Old threads / New threads
An edict has been issued against bumping old threads. This raises the question as to how old is old:
no new posts for a few days??
a few weeks???
a few months??
a couple of years??
It also raises the question of conflicting advice, because on more than one occasion I have seen people criticized because they started a new thread on something that is really just a continuation of a very recently discussed issue, with the implicit suggestion that they should have just resumed the discussion of the old thread - if they have something new to add. I would also point out that people do sometimes find something interesting new to add after a couple of days or weeks of silence and I have seen threads pick up quite nicely and usefully after a bit of a lag.
With that in mind, may I suggest that the rule against bumping old threads should not extend to threads that have just been dormant for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. It should, however, apply to threads that are a couple of months old or older.
That being said, may I also suggest that people should not be discouraged from continuing very old discussions or providing references to them. Some of us newer members here quite appreciate the reference to a bit of AI history. In this, case, however, there should be a new thread, but the person can provide a link to the old thread.
no new posts for a few days??
a few weeks???
a few months??
a couple of years??
It also raises the question of conflicting advice, because on more than one occasion I have seen people criticized because they started a new thread on something that is really just a continuation of a very recently discussed issue, with the implicit suggestion that they should have just resumed the discussion of the old thread - if they have something new to add. I would also point out that people do sometimes find something interesting new to add after a couple of days or weeks of silence and I have seen threads pick up quite nicely and usefully after a bit of a lag.
With that in mind, may I suggest that the rule against bumping old threads should not extend to threads that have just been dormant for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. It should, however, apply to threads that are a couple of months old or older.
That being said, may I also suggest that people should not be discouraged from continuing very old discussions or providing references to them. Some of us newer members here quite appreciate the reference to a bit of AI history. In this, case, however, there should be a new thread, but the person can provide a link to the old thread.
Comments
what if it is a relevant response to something said about a year ago?!?!
Am I missing something or does it actually impair operation of the server?