# Who resurrects zombies? And why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542 "2015-10-13T13:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/1 "2015-10-13T13:10:17Z")
I was scrolling through GQ this a.m., and ran across [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=457653). Someone resurrected it after 7 years. Have you ever resurrected a zombie? If so, would you discuss what caused you to do so? I guess different people use message boards in any number of different ways. But I’m trying to figure out what would lead me to conduct a search that resulted in a years’ old topic, and then if I did, why I would reply in a manner as though I were simply continuing the conversation. Note: I’m not talking about an anniversary of a past event, or a new development in something discussed before. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/2 "2015-10-13T13:28:33Z")
Blame Google. And the unfathomable and timeless questions that 3 billion people can come up with. It’d be the thrill of the find and the rush to register that negate any date checking. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/3 "2015-10-13T13:30:52Z")
Yeah, a lot of zombies are resurrected by someone searching something on Google like Stewart sandwiches, find the thread and quickly register to comment. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/4 "2015-10-13T13:55:20Z")
And some of those zombie resurrecters become valued SDMB members. [sub]well, it _could_ happen[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/5 "2015-10-13T14:00:23Z")
Ahh - hadn’t thought of that. :smack: Sure enough, the resurrecter in the thread I linked joined just this month. Go forth in the comfort that you dispelled a tiny portion of my ignorance this morning! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/6 "2015-10-13T14:01:27Z")
Plantation owners, mainly to cut and bring in the sugar cane crop. Oh, shit. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/7 "2015-10-13T15:12:11Z")
I resurrected a few because Tapatalk would default to “trending” threads. I have no idea what that meant, but they were often years old. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/8 "2015-10-13T15:15:00Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Ahh - hadn’t thought of that. :smack: Sure enough, the resurrecter in the thread I linked joined just this month. Go forth in the comfort that you dispelled a tiny portion of my ignorance this morning! I would guess that better than 95% of zombie resurrectors are newbies who came across the thread while Googling and didn’t notice (or didn’t care) it was old. Occasionally zombies will also be resurrected by spammers. We usually remove the post and any reports so the zombie floats back down to the depths where it was sleeping, but sometimes it gets enough posts before we get to it that we leave it open. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/9 "2015-10-13T15:31:30Z")
I think that new posters who join because of one thread, aren’t familiar with the SDMB and miss that it’s an old thread. I think at this point we just have to get over zombies and realize that it’s helping to bring new members to the board, some of whom stick around. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/10 "2015-10-13T17:53:25Z")
The drive by zombies is why I prefer another message board I go to (that uses the same software). There they have a note on any thread more than a year old that you have to click a button acknowledging that you understand this thread is years old and what you have to say is worth reviving it. It won’t prevent zombie threads outright but it does at least cause one to ‘think’ about it before they repost it. Very rarely does that board have zombie threads. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/11 "2015-10-13T18:20:08Z")
I do, if its an interesting topic and some earlier posters are still active. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/12 "2015-10-13T18:49:34Z")
I think there is some kind of tip for new Dopers, that instead of starting a new topic, they should first search to see if there’s already a thread for it. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/13 "2015-10-13T18:54:07Z")
I’ve resurrected a few zombies here and there, almost always in Cafe Society or The Game Room, because I had a single comment about a recipe or TV show or movie or video game that really didn’t warrant a fresh thread, but I still felt the need to share. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/14 "2015-10-13T19:16:15Z")
I’ve done it a number of times. For example there is a big accident–and a year later the authorities release an investigation of that accident. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/15 "2015-10-13T22:13:56Z")
I don’t think I ever have, but the situation I might do it is this: I start to post something, then it occurs to me that there might be an old thread on the subject, so I search for it, find it, and think I have something interesting to add to it. Since we are discouraged from duplicate threads, this seems reasonable. That said, I wish there was a notice that a thread was a zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/16 "2015-10-13T22:31:53Z")
I used to lurk on a board that encouraged zombie threads. The moderators would bump them to give newbies a chance to share their stories. New SDMB posters who resurrect threads won’t necessarily realize they’re doing something out of the ordinary. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/17 "2015-10-13T23:14:21Z")
I did it once or twice on accident ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/18 "2015-10-14T19:57:21Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I think there is some kind of tip for new Dopers, that instead of starting a new topic, they should first search to see if there’s already a thread for it. I’ve been on these boards for over 16 years. I plan, one day, to actually read the new Doper tips. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/19 "2015-10-14T20:02:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I would guess that better than 95% of zombie resurrectors are newbies who came across the thread while Googling and didn’t notice (or didn’t care) it was old. I get the impression that many resurrectors aren’t even clear on the concept of a message board. (Which, let’s face it, is becoming an obsolete form of Internet discourse.) They just Google, see some comments about their topic of interest, and think, “Ooh, I can make a comment, too.” Few if any ever return. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542/20 "2015-10-14T20:13:07Z")
Someday this thread, too, will be a zombie. Comforting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-resurrects-zombies-and-why/734542.md?page=2)