artificially "bumping" forum threads

Hi all,

I got an email from someone this week who posted a question on TP but didn't get any response. A few days later he reposted the same question to see if it sparked any response, but that was deleted as duplicate. Obviously I totally agree that duplicate threads should be removed, but what do you think of responding to your own thread to artificially "bump" it to the top of the forum? Total no-go? Acceptable if they do it once, maybe?

For now I've told him that basically he can't repost it anywhere, but I thought I would see what others thought of this.

Cheers,
Eric

I personally think that's reasonable. I've used it on other forums, usually something along:

^^Bumpity bump

Hey all, (and continue on with the rest of what I want to say)

I think bumping your own thread is ok after 2-3 days with no responses - but not starting a new thread with the same.

Another thing you sometimes see is someone starting a new thread with the same question when there has been responses, but probably not the response they were looking for.

I think that's reasonable: once and not before the thread has been online for about 2-3 days.
I also remember some people who were not really patient.

It's all about how you ask a question as well and how detailed it is.

Some are just so vague (see other topic) and some of them are of people that come here, post once with a tornado-quick question and never are seen anymore.
And some questions are find in a billion questions here on TP or are googled within seconds.

I've done it before myself as well, so I don't see any problems with it. It's annoying if they do it within 24 hours, but that's just one of those things people get a feel for on forums after a while. And some never do

I've done it once or twice if I've really wanted a reply to something I'd asked, but I felt a bit cheeky doing it! I don't really see any harm in it though, as long as it's not done all the time and the poster isn't just being impatient.

I know we've discussed this before - at least Sam and I have but it was quite a long time ago. The consensus at that time was to remove the "bumps" because it was artificially bringing the thread back. By bumps I mean just using the word bump. It was also during a time where the action of bumping a thread had a cascading affect. Basically, one person saw it so they did it to their thread and so on.

When I see just a "bump" in a thread, I will remove it and PM the poster with a suggestion on how to bring the thread back so the cascading thing doesn't happen. I usually ask them to either add a question they may have forgotten to ask originally or to expand a bit on what they are requesting (give a bit more info on their plan).

With all of that said - I do not have a problem with bumps. I'd prefer to see it done by adding something to the thread but if typing "bump" is only allowed once then it's okay with me.

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Eric - I don't know if the thread you are referencing is the same as one which I deleted as a duplicate. It was flagged and I agreed. But, on that note, I also contacted the member on why the thread was deleted, placed a link in the PM back to their original post and made suggestions on how to bring the thread back to the top without typing just bump. I asked that they not copy/paste their original questions over again in the older thread (as someone would flag it again as a dup in most likelihood) but write something that would direct the responding members to look 2 replies up and see the original request. (Both the old post and new bump would have been on the same page so easy enough to view.).

This also poses another question. The original post was written in another member's thread (which was making a similar offer) back in July. The new thread was started in November. Since the original post was that old, and in someone else's thread, is it kosher for the quetions(s) to posted as their own thread 4 months later? (Sorry if this question is a bit off topic...)

Quoting Isadora

Since the original post was that old, and in someone else's thread, is it kosher for the quetions(s) to posted as their own thread 4 months later?

Definitely. Personally I hate it when people continue old threads with new questions; it wreaks havoc on the readability of threads, no to mention the annoyance it causes for the OP of the thread to which it happens. However, it would be nice if the OP of the 'recycled thread' mentions the history of its coming into being, and cross-references to the original thread. Members may need to be educated in this direction.