Bumping old topics/necroposting
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 10:36 am
This has always been a huge debate on every discussion board ever. I'm never totally sure whether to bump an old topic with an identical theme, or to start a new one. I'm not sure if there are rules about it here - let me know if there are, but I was going for a discussion-themed thread here. I am assuming that both themes for the bumped/new topic are totally identical: e.g. "TOW World 7 Level 2 bonus coins". And, just in case you were wondering, I am in favour of bumping old vs starting new.
Here's everything I've thought of for both sides of the argument:
You should bump old topics because:
- You can make reference to and draw from information in the posts of everyone before you
- It keeps the forum organised because there's only ever one topic for a given subject
- Since you search for an old topic to bump before posting anew, it's possible that you'll find your answer in the old topic, and not need to bump or create anything
- People who previously posted will likely be notified of your post and can help sooner
You should not bump old topics because:
- If you keep bumping old topics, then new ones will never be at the top (I see this argument often but don't totally understand it: the same goes if new topics about the same subject are opened!)
- People who previously posted will likely be notified of your post which will annoy them
To me, bumping is the clear winner, but no one else on the internet seems to agree with me, instead replying to bumped threads with "Start a new topic". What parts of the argument have I missed?
(Note: Bumps that don't contribute to the discussion are stupid, and I can see why those are frowned upon, but what's wrong with a full, legitimate post?)
Here's everything I've thought of for both sides of the argument:
You should bump old topics because:
- You can make reference to and draw from information in the posts of everyone before you
- It keeps the forum organised because there's only ever one topic for a given subject
- Since you search for an old topic to bump before posting anew, it's possible that you'll find your answer in the old topic, and not need to bump or create anything
- People who previously posted will likely be notified of your post and can help sooner
You should not bump old topics because:
- If you keep bumping old topics, then new ones will never be at the top (I see this argument often but don't totally understand it: the same goes if new topics about the same subject are opened!)
- People who previously posted will likely be notified of your post which will annoy them
To me, bumping is the clear winner, but no one else on the internet seems to agree with me, instead replying to bumped threads with "Start a new topic". What parts of the argument have I missed?
(Note: Bumps that don't contribute to the discussion are stupid, and I can see why those are frowned upon, but what's wrong with a full, legitimate post?)
