For me, it was that the Internet never forgets and that you should never enter your real name. In my opinion, both of these rules are now completely ignored.
Basic forum etiquette. It’s horrifying at work seeing teams “teams” (forums) used like chats, all the cross-posting and thread necromancy, people completely unable to keep topics confined to the appropriate sub-forum, etc
thread necromancy
AKA “discussing something with new information more than 31 seconds after people got bored of it”
Necroposting is a slur by the terminally online against normal people trying to get shot done. They’re the reason why every Google search that leads to a forum ends with some guy asking your question and being told to start a new thread instead.
some guy asking your question and being told to start a new thread instead.
If it’s done within a reasonable time period, it’s understandable. Hours or a day or two later depending on the forum.
It’s different when someone saunters in years later with the “I’ve got the same problem!” quip to a post that may or may not actually be the same, and actually expects a response. That, to me, is necroposting.
This is the attitude that leads us to search results polluted with forum threads with bad, unchallengeable ideas (because they’re locked). Almost all web1 forum are becoming digital flotsam because of these bad moderator opinions.
This is the attitude that leads us to search results polluted with forum threads with bad, unchallengeable ideas (because they’re locked). Almost all web1 forum are becoming digital flotsam because of these bad moderator opinions.
I thing you replied to the wrong comment, buddy. Nothing in your comment makes any sense in the context of my comment that you replied to. Nowhere did I say anything about locking threads or moderation.
The very idea of necroposting is the basis for these moderator opinions. It is not a neutral term, the idea of necroposting is a negative attitude toward all late posts, it is a permission that all moderators give themselves to delete late posts, lock threads or even, auto lock after a determined period of inactivity. It makes these ideas, prominent on search result into literally unassailable answers. Which is the secret desire of all moderators, to decide the final word.
I think you are ascribing to an entire community that which only a few descend to.
I’ve been a mod on forums before, and my only concern was keeping the signal::noise ratio high. In that regard, new “I’ve got the same problem” posts made many months or years after the current thread had gotten wrapped up only increases the noise; a new thread is far more appropriate for the latecomer and anyone who replies to them than continuing to use the old thread.
The difference is temporal, and dependent on the activity level of the forum in question: highly active forums should see new threads spawned after only a few days or weeks, slow forums could see follow-up comments in the original thread still being appropriate many months or even years later.
Being a good mod isn’t about power or control, it is ensuring the forum operates as effectively as possible for it’s users. Sometimes that means spawning new threads, locking old ones, or even banning bad-faith or misbehaving users. Once you moderate, you discover very quickly that moderation is a highly grey zone, with surprisingly little black or white.
I see necroposting as when it’s someone coming by months or years after the discussion is over and not bringing much of value to the table. So it’s more to do with the value of the contribution than the timeframe
How is that really different from the same comment 2 second after. It just isn’t.
Just ban hammer low the value commenters don’t lock the thread for moderator convenience.
Internet is a proper noun and should always be capitalized.
