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Question re: thread bumping

M

malch

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 20, 2008
466
9
Hi mkrishnan,
Just wondering about your policy (is it a policy?) of "merging" replies into the same original post. When you do this, any additional information I add, the next day, for example, concerning my problem with my new iPhone doesn't take me back to the top of the first page of the forum... my new plea for help, along with the extra clues I've added stays in the same post, which by now might be five our six pages in... out-of-sight, out-of-mind...
That isn't the way it's supposed to work is it?
malch

This question, by the way, refers to a plea for help that I posted yesterday, about the fact that my MobileMe isn't syncing my Contacts from my MacBook Pro to my new iPhone. When I posted back with more information of my conundrum (I figured out that I could create a new Contact on my iPhone, and that would end up on my MBP, but not the other way around; I also noticed that any new Contacts added to my MBP would make it as far as my MobileMe online account, but couldn't make it as far as my iPhone) these follow-up posts, which I hoped would provide a clue to someone on this forum, never got noticed... in part, maybe, because they ended up ("merged" there by mkrishnan) in my original post that was on page 2.

I wondering if this is the policy on this forum,
thanks, malch
 
I saw no PM attached to his/her name (and I don't know anything about PMing, although I don't mind trying). But I was also really curious as to whether this "merging" is a policy. If it is, it seems to me that it's counter-productive (with regards to getting help with a problem); it's also something I've not seen on any other forum.
malch
 
malch said:
When you do this, any additional information I add, the next day, for example, concerning my problem with my new iPhone doesn't take me back to the top of the first page of the forum...
Click to expand...

This is what is referred to as "bumping" in the rules and in internet parlance in general...

It's okay to bump posts with new information sometimes, but you know the Chinese proverb about one hand clapping -- your thread shouldn't just consist of you spoonfeeding information in three or four successive posts just because you didn't get an immediate response, instead of actually just saying it all the first time.

As for the amount of attention you don't receive as a result of not being able to repeatedly bump your own posts, please keep in mind (a) that there are many other people asking for help on various topics, and from their perspectives, their requests are as important as yours is from your perspective, and (b) that the people who are helping you in this forum are not your paid tech support but are rather other amateur Mac users who just like to help out the community.

There are many people here, myself included, who are happy to try and help you, but we do ask that in return for this consideration that you also try to maintain these facts in mind and be patient with us all. This will hopefully lead to the most friendly and congenial environment possible....

To PM someone, simply click on their name to the left of their post and then choose the option like "Send a private message to mkrishnan." This is the preferred way of questioning moderating decisions. The other way you can do it is to use the report post button -- it looks like
report.gif
and is located under the poster's name for every post. You can just click on the one for your own post and in the description box, list your concern with any moderating action taken on it.

Last but not least, please post questions regarding site policy, moderation, administration, etc, in the forum "Site and Forum Feedback." Thanks!
 
I don't believe bumping should be allowed at all. The minute you allow it for something, it becomes more acceptable to use it elsewhere, and before we know it we'll have more bumps than we know what to do with.

I've been through other forums on my journeys around the interweb ocean, and this is the only that doesn't have an annoying level of bumps.

Let's not change that.
 
iJohnHenry said:
Bumping should also be allowed for time-sensitive events.
Click to expand...

Why? It's not like one would come onto MR for life or death answers. The forums are meant to be a wide array of discussions that serve many interests and don't necessarily guarantee anything. Bumping gives a thread an unfair advantage over other perfectly valid discussions.

iMac-Knight said:
I could see bumping, if the questioner is still waiting an answer.
Click to expand...

Perhaps the questioner just has to accept that no one on here (aside from the mad one™ of course) knows the answer. A bump is a request for unfair attention, and while we can all sympathize with those seeking help, MR and its members don't guarantee anything, and thus bumps should not be allowed.
 
I used to frequent another forum that consisted of about 40% posts & 60% bumps. It gets out of hand way too easily. The policy here is pretty fair, and I note that some folks that "kinda sorta" bump a posted question (the infamous, "So no one has an answer for me?" kind) with no responses after a couple of days are left be. Someone with an answer may not be on the forum daily, and a post over, oh, six hours old can get buried pretty damn quickly. I could slightly sympathize with a single bump after about two days or so, and after that, it's a Dead Thread™.

I don't bump my own unanswered posts because I'm pretty well ignored around here, anyway. :p
 
I realise this thread is a few days old, but I just wanted to point out that the two first posts, both by the OP and posted within and hour of each other, are good examples of posts that should be merged - or even better, posts where the poster should've gone in and added an edit to the first post, rather than posting a second time.

It makes the thread easier to read, and keeps people from spamming up their post counts (not to imply that that's what's going on here at all, but it's a problem in some cases).

Sometimes it can be hard to know if you should edit or post again. If you really have new info, it can be valuable for people following the thread with e-mail notification to see the info in a new post. They might not notice it otherwise. I'm not always sure myself, but I try to add an edit most of the time.
 
annk said:
I realise this thread is a few days old, but I just wanted to point out that the two first posts, both by the OP and posted within and hour of each other, are good examples of posts that should be merged - or even better, posts where the poster should've gone in and added an edit to the first post, rather than posting a second time.

It makes the thread easier to read, and keeps people from spamming up their post counts (not to imply that that's what's going on here at all, but it's a problem in some cases).

Sometimes it can be hard to know if you should edit or post again. If you really have new info, it can be valuable for people following the thread with e-mail notification to see the info in a new post. They might not notice it otherwise. I'm not always sure myself, but I try to add an edit most of the time.
Click to expand...
I definitely try to go the editing route as much as possible instead of making consecutive posts.
 
There is no need to bump anything, eventually someone will find it. Drawing attention to a thread will not get it answered any quicker.
 
From my view on it, a bump is rarely acceptable, and any bump within 24 hours of the last post is too soon, and even then, that is still a little bit quick for some threads. If a question were asked, and over 48 hours later not one response had been made, then I can see a bump being acceptable, but even if any responses were made but with no solution, then the user should wait at least 3 or 4 days before bumping it.

But there are some threads where it makes perfect sense to make a post again, even if you were the last one to make the post. Earlier this year I had a problem with my iPod's screen (a chip in it) and I asked people whether they thought that it warranted bringing it in to the Apple Store. It was probably 4-6 hours later by the time that I made my next post, and that post was saying how the Genius Bar visit went, and as that was all completely new information, I felt that it was alright to make another post in that case, and I feel that most people would agree with me.
 
I don't find bumping acceptable in 99% of cases.

Especially when the post actually consists of just the word 'bump'. Though its succeeds in drawing my attention, I'll refuse to answer just out of spite sometimes. Yes I'm harsh, but it's stated quite clearly in the Forum Rules:

Bumps. Posts that bring a thread to the top of the New Posts list but add no content to the thread (bumps) are not permitted. This applies not only to posts that say "bump" but to those with the intent to bump.
Click to expand...

Edit your post if you want to add information. I can understand circumstances where you may need to post again as opposed to editing, but if you're going to do so, at least do so in a way where it isn't quite obviously bumping.
 
MacNut said:
There is no need to bump anything, eventually someone will find it. Drawing attention to a thread will not get it answered any quicker.
Click to expand...

I disagree, things can get buried pretty fast. And sometimes people need help that day, not a few weeks later. Most people don't spend their time searching for week old threads that they can post to.

Don
 
Hi all,
I appreciate the civilized tone to all of this. But I have to disagree slightly with those of you who characterize all 'bumping' as a purely 'me-first', 'the-rest-of-you-be-damned' act.
If someone posts a question and then simply leaves it to others to solve the problem, then agreed... that person shouldn't bump just for the sake of getting back to the top of the heap (I personally cut people a bit of slack if they're desperate and at a dead-end). But if someone posts, and then, still scratching his head and puzzling over things, comes up with some new insight into the problem - - insight that might well be enough to allow someone else on the forum to solve the problem - - then what good does it do anyone (and I think we safely presume that if one person is experiencing difficulties, it's likely that others are too) if those new clues are buried on page two or three, or four or five (or worse)? Unlike MacNut, I really don't believe that "eventually someone will find" all of these unanswered questions.
Bottom line, I think 'bumping' is fine, if solid new information/insight and clues are being added. And a bump with no new clues is a sign of either impatience or desperation.
Cheers, malch
 
robbieduncan said:
You may think bumping is fine, the site rules clearly state that it isn't. So it isn't fine on these forums. Case closed.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's semantics but the rules say "Posts that bring a thread to the top of the New Posts list but add no content to the thread (bumps) are not permitted." So by that definition adding a post with new information is not bumping.

So if you really do have new information ("I repaired permissions. Still not working.") then a new post appears to be allowed by the rules. (If you dole out information a bit at a time every few hours, then that is "bumping" outside the letter of the law, and shouldn't be allowed.)

Greg
 
greg555 said:
So if you really do have new information ("I repaired permissions. Still not working.") then a new post appears to be allowed by the rules.
Click to expand...

Then you should simply edit your post if no-one has replied since you last posted in your thread. The rules state

"Sequential posts. Combine your comments into one post rather than making many consecutive posts to a thread within a short period of time."

You cannot use this as an excuse (and a poor one at that) for thread bumps.
 
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