I don’t get why this happens: 1. Someone makes a thread. 2. It dies out. 3. Someone bumps it sometime later. 4. Thread closes. Why do threads close when someone bumps it? If it is back to life, then maybe more things can be answered. Thanks!
system
2
Bumping old threads brings them up to the top of the list. This forces newer, more relevant threads to be pushed down, reducing the likelihood of people participating in them because they won’t be seen as easily. If a thread dies out, there issue was likely resolved, the community came to a consensus, or there was no collective desire to continue discussing the topic—that’s why it died out in the first place. Bumping a thread does not really bring it back to life. An old thread might contain outdated information, and it’s often (usually) frustrating to open a thread only to realize that the discussion had taken place weeks, or months (sometimes years) earlier. People don’t tend to re-read all those old posts, so it would have probably been better to start a new thread on the topic, if it is something that needs to be discussed. Generally speaking, in most online forums, bumping old threads is frowned upon. We would almost always prefer a new thread be created than to have a forum full of old, bumped threads, because a new thread encourages relevant discussion on the topic. These are my observations…others may have more to add.
Nice, balanced explanation, @Isorhythmic
.
Oh yeah, one more question: Why do the threads close when they are bumped? Is it to prevent more bumpers coming?
OoT2D
5
Imagine this: User A starts a thread about a glitch he discovered in RC. The issue is resolved by User B. User C bumps the thread eight weeks later and says, “I think I have a solution!!” (or, more commonly, “What the heck” or “Visit www.xyz.org
”). Wouldn’t that just be pointless?
I guess so. . . I think this case is closed now. Thanks for the funny comment @OoT2D
! Appreciated!
