Why is thread necro-ing a bad thing?

On this forum and on others, there seems to be a policy against "thread necros", where you're not supposed to make a post in a thread if no one else has posted in it for several weeks/months/years. I'm not really clear on why, though? Why does this policy exist?

I think it clogs up thread space at the top of forums. Other than that, beats me.

I know that in Writer's Block and Worldbuilding in particular, necroing tends to be unproductive because most threads in those subfora pertain to specific questions the OP has about a story they're working on, or a personal project. Due to the way the overall craft of writing tends to work, the OP might not be working on the project a few months later, or the thread topic might not apply to the current version of their work, or it might be or pertain to an Old Shame, or the OP might not even be around the subforum or site anymore. In rare cases, the OP might bump one of their old threads themselves if they've changed something in their work that pertains to their old query.

There are some threads in those subfora that are more like general discussions which wouldn't be necessarily bad to bump... but which I get the feeling people don't like having bumped anyways, especially if the people who posted in them before (and are still around) gave Old Shame answers. But in my five years of being a regular Writer's Block denizen, it seems like the only threads newbies bother to bump are those specific threads I talked about in the previous paragraph, and usually ones that are so old nobody who hangs around Writer's Block today would even recognize any of the names.

I've seen successful necros reinvigorate conversation by bringing up an interesting point related to the topic that gets people talking. When that happens, they rarely see moderators taking action against them.

But 9 out of 10 necros are simply responding to something someone said four years ago.

• BOB: So, in conclusion, if you give a man a fire, he will be warm for a day, but if you set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life. ~August 10, 2011
• ALICE: LOL, so true! ~April 26, 2016

The thread title poses a good question. The majority of hollers I see for thread necros are bogus reports which I don't act on because there is no indication about why the necro would be a problem. A minority is clearly a bad necro, either by being offtopic or being a bad post in general.

In general, if you are hollering a necropost, chances are you shouldn't.

We've taken an historically inconsistent approach to thread necromancy. The general principle is that, if a topic died, it died for a reason and it should not be resurrected without adding something to the conversation. If the last post was 4 years ago and someone replies, "Lol, yeah," it generally means they fail at reading timestamps. That said, it's also dependent on where in the forums the necro occurs.

• Business (Wiki Talk, Trope Talk, FAQ): You'd better have a damn good reason. Almost any old thread is probably going have exhausted its purpose and you should start a new one.
• On-Topic Conversations: Any necro should bring something new to the conversation, otherwise it'll just drop dead again. If the conversation died in a flamewar or bans, or is about something that would not be permitted according to current rules, it's best not to bring it back up.
• Writer's Block, World Building: General topics may be rezzed, although you should have a good reason. Topics specific to a work or a world should only be raised by someone who has the intent to pick that material up.
• Media: According to the "one work, one topic" principle, you should always look for an existing topic about a work before making a new one. "General" threads should be avoided on principle; if one died ages ago, it's best to leave it be.
• Forum Games and Yack Fest: Anything goes, more or less, as long as you aren't starting a fight or picking up an old fight.
• Role-Playing: Dead RPs should be getting locked; posting in one that was accidentally left open will get you laughed at at best... and the topic will be locked, regardless.

edited 27th Apr '16 1:41:49 PM by Fighteer

It's bad when it doesn't add anything new to the discussion. Starting to argue with someone long after the discussion has ended also doesn't tend to be productive.

On the other hand, if the new post stands more or less on its own, within the topic of the thread, there's usually no problem from my point of view, regardless of time.

In all cases I've seen where the poster apologises or otherwise acknowledges it's a necro, there's been no problem. Sometimes they've been referred to a different thread, but the necro itself isn't problematic there. Point is, if you're aware what you're doing, you've probably considered why you're doing it, and that's usually enough to prevent the bad reasons for necroing.

For all threads that are specifically the one thread for the purpose (any work-related threads, and many sensitive topics like sexism and politics), necroing is what you should do.

The rule on necroing is "don't necro just for lulz or to continue a fight."

If you have something new to say on a thread's topic, go ahead and cast Animate Thread.

Were you specifically trying to be ironic or something? Um...