Necro-bumping. Yes? No?

Story by Altamira_vbulletin4_import72293

Thread has been returned to main Story forum until it's subforums and their workings are ironed out.

Necro-bumping

(Posting in old threads)

Is it good? Is it bad?

People have differing opinions. The art of necromancy can be a dark and dangerous thing. All I know is necro-bumping is not against the rules. Necro-bumping is considered a faux paus (a bad thing to do) on most forums. The reason is obvious – the thread is no longer relevant. It's old. It's dead. Everyone wants the NEW stuff. The things they haven't seen before. And various other reasons.

That thought process is only valid on forums where there is lots of traffic, where lots of new stuff is posted all the time.

The Stories forum has lots of traffic. Authors and readers care about what stories remain at the top of the first page. For one thing, it's kind glamorous to have the top spot. If it keeps the top spot for a week or more, that story is REALLY popular, and some people want to read what is popular. It's usually how most people sift between the 'junk' and the 'treasure' - which is totally subjective anyway. In any case, most people think necro-bumping disturbs this process, this way of sifting through the stories to find what you want. No one wants to go to the second page, or god forbid, the third page for a story.

Well too bad. We have a lot of stories here.

You can save yourself from having to go to the second or third page if you follow a recommendation of mine.

Go into your options and increase the amount of threads you view per page. That will make necro-bumping a non-issue. If, after that, you still care and want necro-bumping to die a horrible, fiery death. . . then read on.

Some members visit every few months. In fact, a lot of them visit only that often. It is really to the people who visit frequently that necro-bumping is a concern. People who visit rarely already expect to have to hunt things down. So, in a way, the regulars are a little spoiled. I myself visit every day. Old stories, just like the new ones, deserve just as much notice as any other story here. Just because a story is old does not mean people won't have an interest in it. All it means is that it hasn't been commented on in a while, so it's no longer on the first few pages.

I will in NO way, EVER take a stance that says, 'If your story is old then you can't receive comments.' The day that becomes a policy is the day I quit. The day we start to frown on old stories is also the day I quit (Yes, apparently I can quit two different times. I have super powers). I have stories that are becoming buried because they get little recognition. MANY authors have that happening to them. It is a natural process of a forum. So, we deal with it. However, people are bothered when a reader necro-bumps a thread, making it jump to the top spot. It's not that they hate old stories, it's that they want the new stuff to remain new. The authors want their stories at the to so they can get recognized, so people have a chance to read them.

Let me ask a question. What if the old story being necro-bumped is actually better than the current top 15? What if it's better than all of them combined​? Is it okay for that story to be necro-bumped when we know everyone will love it?

Obviously, we can't know that and shouldn't make that decision for other people. So. . . are we just. . . not supposed to leave a comment in an old and possibly dead thread? Does that author not deserve the recognition, commentary, and critique of his peers? Of course they deserve it. Traditionally, it has been wise to privately message the author of an older story, asking for new content or just praising their work. Does that mean old threads are destined to die, never to be revived? That brings me to another question.

You ever notice how people don't complain when the author necro-bumps their own work?

So. . . what makes it okay for an author to? Are his words and updates more important than the commentary of normal readers?

Again, we can't make that judgment. So, we're back to square one. Is necro-bumping bad ALL the time? Even if authors want to bump their own work? Or is it bad just when readers do it?

Dead threads die for a reason, right? Some would say that it deserves to die because people lost interest. Sometimes it just gets buried and doesn't get attention. But is it right to deny an older story commentary just because it's old or because it hasn't been commented on for a year or two? Some stories have things about them that just NEED to be mentioned.

What if. . . just what if. . . the story is so old that none of the current members of the palace have ever read it? What if that story gets bumped? Isn't that like. . . a new story, then? None of the current people have read it, so doesn't that make it new to them? Doesn't it deserve to be

... more on the forums ...