# Why was this thread locked?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [October 14, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512 "2016-10-14T15:09:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512/1 "2016-10-14T15:09:07Z")

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[This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634326) was one of my older threads. It was about NYC taxi medallions. I was going to bump it for discussion on recent events, but it is locked.

I do not know why. There was no moderator comment. No arguments in the thread.

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512/2 "2016-10-14T15:17:20Z")

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The thread had no posts for a long time and was becoming a spam magnet.

You can always start a new thread and link back to the original.

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512/3 "2016-10-14T15:17:40Z")

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Probably got bumped by a spammer.

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**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512/4 "2016-10-14T15:54:21Z")

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Thanks.

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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:** [October 14, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-this-thread-locked/768512/5 "2016-10-14T18:15:59Z")

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If you find a thread that was locked without comment, the most likely explanation is that it was zombified by a spammer. As **ecg** says, some threads become spam magnets and are bumped repeatedly. Closing them gives spammers one less target.