Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Site stuff

Join our Innovation Panel to try new features early and help make Mumsnet better.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

'Zombie' threads

31 replies

Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 11:23

Please can someone explain why people hate it so much when someone resurrects a so called 'Zombie' thread? I just happened to comment on an old post earlier and it seems to have conjured up so much anger.

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 01/02/2018 11:25

The only worse crime is to start a thread which is similar to one from 2006. Silly yiu, you should have known.
You can't win :o

MiddleClassProblem · 01/02/2018 11:26

Well I think it depends what it is but if it’s someone looking for advice on a situation in 2008 then it’s not really relevant anymore.

WeKnowFrogsGoShaLaLaLaLa · 01/02/2018 11:28

As explained to you on the thread, Mumsnet forums deal mainly with current affairs, not historical ones. That was a particularly long thread to devote your time to, to discover any advice you would give is long past being useful. Realistically a reader could devote half an hour or more to reading it only to be disappointed.

WeKnowFrogsGoShaLaLaLaLa · 01/02/2018 11:31

That said, I do think zombie threads, once re-activated, perhaps shouldn’t be put on the trending sidebar, as it just invites more people in!

Sparklingbrook · 01/02/2018 11:31

Because nobody reads the whole thread once it's resurrected, then replies with helpful information for the OP who is long gone. All a waste of time.

Better to start a new thread, that's what the warning suggests now IIRC.

The thread in question was a very specific scenario that happened 12 months ago.

ClosdesMouches · 01/02/2018 11:53

Confused Lots of people answered you on the thread. Were you not satisfied with their responses?

MNHQ
LornaMumsnet · 01/02/2018 11:57

Hi Mumsmet,

Thanks for your question. As you can see, a few MNers have already put you in the picture regarding zombie threads! The main bugbear for most users is when they take time to read through acres of posts only to realise it all happened a few years ago.

We've addressed this by providing warnings on the text box of zombie threads which encourage posters to start a new thread.

Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:06

Many thanks for your replies. I genuinely had not realised that commenting would cause such trouble. I do think posts should be archived if this is the general attitude to prevent comments being added after a certain length of time. Or else have a section dedicated to new posts on old threads so that it avoids the barrage of angry posts.

@ClosdesMouches I received many rude remarks about it being an old thread. People crawled out of the woodwork along with the resurrected 'Zombie' thread. Apparently it is very easy to be rather nasty when safely hiding behind a non-identifiable username.

Scrolling through other posts on Mumsnet, this seems to be the pattern. Someone asks for help and they get one nice response to every 4 horrible ones. It seems to be trendy to play the devil's advocate on here and just say anything to make the OH (or other people who comment) feel bad.

@ClosdesMouches Your comment here is a fine example of what I am talking about. Commenting just to be unpleasant.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:07

@LornaMumsnet
Many thanks for taking the time to offer me an explanation.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 01/02/2018 12:08

We have suggested that old threads be locked quite a bit.

YearOfYouRemember · 01/02/2018 12:11

The text box warning isn't helping as it goes once more than a couple of posts have been added..

MNHQ
LornaMumsnet · 01/02/2018 12:13

Also, just a teeny tiny plea.

Posting on zombie threads isn't against TG unless it's done to be goady or it's all a poster is here to do (which we'd consider to be goady).

We know many of our users find it annoying and we will continue to push your feedback up to the top bosses but could we please remember that posters aren't always aware of the annoyance around zombies, and most of the time, post unintentionally?

Flowers
EmpressOfJurisfiction · 01/02/2018 12:14

Maybe only the OP should be able to resurrect a zombie thread. Or maybe the warning should say something like "Don't post on this thread or MNers will be pissed off".

Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:17

@EmpressOfJurisfiction Good idea

OP posts:
Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:17

@Sparklingbrook I think it would be a good idea

OP posts:
Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:18

@YearOfYouRemember I certainly did not notice a warning. I am using the app

OP posts:
Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:19

I will make an effort to only comment on new posts in future.

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 01/02/2018 12:20

The problem with this morning's is it quite quickly appeared in Trending attracting lots of posters, a lot of them didn't read the whole thread then starting giving the OP their opinion of the situation which had passed.

Having the Zombie warning stay after it has been resurrected would help. Then people can see it's a Zombie still.

MNHQ
LornaMumsnet · 01/02/2018 12:22

@Sparklingbrook

The problem with this morning's is it quite quickly appeared in Trending attracting lots of posters, a lot of them didn't read the whole thread then starting giving the OP their opinion of the situation which had passed.

Having the Zombie warning stay after it has been resurrected would help. Then people can see it's a Zombie still.

Trending? ARGH. That is NOT meant to happen and is one of the techy changes we made to zombie threads.

Sorry folks, we didn't actually realise that this had happened. Will let tech know right away so that this doesn't happen again.

Original poster
Mumsmet · 01/02/2018 12:22

I am sorry for causing trouble :-/

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 01/02/2018 12:26

You haven't caused trouble Mumsmet, really you haven't.

MiddleClassProblem · 01/02/2018 12:26

Don’t worry! It’s not that much trouble. Everyone will forget about it in 5 mins when someone asks AIBU for letting my dog sleep in a cot with my newborn x

Sparklingbrook · 01/02/2018 12:32

Just start a thread about P&C parking spaces/shoes on or off in the house/ reclining seats on planes to divert attention. Grin People will go nuts!

MiddleClassProblem · 01/02/2018 12:33

But include a diagram!

EmpressOfJurisfiction · 01/02/2018 12:34

I am sorry for causing trouble :-/

Don't worry Mumsmet, you're fine. Welcome to MN by the way.

Swipe left for the next trending thread