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Original poster

Zombie threads REALLY freak me out anyone else?

36 replies

OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 16/09/2022 17:35

I read one the other week, was actually quite invested and was going to reply. I can't remember exactly what it was about but some sort of friendship drama... then after the last three replies (present date) I realised... the OP had posted 20 YEARS ago! For some reason it really freaked me out. I imagined some woman somewhere fretting about what to do before I realised it was basically a ghost from the past and that person is a completely different woman now and possibly doesn't even remember posting, maybe doesn't even have the same name. Could be abroad, could be anywhere, could be... anything. How it gets ressurected is anyone's guess but I find it kind of creepy yet fascinating! Yes I know. I need to get a life!

OP posts:
vodkaredbullgirl · 16/09/2022 17:38

I find them annoying.

SweetsAndChocolates · 16/09/2022 17:39

I've seen a few, some where the poster talks about their dc, who were maybe primary school age, and the threads have been resurrected 15//20 years later!

SmileyClare · 16/09/2022 17:42

No more creepy than reading anything written in the past. I’m not really understanding the REALLY freaked out reaction. Would you be like this if you read the diary of Anne Frank for example? 😂

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Spooky & paranormal
Original poster
OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 16/09/2022 17:42

So here's a question. If today was September 2002... what would your dilemma thread be about?

OP posts:
Original poster
OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 16/09/2022 17:44

SmileyClare · 16/09/2022 17:42

No more creepy than reading anything written in the past. I’m not really understanding the REALLY freaked out reaction. Would you be like this if you read the diary of Anne Frank for example? 😂

Because you think it's present and then you realise it's practically a ghost! But then I'm a sad act and literally everything freaks me out 🤣

OP posts:
Neverfullycharged · 16/09/2022 17:45

SweetsAndChocolates · 16/09/2022 17:39

I've seen a few, some where the poster talks about their dc, who were maybe primary school age, and the threads have been resurrected 15//20 years later!

When I was expecting ds, I googled about going overdue and found a thread from here from 2007 and nearly upped it (not intentionally) - was very strange that the baby was 13/14 by then (ds born December 2020.)

cariadlet · 16/09/2022 17:47

OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 16/09/2022 17:42

So here's a question. If today was September 2002... what would your dilemma thread be about?

My dd was born in September 2002 so it would probably be something panicky.

I'd never been interested in babies, didn't think I'd ever end up being a Mum. It was all wonderful but also scary, overwhelmingly and more exhausting than I could ever have imagined.

Oldrockingchair · 16/09/2022 17:50

2002 I was living the single life in London! So was probably about some random I had slept with/work dilemma/flatmate issues.
Am glad my life has moved on!

XenoBitch · 16/09/2022 17:52

They don't freak me out as such, but if you assume that they have been resurrected because someone came from Google, it does make you wonder what the necromancer was Googling to pull up the thread. Some have been oddly specific.
Sometimes, I see a zombie thread on AIBU, and the most recent post was years ago. Might be a weird glitch, I don't know.

XenoBitch · 16/09/2022 17:53

OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 16/09/2022 17:42

So here's a question. If today was September 2002... what would your dilemma thread be about?

Ooh, great question!

Mine would be... I have started a new job, and on my second day I was pulled into the office because there were complaints from my new colleagues that I was not joining in with their sexual talk banter.

SusanPerbCallMeSue · 16/09/2022 17:55

I would probably be posting about why my 5 month old baby never sleeps and just cries all the time.

He's 20 now, still doesn't sleep much, but thankfully doesn't cry constantly. Grin

Sometimes I notice straight away that it's a zombie thread, other times I've read loads and will suddenly notice the date and be annoyed.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 16/09/2022 18:02

I've several times seen threads in my 'trending' box that turned out to be from years ago, they hadn't been recently posted on so I don't know why they were trending. I told MN Towers about it but they didn't seem that bothered, they said if people were looking at it then it would appear in trending. I suspect that a lot of these zombie threads have been commented on by people who saw them in 'trending' and didn't realise that they were old.

Etive · 16/09/2022 18:06

Why do people post on zombie threads though?

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 16/09/2022 18:06

I had a really funny one once. It was a topic that I had something to say about and I was reading it through before posting and I found a post that expressed my point of view absolutely perfectly and far more eloquently that I could have. So I went to write a post to say that I agreed, but when I checked the name so that I could refer back to it, it turned out be me. Grin It was back in the days before you could assign a colour to your own posts and before the zombie warning so I hadn't realised it was a really old thread.

Neverfullycharged · 16/09/2022 18:09

Blimey, had just done my degree. Probably feeling sorry for myself. I felt like everyone was spending that summer doing exciting things and I was having a bit of a miserable time at that point.

Neverfullycharged · 16/09/2022 18:10

Etive · 16/09/2022 18:06

Why do people post on zombie threads though?

Sometimes it’s deliberate but a lot of the time it isn’t on purpose.

People start to read a thread then get distracted by kids / life and come back to it and post, forgetting it’s old. Or they use a Google search and post.

Namechanger1002 · 16/09/2022 18:11

They don’t freak me out but I find them fascinating. Like you said - where are they now? What are they doing? How did things pan out?
I had a long running thread 9 years ago and sometimes I still get the urge to update it - just because I am interested in people and would love to know what happened after the thread ended so I assume there are people like me out there.
But then I am one of those people happy to sit in a cafe or on a park bench and just watch the world go by and watching different family interactions.
Reading EMIN’s thread is hard because we know the ending - but how many resurrected threads are there where the op is no longer around?

Gingerkittykat · 16/09/2022 18:11

I don't know why they freak you out.

I expect they happen when a newbie searches for a topic and finds a thread, doesn't notice the date and answers or asks their own question.

I've ended up replying to a zombie thread when I opened it in active since I don't tend to read the dates on the threads.

CaramelTwirl · 16/09/2022 18:15

I start reading them, recognise a name from the past and think oooh so and so is back. Then I read the date.

OceanbreezeSun · 16/09/2022 18:20

They don’t freak me out but if I do come across one - I do sometimes wonder what they are doing now or if the situation was resolved etc.

I have also commented on a zombie thread before, if it’s been trending and is active because others have also commented on it, then I’m going to assume it’s a fresh one. I don’t look at the date.

Ratched · 16/09/2022 18:21

I resurrected a Zombie thread when I googled a specific query ( wasn't a MN'er).
Can't remember what the subject was- going back 10 years or so- but I happily added to a thread that hadn't been posted on for at least a year!
It's easy to miss dates when you have to go through the rigmarole of having to register with the site and all you want is the answer to your question😁

Tbh, time specific Zombies should be closed threads, but some, like ' what was your favourite age' type of threads - does it really matter?

Don't know why any thread not posted on for 31 days is not closed to new comments though

DutchessOfMuck · 16/09/2022 18:25

I don't sleep very well and during the night, I often see zombie threads popping up in active. I am with you op. I then sit in my dark room wondering about the person and how there life went 🤷‍♀️

Original poster
OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 16/09/2022 18:26

Namechanger1002 · 16/09/2022 18:11

They don’t freak me out but I find them fascinating. Like you said - where are they now? What are they doing? How did things pan out?
I had a long running thread 9 years ago and sometimes I still get the urge to update it - just because I am interested in people and would love to know what happened after the thread ended so I assume there are people like me out there.
But then I am one of those people happy to sit in a cafe or on a park bench and just watch the world go by and watching different family interactions.
Reading EMIN’s thread is hard because we know the ending - but how many resurrected threads are there where the op is no longer around?

Who is EMIN?

OP posts:
OneFrenchEgg · 16/09/2022 18:26

Sept 2002?

Help I'm eight months pregnant by a man I met nine months ago, I've moved in, he seems lovely, we're engaged, am I mad?

YesitsBess · 16/09/2022 18:27

The carpet fitter one is the best zombie thread ever! Resurrected twice and even an update from the OP years later!

It was like an annual event.