Necro-bumping. Yes? No?

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 t