I may just be having one of those weeks where I want to see rule change and to see the way that things are done shaken up a bit, but I want to open discussion about the locking of zombie threads.
Simply stated, I propose that the policy of locking them be rescinded. The justification that I have heard, if memory serves, is that people seeing it would potentially be responding to banned posters or posters that have left us and this would simply be too confusing for our poor little selves to handle. I may be missing some fine point here, but that is what I recall.
The thing is that every once and a while, a thread that is really interesting gets bumped and then locked. This is not a good thing. Also, we are squandering many opportunities to make fun of people that don’t bother to read a time stamp.
I guess, but to me that is still somewhat insulting. Sure, I have fallen for the “didn’t look at the time stamp” trap a time or two, but I am a big boy and can take my lumps. I also am capable of grasping the notion that people change over time. To me, it just seems like a silly policy.
If the concern is that one might be responding to someone who’s not here anymore, then I don’t think it’s an issue any more. If someone isn’t here anymore, it now says “Guest” under thier name.
We don’t always lock zombie threads. For instance, I deliberately left the eBay feedback thread open because I felt it was still relevant. Let’s face it, most of the time zombie threads aren’t really relevant any longer.
If you want a particular thread unlocked, you can email a mod, or report a post within the thread and make your case.
One of mine was bumped once about two years after the fact, bizarrely by someone “Welcoming” the last contributor to the boards. Wheeee… good kiddin’ to be had there!
If it’s a thread that someone has stumbled upon through nested links and esoteric searches, and they resurrect it just to go “me too”–especially if it was a hornet’s nest or a clusterfuck or whatever in the first place–then I’m all for putting it down. If the update-to-the-latest-edition is relevant and pertinent, I say let it live.
