Has anyone noticed that people are reviving old posts, some of them years old, to either answer the question or ask a new one?
Example - In the transportation section someone just asked a new question in response to a question originally asked in 9/07. That is just one recent example.
What's up with that??
Thank you Liz. That's what I am trying to say. You raise a good point that the new poster won't be notified if their questions get answered.
In the particular post I noticed this morning, the new poster didn't so much have a question but commented on the OP that was from 9/07.
Not everyone pays attention to the dates and may respond to an old post without knowing it.
Recently, too, there have been some old posts revived by commercial posts tacked onto the end. In those cases the threads move back down the list once the webmaster has removed the posts.
Personally I'm glad to see it. If 10 people spent time replying to a question then it saves the time of 10 people not to have to cough up similar replies again. Its true things change, but for many questions the older replies are still valid.
The problem with adding a new question to someone's post is that the original poster will now receive emails that someone has replied to their post. Many people ask questions before a trip, then may not visit this website until another trip is being planned, or never visit it again.
IMO if a new question is being asked, especially years later, it should be a new post.
The two biggest problems with not starting a new thread is that yes, the OP can delete the emails but the new poster isn't going to receive any notifications that a response has been made. Secondly, some people are going to respond to the OP's question which may not be the same, and especially if they do it via PM, the new questioner won't get the information they way,
I generally try to check the date of the first post and if it's old, I try to avoid posting unless it's still relevant.
Hi Andrea, you make a great point however a couple of times I have asked a question about something and the first reply I get is always a lesson how I should have searched old threads first because most questions have been answered before at great length and many threads already. You just have to keep checking back to look for to see if anyone has answered. For me personally reading this board is part of my morning coffee routine.
