Attn Lindens: Rash of Necroposting

If you haven't noticed yet, there is a rash of necroposting happening as some folks attempt to stir up the recently calmed waters.

I suppose seeing folks working to get along just bothers some people. How sad.

Anyway... (and to the rest of ya), necroposting is one of several troll methods. Don't fall for it.

That is all.

Agreed.

~Ulrika~

I don't think necroposting in and of itself should necessarily be off limits, it completely depends on what is being "revived."

If it is not an inflammatory subject, I certainly see no problem with necroposting. Sometimes, perfectly reasonable discussions get put aside and buried in the drama ... and in that case, reviving those threads does not bother me, and is not trolling, imho.

However, yes, reviving inflammatory threads is certainly trollish behavior. With that, I fully agree.

Agreed.

This 'good revival' happens quite a lot in Feature Suggestions or Scripting Tips, as there are rather good discussion threads that occasionally come back to life as patches or Town Halls bring up new information. And it saves on threads and re-links really, which is always a good thing.

As always here, it will need to be looked at on a case basis.

Or... I wonder how hard it would be to have threads auto-lock after three to six months of inactivity. If it was not locked by an Admin/Linden, then the thread starter (if *that* person has not left, or been banned, etc) may unlock the thread by posting.

That may fix quite a bit of this. However I don't know if the forum software (or any forum software for that matter) has such available.

It's one thing to do it once in awhile.

But doing it over and over again over the course of weeks just screams

OMFG CHECK ME OUT: I HAVE NO LIFE.


Seriously, I can't bring myself even to be irritated at this particular form of trolling. It just makes me feel sad for the troll. Nothing better to do than dig up old posts? No loved ones to hang out with? No projects to finish? No ladies to romance? No songs to sing or birds to watch?

Believe me, for this sort of troll, the punishment comes from their having to continue to wake up each day.

haha, that's a great line Enabran.

Maybe posts that go inactive for a set period of time should automatically get moved to the archive where they're still readable but can't be bumped anymore.

Well, if you've got something feel good to say, let's hear it. For someone that likes to complain about trolling, I've never seen a positive message out of you Cienna.

I noticed this myself. I'm waiting to read a good excuse.

July 4th fireworks? Meh... I'd rather go outside for those.

I plead guilty to bumping the "move past the tekki wiki culture" thread. I rarely bump old threads, and when I do, I always make it clear its a <BUMP>, I'm not trying to suckerbump anybody.

I bumped that because I agree with the original premise of the thread, and if we're going to be bumping old threads, let's dig up the ones that MEAN something so that we can continue the discussions with the new happy fun crowd in the glorious new age of forum friendliness, without the Great Troublemaker to poison our current atmosphere of blissful kindness.

Buster

You haven't been looking. But that's ok. I never expect you to... par for the course and all, you know.

As to the other replies, agreed, not all necroposting is trollish. Most of late in this forum, however, has definitely been so and, upon closer examination, seems to be undertaken by an individual who, unable to get a rise out of people otherwise, has resorted to this somewhat desperate behavior.

Enabran, I think you nailed it.

Its not the old threads that are the problem, its the same old behavior by the same old divisive, inconsiderate and plain mean forum mob that is the problem. I gather running Prokofy off was not enough, now we muct turn on new targets like Coco and Cotton. I know, I know, its all in their heads, its all a response to their constant antagonism, the bring it upon themselves, we are tired of hearing it - and a hundred other excuses that can be made so the forum community can excuse itself for acting like a group of five year old children.

Oh well, like the man said, the maturity level is the same, only the names have changed. It's both a pity and an outrage that the Lindens still selectivly enforce the TOS. Mommy Linden really needs to come in and hand out some spankings.

[Edited to remove my funniest one-liner ever. Just to be safe.]

- E

Perhaps the people who bumped some of the threads that prompted this thread in response felt there was some value to be gained in re-examining some specific instances of that "old divisive, inconsiderate and plain mean" behavior.

For inconsiderate and plain mean forum behavior, one need look no farther than Enabran Templar's attack on these people who bumped old threads:


How anyone can speak like that and not realize that those are hateful words attacking the real life emotional and social characteristics of the people it is directed at is difficult for me to understand.

Yup. What can I say. I'm just a dreadful, hateful person. Go getcher pitchforks and yer shotguns!

The use of the term trolling as it has been used in this thread to refer to bumping an old thread which some feel should have been left dormant does not accord with the meaning of the term as given in the forum guidelines: "Trolling (a post with an intentionally contrary opinion written with the intent of inciting or getting argumentative opinions) [is] strongly discouraged."

Since bumping a thread need not involve any content at all - a few punctuation marks will suffice - it wouldn't be considered trolling by this definition.

Sorry. Wrong. Bumping a post that was contentious at the time it was made, expressly to attempt to stir up more contention is very precisely trolling.

Thanks for playing. Please drive through.

I'm not going to post my necrophila joke here, but you should laugh anyway ;0 It's damn funny!

Okay, deal.

It's a big Internet out there. I'd be open to much broader definitions of social behaviors than what Linden Lab declares for their own administrative expediency. Particularly because Second Life is far from the first 'Net community to which most of its residents have ever belonged.

With no specific threads being identified it is not possible for anyone to judge what the poster of the bump message or the original message was up to, and thus not possible to make even a guess as to the motive.

This thread could easily be viewed as just stirring up trouble with allegations of forum misdoing without presenting any concrete instance to establish that a potential problem has occured or the merits of the charges.

hmmm, was that a welcome message to a new poster?

Anyway, trolling does have different meanings on different forums. I didn't know there was a dictionary on internet forum terminology.

Just seen this what intrested me was the new word. Necroposting...hmmm deadposting...interesting play on words to say the least.

Think I will use this in my next flamboyant argument with my significant other and blow her mind.

Other: You didnt pick up your socks again and why arent they in the where I told you to put them.

Me: There you go Necroposting again how many times do I have to tell you those are clean socks and can be worn again for a week.

Other: blah blah blah blah ...Necroposting?

Me: yeah Necroposting you know when your dead ass starts rambling and nagging me...Necroposting.

Shadow

"Other: You didnt pick up your socks again and why arent they in the where I told you to put them.

Me: There you go Necroposting again how many times do I have to tell you those are clean socks and can be worn again for a week."

too funny!

coco

shouldn't the Lindens suld clear old posts away that might cause a stir ?

No, that's an alt account, not a new poster.

Yes, there is a dictionary on internet forum technology.

While I'm at it -- the best and easiest way to determine if something has been necroposted is to check the last actual response date. If it is > a week (average life of a thread, barring flamefests or community discussion pieces), then check to see if the one who bumped it actually had a comment relevent to the thread or just bumped it to see it back on top. A necroposted thread will be bumped either by no comment at all, by some comment indicating the nature of the bump (necro), or by someone who has history that makes the context of the bump questionable (e.g., a known troll, someone known to necropost for "fun".

Most forums I've been involved with (administrative or simply as a user) consider necroposting as trolling and quite a few treat it as a disruptive activity.