zombie)

And that’s where I got sick of copypastaing.

Whew, sometimes I wonder if there aren’t almost as many topics about zombie threads as there are zombie threads.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/16 "2012-02-24T23:00:03Z")

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> [@TBG](#):
>
> Seems as if people seem to think that because they personally are noticing a lot of zombies that there’s suddenly a huge influx.

Exactly what I was trying to say.

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**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:** [February 24, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/17 "2012-02-24T23:51:10Z")

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> [@TBG](#):
>
> And that’s where I got sick of copypastaing.

I get you. No matter how good the sauce, I can only take so much copypasta.

Variety is the spica of lifa.

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**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:** [February 25, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-of-the-zombie-threads-lately/613866/18 "2012-02-25T15:47:13Z")

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> [@JBDivmstr](#):
>
> Last edited by JBDivmstr; Yesterday at 03:53 PM. Reason: corekt speling an punkshashun iz a gud theng

You forgot to put a period on the end of that sentence. 😉

😃