Why close interesting revived threads

[Ducksurprise]

The Smartie thread today, revived by someone with the same issue (who said they revived it because people complain about multiple threads on same topic, which they do) instead of closing it why couldn't you put a note saying it had been revived if people were 'confused'

There were some interesting replies (such as the Duke of Edinburgh which is out of reach for many families, even if they get pupil premium it is still expensive)

Old threads still have helpful information.

Totally agree, this is one of the silly things that annoys me about MN

I disagree. I think you should start your own thread. You can search old threads for info if you want it.

I think people only complain about multiple threads on a topic when you get new threads started about the same thing in the same day or thereabouts. It doesn't really apply to threads that were started years ago, otherwise there would never be any new threads.

I saw that smarties thread and, when I saw the date of the OP, I clicked away. I didn't even bother going to find out why it had been resurrected. You end up with people only commenting on the OP before they realise it's a zombie thread, because once the post of the person who's resurrected it has moved down a couple of posts, it's no longer easy to see the reason why the thread has been resurrected. Everyone just reads the OP and responds to THEIR post, not the resurrection post.

The problem is that people only answer the OP.

The smartie post was ok because it appeared to be a generic issue not something specific. So although posters were replying to the OP, the conversation was still valid. Easily could have stayed.

There was a zombie thread the other day about the name Baxter with posters giving their opinion without realising Baxter would have been ten now. Stuff like that needs a warning!

Hi @Ducksurprise we didn't delete the thread, just closed it because it was an AIBU from 2019 - so it's still there with its helpful info.
'confusing' - because despite people saying it was a zombie thread, there were a number of posters replying and @ mentioning the OP.
We're trying to steer a course between closing old threads and retaining useful conversations.

It's fine to start a new thread to continue a discussion - and we're fine to take another look at unlocking old threads if you feel we've got it wrong.