Zombie threads

[blinder]

What’s the problem with Zombie threads? There’s one wandering around at the moment from 2009, and the person who resurrected it has been told off quite a bit in the thread.

I like looking at old threads. Sometimes I’ll Google for Mumsnet threads on certain topics and maybe even reply. It feels like they are a resource in perpetuity.

What’s the etiquette reason for letting them die, that I’m not getting here?

Because after the first person has replied there's no indication it's a zombie so people take the time to reply and offer advice to the OP.

If you googled and found it then other people can and it's still a resource. Posting a reply 13 years later doesn't negate that.

It’s really annoying when a thread pops up in trending, you spend time reading the op, the responses, the op’s updates …and then it dawns on you that it sounds familiar and you realise the date is from a decade ago.

The op will have long resolved the problem so what does adding a response to a 2004 thread add now?

Yes do a search if you are having an issue, and read through the responses given at the time, but don’t resurrect the thread and clog up ‘trending’. 🙄

They are a great reminder of the fact that many people read nothing other than the first post, don't bother to check for updates from the OP and have absolutely no interest in what the previous 200 replies may have said.

One thread was updated to say that the OP had died but people were still coming onto the thread answering the original question about recommendations for a memorable final holiday. It was awful.

I like them but they always cause fury on here

@Parpophone that’s awful. Yikes.

I mean, there are a LOT of people posting on it without having rtft, so yes, I can see why that’s annoying.

I still like nostalgia tho.

There was one from 2003 on Monday!

Thankfully it seems to have successfully been buried again.

Oh god, you've done it now.
The MN Zombie Zillas will be cranking up to come and say how a zombie thread ruins their life and won't HQ doooooo something. Mind you, they are all huffing and puffing about threads mentioning Ukraine being locked away in a special war corner at the mo' so you might be OK.

They are very annoying indeed. But it has been raised before.

@PAFMO your post made me laugh. I’ll get my flame-proof helmet. And I’ll just point out that THIS IS A LIVE THREAD which I only started this morning.

Sometimes I comment on very old threads, just because I've got the devil in me. 😈

Bonus points if, in my reply, I quote the ENTIRE first post so that's it's really really long. And then only write 1 line.

Too funny not to.

Bonus BONUS points for quoting the whole OP, and then adding one line that’s a rhetorical question.

Do people ever consider that the OP might not want to be reminded about that time in their life?

@SoupDragon

Do people ever consider that the OP might not want to be reminded about that time in their life?

Quite!

Don't want to stray into TAAT territory but there was one a few months ago about a pregnancy - OP had updated with a very sad outcome and then up pops someone resurrecting the thread with "any update OP?". They clearly hadn't bothered to even look at the thread and if the OP still had notifications it must have been extraordinarily distressing.

I’m honestly amazed that so few people read the thread. At least read the OP’s posts before posting?

Obviously I’m not talking about threads with difficult subjects. But the one going at present is a lighthearted thread about unannounced visitors. I can’t see anyone being traumatised by remembering the time they had a coffee in someone’s garden.

You can't know what has happened since though. Maybe they made up and the "phone me first" friend subsequently died. Far fetched but possible.

I can think of innocuous things I've posted that are from a time I don't want to be reminded of.

There might be an exception where the OP updates their own zombie 🧟‍♀️ thread, as I saw recently - it was about 10 years later but she had a lovely positive update, which was quite heartwarming to read, and I’m sure might’ve encouraged others in similar situations.

@AiryFairy1

There might be an exception where the OP updates their own zombie 🧟‍♀️ thread, as I saw recently - it was about 10 years later but she had a lovely positive update, which was quite heartwarming to read, and I’m sure might’ve encouraged others in similar situations.

I think I saw that thread - and yes, it was a lovely update, but still people were replying to the original post without having bothered to read the update.

But sometimes they are a thing of beauty. I leave you this thread from classics. A poster replying to herself 3 years later...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/752184-hauck-stroller-pound-25-Asda

My favourite comment in that thread “is there an ecco in here?”