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Though I sometimes disagree on that “viability.” Oh well, not my circus, not my monkeys.

I have 2 examples:
  • A discussion of purchasing a good wallet or exercise and health.
  • Someone asking about a personal situation.
For the first, the topic easily stays valid. For the second, depending on the specifics maybe not. Usually if I revive an old thread, I will state so, to avoid the controversy. :p
 
I have no issue with reviving old threads if the topic is still viable.
Since we ask members to search for an existing thread, necroing an older thread is one of the side affects of such guidelines. All in all, I don't have a problem with members knowingly or unwittingly post to an old thread. Many times they have something to add to the discussion regardless of the age.
 
Since we ask members to search for an existing thread, necroing an older thread is one of the side affects of such guidelines. All in all, I don't have a problem with members knowingly or unwittingly post to an old thread. Many times they have something to add to the discussion regardless of the age.
Ultimately I assume it's less site overhead than 100s of new topics?
 
Ultimately I assume it's less site overhead than 100s of new topics?
Its more about the idea that members should search for an existing thread as their question may very well already be answered. Its less about system overhead.

Necroing very old threads is just a side affect of asking members to search and use existing threads over creating new threads.
 
Its more about the idea that members should search for an existing thread as their question may very well already be answered. Its less about system overhead.

Necroing very old threads is just a side affect of asking members to search and use existing threads over creating new threads.

It's weird to tap into an older thread very soon after it's revived and so sometimes end up noticing -- located just a post or two above the most current one-- a remark from someone who long since had become a ghost at MR. Invariably I think "Wow, he finally made it back here?" :D
 
I've been a member for years but only started actively posting this year with the purchase of my first Mac. I can absolutely, as a newbie, state that I have gotten good information from past threads through searching, and resurrecting topics just because they were untouched for a period of time works perfectly well for me.

My thoughts are that OP's put something out there, but the community makes of it what we will. Ideally, we'll stay on topic, and keep things relevant to the OP's question/comment/topic. So long as we do that, I remain cool with necro'ing old posts. And besides... it's just plain fun to add something relevant to even an old conversation!
 
Some of us have been waiting for you to post here, but, as you so rightly say better late (a mere year late) than never.

Haha - I've always been a day late and a dollar short!
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Some of us have been waiting for you to post here, but, as you so rightly say better late (a mere year late) than never.

It's funny, I've been gone so long the board software is hardly recognizable to me. And then there's this 'like' feature. People are going to see my 8500 posts with only 3 likes and think, "Man, that guy must be one serious a*****e!" :p
 
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Haha - I've always been a day late and a dollar short!
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It's funny, I've been gone so long the board software is hardly recognizable to me. And then there's this 'like' feature. People are going to see my 8500 posts with only 3 likes and think, "Man, that guy must be one serious a*****e!" :p

When this thread popped up, I dropped by to read it, and saw your post from eleven years ago.

That prompted me to check whether you had remembered your own self-imposed deadline, and posted a decade later, and bravo, you did, give or take a year or so.

The 'like' feature baffles me, too.

Far worse was the 'dislike' (or 'vote down') button, which added enormously to an increasingly toxic atmosphere in some areas of the forum, which I am delighted to see was discontinued, or dropped a while ago.

Anyway, good to see you back, @dmr727.

Back on topic, as several others have already pointed out, resurrecting threads allows individuals - such as new members - to find answers to questions, and allows them to do so without starting new threads, which they are explicitly discouraged from doing if the subject matter has already been discussed in an earlier thread.
 
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The problem of necroing old threads is a bigger problem with the current forum software in that it often recommends me old hind threads in the "similar threads" section on the bottom.
 
Much worse is multiple identical threads not being merged together (not this forum in particular). Although if you want your own thread you should be entitled to it.
 
I have a few tutorial threads that I posted which occasionally get new questions from new users who desire to perform the task.

So those threads can be idle for a year or more until a new user has a question. Then I’ll answer their question so they can move forward with the task.

I still Monitor them even if they are mostly inactive.
 
lol i was getting ready to start high school 9 years ago!!
where do the years go?! holy socks!

Since there is no point in locking them,
If someone needs help with older products, keep the threads open.
 
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Expecting Siri to be dead by then. Most likely replaced with whatever Apple has purchased to perform her task.

Just when I was getting used to her pseudo-bossy voice and uppity ways.

But where was Siri today when somehow I revived a thread about the top 50 Conservative rock'n'roll songs. I don't even think it was down in similar threads... saw it somewhere on the right sidebar area of some page and thought it was interesting so I went there.. I could have used a bossy inquiry as to whether I was "... sure you want to resurrect this thread??" when I decided to post to the thing.
 
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If someone needs help with older products, keep the threads open.
Indeed. I started lurking on Macrumors back in the early 2000's. If an innocent newb started a new thread on something that was being discussed elsewhere they'd be chastised and told to "search before posting". It was brutal. It's why I kept lurking ;)

Back then, there was a place for everything and everything stayed in its place! All terribly efficient - in a cold, geeky sort-of way.

Then "social media" arrived and changed the very purpose of online activity.
 
Then "social media" arrived and changed the very purpose of online activity.

You mean before our very existence not to say online presence was totally commoditized?

Once upon a time, yes, the only reason to go online was to find out how to do or fix something, and since we were all dialing up on excruciatingly slow modems, all users were expected to be concise and to look around before duplicating either a question or a proposed answer. Failing to observe such protocols always fetched one a virtual caning.

Now it would appear that our primary online purpose is to be marketed to, and past that mostly to offer opinion on something --anything-- and lash back at anyone who takes a different view.

Here on MacRumors though, I like a lot of the older threads, especially for when I'm considering newer OS installation on an older machine, or starting to think about a hardware upgrade, which for me often involves purchase of an Apple refurb of a previous release. I turn back into a serious lurker in those times and would be unhappy if those old threads went away. Also have to thank the mods for their expertise and for keeping the food fights in those tech forums down to a dull roar.
 
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