Post Archeology

[Senkusha]

I guess I have a bit of a bizarre hobby.  I truly enjoy digging in the digital archives of the past.  I just did it here.  I went though and skimmed all the topics in this General Board going back to the beginning.  There's some truly interesting topics that I'll probably pop into ... resurrect even.  But then I got to thinking, Does anybody else find interest in reading ancient posts?

I ran a forum back in the early 2000s, lost it because of LIFE, and restarted a new forum a few years ago.  But it didn't feel the same.  That old familiar energy was lost-- newsflash, it's the community of people, not the subject matter!  Anyway, so on my adventure to figure out that aforementioned news flash, I went digging in the WayBackMachine.  Found my old forum, and slowly added the ancient posts I could back to my new site.  It's disappointing that so much of that old stuff is lost, never having been archived for various reasons. 

But I was able to get some of it.  I remember being twenty years younger than I am today, relishing in the nostalgia of an Age gone by.  I find myself quietly re-reading some of those old posts.  Reflecting on what we thought Life was all about back then, realizing too late the mischief we were into.

Anyway, I know on some forums, it's considered bad taste to resurrect old posts.  However, I feel it's better to just post to an old post with new information, rather than to clog up the forum with redundant topics/posts.

[Dan Q]

I feel it's better to just post to an old post with new information, rather than to clog up the forum with redundant topics/posts.

I think... it depends.

Resurrecting a necro-thread is absolutely cool, and that's more true here than anywhere. But sometimes, a clean start can be better. Like: if the old thread ended up covering a variety of subjects and drifted off-topic, then bringing it back can lead to an... unfocussed conversation as people start responding to each old subject. Which in itself is fine (threads can drift in and out of what they were originally supposed to be about!) but if you're looking for some direct answers on something then it might not be the best option.

That's especially true if the original thread has changed subject and stayed on its new subject. Then, resurrecting it will potentially notify lots of people who only wanted to hear about the new subject!

That said: I do love to see an old thread resurrected, especially if it's a social-centric one. Not only does it drive the conversation forward... it reminds/introduces me to a cool old one too!

tl;dr: resurrect or don't; both have their place, IMHO!