MN - What to do with zombie threads?

Yes, I know this is a zombie thread. I was looking for advice. There are some excellent posts on here - no need to reinvent the wheel.

There was no warning at the beginning or the end of this thread, though I am being repeatedly told there is!

I also agree with the posters saying why can't they be locked down if it's important they aren't revived.

Tech: it's not working.
See here for example

The app doesn't display any zombie warnings on old threads, and I've seen some zombie threads reactivated accidentally by people using the app.

MNHQ - could you at least close that loophole by ensuring zombie warnings appear on the app as well as the website?

Link

Sorry for the continued derail! but I read [!www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/raiders-of-the-lost-web/409210/ this article]] a while back, about a Pulitzer-prize-nominated piece of digital journalism, which was almost lost. The article has some interesting things to say about things disappearing from the web and beyond.

Most of the time Zombie threads are bumped after years by spammers and trolls. That's the problem. Once in a blue moon apparently the OP will return to update a thread but I have never seen it.

I dont understand why people have a problem with zombie threads especially if they're useful. Perhaps someone could enlighten me?

I quite like zombie threads

I loved it when someone accidentally posted on her own zombie thread She agreed with the OP!

I think that now there's a zombie warning both ends of the threads it'll be much better, as it'll save people wasting time on threads they don't realise are old.

I suppose it depends on the subject of the thread. The cat shit thread recently reanimated was pointless : the op had probably long since lost any input or interest.

But a thread regarding, oh, i dont know, pregnancy fears, top tips, etc: useful bumping. Maybe.

However, I wonder if we've had a spate of reanimators recently. A new type of troll?

I agree with AYD2. Whenever I click on one of my bookmarks and find it's dead, I think of that oft-repeated phrase "It's on the internet forever". No, it bloody isn't!

It feels like when you go to buy the only lipstick that's ever suited you perfectly and find the bastards have discontinued it.

Data storage is just expanding all the time - there's no practical reason to delete old things, and it's already amazing to read discussions from as few as 12 years ago.

I don't see anything wrong with zombie revivals. Some have taken on a new life 2 or 3 times. As long as someone's getting the discussion they wanted, who cares whether they started it or not? It's annoying when a spammer wakens the dead - but spam's annoying on any thread.

It was archived, I think? At least I hope it was. There was a big campaign and effort to get it archived before yahoo just threw it all away.

What if the Pokemon website of the future president of the united states was on there, or the manifesto of a mass-murderer to be? It was an enormous part of internet culture at one time. I think I had one too

Is geocities not gone? I had a geocities site. I can't remember what it was though.

I once found some useful information I had never seen anywhere - MN or anywhere else - on a Zombie thread.

I have responded to one or two by mistake though, even though the sign is clear enough.

I'm still sore about the BBC throwing away some of my favourite TV shows, and the time it seemed like Yahoo were just going to toss all of Geocities.

That's a relief cozie.

Yeah, don't think any of us can be under the impression that MN stores and serves all these threads merely for our edification and enjoyment 😂

I don't have a problem with locking old threads.

There would be no need to dispose of the data of course - MNHQ would likely need it in any case for various purposes. (Leaving aside the social historians and archivists.) it would only be necessary to delete it from the publicly accessible site.

I'd best sit on my hands, now though. The connection with the OP relates only to the notion that culling would actually dispose, largely, of the zombie issue.

I'm just imagining how fascinating it would be to read 1916 MN.

I hope none of you are archivists!

Just imagine being a social historian in 2116 and knowing that you could have had access to a huge database of intimate personal posts, political debate, childrearing advice, etc., representing a particular section of society, their opinions and lives, in great detail, from 100 years ago, but it was deleted to save a few pence on storage.

It's not me keeping them - MNHQ have said in the past they have no intention of ever mass-deleting old posts.

Storage is cheap. It just keeps getting cheaper. It's not an issue that it will run out. Likely the internet will be replaced with something entirely different well before then anyway.

The point about advice changing is why there is a culture on this forum for new posts to be preferred rather than resurrecting old threads. But some advice stays the same - suggestions for recipes, ideas to help babies sleep better, relationship advice. As said, it would be a mammoth task to sift through what is relevant and what isn't, and that's not a job a computer can be programmed to do, it makes more sense just to leave them there, archived, so people can do what they want.

There are many many boards where I would be most reluctant to take any advice without checking most thoroughly. At least any technical or legal/informational advice - you might encounter serious problems if you tried to follow such advice that was given - say - back in 2006 on some things.