Necro posting

aaronlowe

Google is a boon of information but also misinformation. Often we need to cross reference or try out several searches until we can be sure we found the right answer.

So it is frustrating when you have an issue that almost nobody has posted a solution for. Maybe after several hours or even days of searching you finally found someone who was experiencing the same problem. But their thread is locked or closed. So just when you think you got it, it eludes you.

Maybe you found the solution to an intractable problem only to find that all those asking for help are on closed threads.

So my question is, if the pursuit of knowledge is not limited by time, why do we place that limit upon it?

I've heard it is more work for mods but I am confused as to why. Mods only need to read new posts so whether there are many posts before is not relevant. Also, forcing people to open new discussions actually increases mod's workload.

The only practical reason I can see is one of storage space. Closed threads can be archived and take the strain off the server but I find it hard to believe that text overwhelms modern technology.

So I am at a loss as why necro posts are frowned upon. I am not challenging this. It's just one of those things that has bugged me for years and this maybe a decent place to get an answer I can finally understand.

OmniNegro

Some posts are better left dead. Were you around late 2015? If so, then you already know why I say this. If not, the short version is that there was a huge fight between many people. Things got very ugly and practically every rule this forums has was broken many times. The posts that this happened in should never be brought back. But the moderators do not actively seek to keep us from posting things without good reason, so a person who just does not understand why the thread was abandoned may revive a dead thread and cause them to have to take action to get rid of the posts that violate the rules. That is a lot of work for no reason.

I hope this helps you to understand why the necroposting rules exist.

aaronlowe

The example you give certainly is a very clear case of where anti-necro rules are there for a good purpose.

Well I guess it's just one of those things we gotta live with. I just think it's a shame that those genuine posts also get thrown out with the bathwater.