Revisiting old topics (Bumping)

[KimT]

Yeah adding to the conversation in an old topic is acceptable.

But reviving very old dead topics isn't really welcome.

It's a thin line between right and wrong and it takes a while to find it.

Commenting on something a member said years ago isn't really fair as that member may not be here anymore, nor does the member neccesarily have that opinion anymore.

So think people before you blow life into old topics.

[Darth Legolas]

Yeah adding to the conversation in an old topic is acceptable.

But reviving very old dead topics isn't really welcome.

It's a thin line between right and wrong and it takes a while to find it.

Commenting on something a member said years ago isn't really fair as that member may not be here anymore, nor does the member neccesarily have that opinion anymore.

So think people before you blow life into old topics.

Looks like someone is about to learn that lesson the hard way... 2005!

I think we should only revive topics if the discussion is still relevant, unlike current events in the community forum that have long since blown over.

[Legoliner Pilot]

On the other hand, if the member adds in one line sentences with poor structure and value such as "This MOC is great.", "Can you show me how you do it? and "This is so cool!". Such input are simply pointless.

So this isn't considered "pointless" when the topic is active?

[Siegfried]

So this isn't considered "pointless" when the topic is active?

Pointless points are always pointless, but asking questions and offering support to active topic is more acceptable than with inactive ones. But with everything in life the mantra of "Everything in moderation" is relevant. If 10% of your posts are stuff like "Great MOC", this is cool. Sometimes you don't have the time to post more or you simply have nothing else to say. But on the other hand if 90% of the time your posts are stuff like "You're the greatest!" then there is a problem...

Looks like someone is about to learn that lesson the hard way... 2005!

Please don't pick on chambered people. More often than not they are released afterall...

[Princess Storm]

How old does a topic have to be to be considered old though? I think it depends on how active the forum is - and could even vary between different sections of the same forum. Also, when searching it is not always obvious which are old threads and which are new. I suppose the answer is that before replying to a thread, people should first check the date of the last post, and if it was ages ago (e.g. more than 6 months?) make that clear in their reply. On the other hand, it shouldn't be that hard for readers of the thread to glance at the posting dates themselves.

[Siegfried]

How old does a topic have to be to be considered old though? I think it depends on how active the forum is - and could even vary between different sections of the same forum.

So do I. This is a substantial grey area, but here's some tips to help;

1. Eurobricks is site about LEGO and as long as I am here, that will remain its focus. For that reason posting in an old LEGO topic is always better than posting in an old community topic. The entire community forum is just here so people can share off-topic interests and get to know each other better. For that reason Community topics date really fast so as a rough guideline anything older than a month is dubious. But as always, it does depend on the details. Topics like EB Members' titles archive are obviously different, as are ones like Car Talk if you've posted in them in the past.

2. LEGO reviews don't date. Thus if you have something relevant to say then feel free to post in a topic, but if it's more than a few months old please make sure it's good.... and if it's been a few years it better be really good! For example, if you liked the review or set and want to say so you probably shouldn't. If you've got an answer to a question (such as "Does anyone have pictures of the alternate model?) then by all means post! What you shouldn't do is ask questions. The original poster may not even visit EB any more.

3. LEGO MOCs do date, but once again if you have something important to add then it's OK. It may sound lame, but knowing the original poster or being a long term member really makes the difference here.

4. LEGO or site issue topics are almost always OK to post in. For example, the Brickshelf topic or the I'm in Outline view and don't know how to get out will always be relevant.

5. Who you are and how often you do it is a major factor as well. Do it three times in a day and you'll probably annoy someone, especially if you're a new member. Do it once a month and you'll probably get away with it, even if it's for a lame reason.

In short, it's all common sense and it's hard to make clear rules about it. Feel free to consider these them if you want!

One thing that I need to emphasise is why reviving old threads can be a bad thing. Here's a few;

1. People come and go and times and opinions change. Quoting someone, asking a question, or just assuming something based on past posts can annoy members and cause offence.

2. There's only room for so many recent topics and each bumped one bumps out another. This makes it hard to find the real new topics and can cause silly topic bumping wars and make a mess of everything. This is really annoying for people who don't have much time and find that the "new" topic they opened is really something they read last year that was bumped so someone could say "that's Kool!".

3. Some topics are just silly to post in. For example, Happy Birthday HappyOwl! won't be too relevant in a few months...

Questions?

[Big Cam]

Wow, you nailed it, I hate when someone quotes a person from like 2 years ago, like the conversation never stopped.

[Mörs]

Questions? default_satisfied.gif

Why didn't anyone think of making such an explanation sooner?

Anyway, thanks for writing that up!

Edited December 30, 2009 by Mörs

[Millacol88]

Why didn't anyone think of making such an explanation sooner?

Anyway, thanks for writing that up!

Well, I think, like Sieggy said, its considered common sense, so its hard to make rules for it. And its appropriateness changes from forum to forum, even thread to thread. It's only really annoying when, like Big Cam said, people reply to a year or two old post like its from yesterday.

Think of it as a conversation in real life. If someone said something to you, you wouldn't go back to them a year later and say: "Remember that time you said such-and-such, I don't agree with it!"

[Mörs]

Think of it as a conversation in real life. If someone said something to you, you wouldn't go back to them a year later and say: "Remember that time you said such-and-such, I don't agree with it!"

Actually, sometimes I tend to do that in real life, too!

Obviously though, on the Internet it is much easier and, I guess, more useful (well, you don't record all your real life conversations; this is supposed to be one of the advantages of an Internet forum...).

[Millacol88]

Maybe, but the point is that the person in real life would most likely wonder "what are you talking about?" Which is similar to when on a forum revived threads tend to confuse and annoy people.

[Mörs]

Maybe, but on a forum -- unlike in a real life conversation -- that person can very easily find out what you're talking about, just by reading the revived thread. Do you not agree with that?

[Big Cam]

Actually, sometimes I tend to do that in real life, too!

Obviously though, on the Internet it is much easier and, I guess, more useful (well, you don't record all your real life conversations; this is supposed to be one of the advantages of an Internet forum...).

I think your missing the point and trying to justify old thread bumping when not necessary.

Just becasue the conversation is still there doesn't mean you should reply to someones post from 2 years ago, that just doesn't make sense.

And your trying to tell me that you've gone to someone and said something like, "Hey I like that sweater"

and they say "what sweater"

Then you say, "the sweater you wore on march 23rd of 2009, duh"

I really don't see that happening and those are the kinds of instances Siegfried was referring to, if I read his post correctly.

[Mörs]

And your trying to tell me that you've gone to someone and said something like, "Hey I like that sweater"

and they say "what sweater"

Then you say, "the sweater you wore on march 23rd of 2009, duh"

No no no, not like that; that's ridiculous! It's more like:

- Hey, remember my birthday party 6 years ago?

- Uhh, yeah?

- That was awesome!

[Peppermint_M]

Again, that is just as random, confusing and annoying as posting in much older topics about rather dated "current events". They are threads that do not age well and clog the front page. Reading them is fine, it is the posting that vexes.

[Mörs]

I know, I know... just arguing for fun.

[Svelte]

3. [/b]Some topics are just silly to post in. For example, Happy Birthday HappyOwl! won't be too relevant in a few months...

*waits patiently for 11 months and 3 weeks to bump this topic*

[Millacol88]

*waits patiently for 11 months and 3 weeks to bump this topic*

*Waits patiently for 11 months, 3 weeks, and 5 minutes to tell Svelte that bumping topics is bad form.*

[Siegfried]

I know, I know... just arguing for fun.

Errr... please don't. If you really want to argue I suggest you go here.

*waits patiently for 11 months and 3 weeks to bump this topic*

**Writes Sveltes name on "Naughty" list**

[WhiteFang]

I know, I know... just arguing for fun.

.......

You do know that arguing for fun can lead to more trouble..

If you have a geninue question to address, by all means, go ahead and ask until you fully understand, but such attitude is zero tolerance at my level.

Consider this as a warning.

WhiteFang

[Mörs]

.......

You do know that arguing for fun can lead to more trouble..

If you have a geninue question to address, by all means, go ahead and ask until you fully understand, but such attitude is zero tolerance at my level.

Consider this as a warning.

WhiteFang

Consider'd.

[Siegfried]

I'm revisiting this old topic to remind people of our stance on this! In summary;

1. Eurobricks is site about LEGO and as long as I am here, that will remain its focus. For that reason posting in an old LEGO topic is always better than posting in an old community topic. The entire community forum is just here so people can share off-topic interests and get to know each other better. For that reason Community topics date really fast so as a rough guideline anything older than a month is dubious. But as always, it does depend on the details. Topics like EB Members' titles archive are obviously different, as are ones like Car Talk if you've posted in them in the past.

2. Sales topics are a special example. People often bump there for purely selfish reasons and this is just not acceptable. When one topic is bumped up, the rest are bumped down. With settings of 40 topics per page there are topics in that forum covering about 15 days. Thus if someone posts a topic in there it'll be reasonably viewable for 2 weeks, so there really is no need to bump. If no one wants the items it's better to just accept it rather than being selfish and sabotage someone else's chance. What is classed as bumping in a sales topic? Well the ones in the link above are blatant examples but several "updates" in a row without any posts from other members is much the same. Ultimately the best way to tell is simple; ask yourself why are you posting. If it's really to add something you should be OK, but if you have any doubts, or if little or no interest has been shown in your post, then you probably shouldn't post the update. There are other ways to sell LEGO after all.

3. LEGO reviews don't date. Thus if you have something relevant to say then feel free to post in a topic, but if it's more than a few months old please make sure it's good.... and if it's been a few years it better be really good! For example, if you liked the review or set and want to say so you probably shouldn't. If you've got an answer to a question (such as "Does anyone have pictures of the alternate model?) then by all means post! What you shouldn't do is ask questions to the original poster; he/she may not even visit EB any more.

4. LEGO MOCs do date, but once again if you have something important to add then it's OK. It may sound lame, but knowing the original poster or being a long term member really makes the difference here.

5. LEGO or site issue topics are almost always OK to post in. For example, the Brickshelf topic or the I'm in Outline view and don't know how to get out will always be relevant.

6. Who you are and how often you do it is a major factor as well. Do it three times in a day and you'll probably annoy someone, especially if you're a new member. Do it once a month and you'll probably get away with it, even if it's for a lame reason.

In short, it's all common sense and it's hard to make clear rules about it. Feel free to consider these them if you want!

One thing that I need to emphasise is why reviving old threads can be a bad thing. Here's a few;

1. People come and go and times and opinions change. Quoting someone, asking a question, or just assuming something based on past posts can annoy members and cause offense.

2. There's only room for so many recent topics and each bumped one bumps out another. (This is especially in the BSTF forum.) This makes it hard to find the real new topics and can cause silly topic bumping wars and make a mess of everything. This is really annoying for people who don't have much time and find that the "new" topic they opened is really something they read last year that was bumped so someone could say "that's Kool!".

3. Some topics are just silly to post in. For example, Happy Birthday HappyOwl! isn't too relevant now...

If you have any further questions please ask away!

[BobBongo1895]

Hey ho,

just a simple question.

Is it allowed, to comment threads that are older than 2 or 3 years, especially if there is no reaction since several month or years.

I know boards where this is not really allowed.

I don´t want to catch a newbie trap.

[Rick]

The Site Guidelines (which seem like a natural starting point ), link to this page.

[Professor Flitwick]

If you have something to add which could potentially revive the threads discussion, then by all means proceed. However, I believe it is frowned upon if all your doing is going 'c00l moc bro' to someone who hasn't visited this site in over two years.

So look at the post you want to make, ascertain it's possible discussion revitalization, and decide for yourself whether you think the thread necromancy is worthwhile.