Zombie threads - WHY do people start them up?!

[TeethDrama]

Recently there's been (it seems to me) a load of threads which are resurrected zombie threads.

How far back in the pages do you have to go to find a thread from 2009?

Even if one comes up via a search - why would you pick on up from (say) 2010 and post as if it is a current problem?

What kind of MNetter does this?!

If you are one of those MNetters who does this. Why?!

There was a particularly odd one recently on the DIY/Property board where a years old thread from an OP asking whether proximity to a motorway would put off potential buyers was resurrected by someone posting the EXACT distance their house was from the four closest motorways, down to fractions of a mile. When someone, kindly enough, asked them what use they thought that fact could possibly be to someone considering buying a house back in 2010, the resurrector said they hadn't meant it to help the original poster, it was for those people who went around the internet searching for interesting facts.

A lot of the reason is the way Advanced Search works. If, for example, you searched Zombie Threads, you'd expect this thread to appear, being the latest one on the site. But it doesn't. The first one is from September 2014. The posts are listed in topic order, which means that you usually have to scroll through large numbers of AIBU posts before getting to any that are in useful topics. (And the Search Topics thing at the bottom doesn't work, so even if a new poster knew which topic they wanted, it's no help)

What makes it worse is that there is a heading saying 'Latest' at the top of the column showing the thread title & a post preview. It actually refers to the fact that this is the 'latest' post in that particular thread, but it makes it look as if it's listing threads in date order, with latest at the top. So it's no wonder that someone who doesn't know the way it works will choose the thread at the top of the list and post on that.

I don't know what the chances are of ever getting a decent Advanced Search; I've asked a few times, but nothing ever seems to happen. Maybe it's on Tech's list, but who knows how that is organised....

Cuban

Resurrecting every thread from the last ten years on school attendance and doctors' notes was a bit much.

We should all stop posting to this thread and then revisit it in a few years' time.

I wonder why AIBU threads have to remain for all eternity whereas Chat is 90 days. Most AIBUs could go after a week TBF.

I've always thought that's the wrong way round sparkling.

Yes Manumission Chat is a proper topic not a joke one like AIBU. And yet it all disappears.

I hate zombie threads.

Rusty, that's a very good point actually. The way advanced search lists things is really bloody annoying and probably does contribute to the zombie thread problem.

Would someone brand new to MN think or know to use the Advanced Search function though?

But saying you can't resurrect a zombie thread... you might as well ban all new threads on old topics. How many uses does your towel get before it gets washed? Do you wear pajamas in bed? How often do you change your bedding, air your bed? How often do you bathe? Neighbours and bins/drives/fences/smoke/noise, dogs and poo or barking or being aggressive, cats and poo, that mum who might be taking advantage of your goodwill. In what state do you leave your holiday let, is this item of clothing mumsy? AIBU to be annoyed at the way people eat/speak/think/dress and every other concievable thing a human being might do. Is this posh? Is this middle class? Is this a line? And the one I'll never tire of because I genuinely love it - here's a pic of my dog.

Zombie threads? We rehash familiar themes because for some reason they catch our attention. Delete what you don't want to read again.

I think if it's one of the topic threads listed by dudsville you may as well start a new thread every time. You don't need to find one from 2008 first and expect people to read 20 pages of it.

Some topics have weekly threads. or daily ones in the case of threads being 'nicked' by the Daily Mail.

Would someone brand new to MN think or know to use the Advanced Search function though?

Well, the first thing I do on a new site when I'm looking for something specific is look for Search. And the Mumsnet Advanced Search button is a lot more obvious than on many sites I've been on - it's big and purple and at the top of most pages...

I thought the first thing people did on joining MN was complain about the format and the use of the 'D' in DH etc and the lack of a 'Like' button.

Oh and ask what all the acronyms mean.

And ask for an edit function...

Oh yes and that. Plus moan about how all the other sites they go on are far superior.

Whereas an oldie like me (in every sense of the word) moans about how other sites' search functions are far inferior

I hate the drama over zombie threads, it's my no1 MN pet peeve

On many forums it's incobsidered impolite to start threads about the same subjects over and over when you could just do a search and bump an old one

*its considered impolite

Sometimes zombie threads are fun - I like the carpet fitter one that seems to get resurrected every year or two

Just because that's the etiquette on these mysterious 'other forums' doesn't mean that's what it's like on MN. It's a massive site now.