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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why people post on zombie threads ,seemingly at random.

39 replies

PollyPerky · 11/11/2015 10:03

I don't understand this. genuine question. some posters find an old thread- assume through a search- and post their own experience which is sometimes only vaguely related to the original post ,and the last post might have been 3 years ago.

Why do they do this? Why don't they start a new thread if they want to say something? And it's never usually about asking for help, it's more often just 'me too'.

OP posts:
MaidOfStars · 11/11/2015 10:05

Genuine posters - They don't check how old the thread is.

Trolls/sales - They don't care how old the thread is.

TheHouseOnTheLane · 11/11/2015 10:07

People google a particular thing....come across the thread and then post. Or they search MN for a topic and then add their posts....

LibrariesGaveUsP0wer · 11/11/2015 10:08

Yeah, generally Google for the non - trolls.

UterusUterusGhali · 11/11/2015 10:09

Threads in classics often get bumped and it's easy to see why; after hours reading and getting caught up in a very funny/emotional thread you forget it was an old one and post.

The zombie warning only kicks in after a while so I guess it'll keep happening...

SaucyJack · 11/11/2015 10:16

Google.

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 11/11/2015 10:20

Actually, I think there's an easier explanation- most other forums are laid out differently, where the first thing you see is the list of topics, rather than the Active Conversations. So, you're interested in pushchairs, you go to the pushchair page...etc etc. When I first came here, from one of those forums, that's what I did, I couldn't make head nor tail of the seeming minestrone of Active, so I looked at the topic list. Found what I was interested in, and read some threads from those lists. Wouldn't have crossed my mind that some of them were old and it wasn't a MN thing to bump an old thread.

Lots of my friends never did make the jump from there to MN because the AC layout they reckoned was too confusing.

bumbleymummy · 11/11/2015 10:33

I was going to say Google too. MN threads appear a lot on the first page of Google results when you look up things to do with children/childbirth/random illnesses! It's amazing how much knowledge is tucked away on this site Grin

LadyCastlemaine · 11/11/2015 10:49

People google a particular thing....come across the thread and then post

Yes, it's easily done. Recently I was searching for some warm, waterproof boots for dog walking this winter and about five or six MN threads came up, some quite old ones. I didn't bump them knowing they were zombies - but I did read through them all.
A person not familiar with MN might easily have posted though, not realising.

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 11/11/2015 10:54

best one was when the original poster of an unanswered thread replied to it herself 3 years later without realising it was her thread in the first place Smile

exexpat · 11/11/2015 10:57

I have sometimes wondered if there should be a more specific warning on zombie threads for unwary/new posters - something along the lines of 'this is an old discussion, so if you want to ask a question or share your experience, you will get more responses if you start a new thread under the same topic'.

I also wish there was a zombie thread warning at the top of threads, so that you don't get through dozens or hundreds of posts before realising it is old and has been bumped by a spammer or someone adding an irrelevant comment.

PurpleDaisies · 11/11/2015 10:58

The zombie warning only kicks in after a while so I guess it'll keep happening...

Is there a zombie warning? I've never seen one (unless you mean poster on the end of the thread shouting "zombie alert".

exexpat · 11/11/2015 10:59

Yes, there's a warning in red above the 'add message' box on threads which have been dormant more than a certain number of months: pic of a zombie, and the line: "ZOMBIE THREAD ALERT: This thread hasn't been posted on for a while."

PurpleDaisies · 11/11/2015 11:03

That's interesting-is it just the desktop site? I only use the mobile one.

PurpleDaisies · 11/11/2015 11:05

Or is it that once soneone has revived the thread the zombie warning goes away because someone's just posted on it? It would be much more useful at the start of the thread.

mrsmugoo · 11/11/2015 11:05

On a lot of other forums you get berated for starting threads on topics where there are existing ones - so people just think they are keeping discussions self contained and don't think they are committing a big mumsnet crime!

CremeEggThief · 11/11/2015 11:06

YANBU. There was one from 2005 the other day!!

exexpat · 11/11/2015 11:08

Aha - just checked, and it doesn't seem to be on the mobile version. That would also explain a lot if it is only on the desktop site - maybe we should lobby MNHQ for mobile zombie warnings too?

And, yes, the zombie warning goes away after two or three posts, which can also be annoying - I think it should stick around for at least 10.

PurpleDaisies · 11/11/2015 11:12

I would definitely support you in a campaign for zombie warnings on the mobile site. It would be even better if they could make the op s different colour after a certain amount of time so you wouldn't have to try and post to get the warning.

Hellochicken · 11/11/2015 11:12

Sometimes I search through old threads to get answers to a problem/see if anyone experienced the same, often a bit specific.
So see old threads as a resource, so I might comment on an old one if I had something I found really helpful, in case anyone, in the same way I had, searched and found the same thing.
I don't do it much!

BreconBeBuggered · 11/11/2015 11:13

On a lot of other forums you get berated for starting threads on topics where there are existing ones - so people just think they are keeping discussions self contained and don't think they are committing a big mumsnet crime!

^This

BertieBotts · 11/11/2015 11:15

They don't understand how forums work because they are new to using the internet?

YouMakeMyDreams · 11/11/2015 11:16

Like Mrsmugoo said on other forums it's expected that if the thread already exists you bump the old thread. The thing is new posters can't win. They get slated for searching for and bumping zombie threads then get berated for starting a new thread on a subject that has been discussed before and to use advance search to find this out.

bumbleymummy · 11/11/2015 11:31

Yep! The whole 'this subject has been done to death' vs 'this is a zombie thread - why have you resurrected it?' Can't win!

PurpleDaisies · 11/11/2015 11:36

I've mainly seen 'this subject has been done to death' when there have been several long running threads in a very short space of time (like the trans threads a couple of weeks ago-there seemed to be about fifteen of them all active, all practically identical). I've only really seen people annoyed about zombie threads from over a year old. Usually the op has replied to someone on the thread approximately three years after the last post and seems to expect a reply. That's odd.

SweetAdeline · 11/11/2015 11:41

I think the Zombie warning needs to be at the top. It's annoying to read a while thread and then realise it's old. Or maybe the date needs to be more prominent.
I don't see any harm in people adding their experience to the bottom of an old thread, especially if they don't want advice. The problem is it bumps the thread and then lots of other people then miss that it's old.

Although if I'm really honest, I think it's a complete non-problem.