Thread Dredging... - The Firearms Forum

glocknut · 11-11-2007, 11:26 PM

Personally, i hate it. I'm not trying to hurt anyones feelings...but its really strange to start reading a conversation that has been long dead. Not to say that the subject shouldn't ever be brought up ever again, but I wish a new thread would be started instead of rereading the start of old old conversations that should..."in my opinion" be archived for posterities(sp)? sake..?

So, i'm posting a poll to see what others think on this subject....

mike
gn

Jay · 11-12-2007, 08:02 AM

I think it's a "catch 22". I feel like most of the old threads are discovered by someone doing a search, and finding an old thread with the requested subject.

On the other hand, if certain questions are asked without doing a search, many folks will "suggest" that the person posing the question do a search.

As old as I am, I don't remember what's in those old threads anyway, and I'm used to reminders......

Crpdeth · 11-12-2007, 08:25 AM

In many forums that I go to, someone will ask a question only to be bombarded with "Do a search, we discuss this all the time!" as Jay has mentioned.

So in many ways I have no problem with it...Also, at times, General Discussions will become all but dead and I give props to anyone taking the time to bring up an old thread or two in order to keep the conversations going...Somehow I do get a little miffed when someone "dredges up" 10 or more of these at a time...You have to wonder why...And if they are burying current threads that I was hoping to get a response to, etc, yeah I'd have to agree.

Crpdeth

Bruce FLinch · 11-12-2007, 09:25 AM

Guess my memory ain't what it used to be. (don't tell Terri I said that)

I would rather see the old question/comment reasked/restated. I looked @ one thread the other day to find I had posted a comment 2 years ago. My opinion had changed a little bit, but I didn't repost, so no one can say I was a flip-flopper. If some one is going to call me a flipflopper, then I want them to have to read all the old threads to prove it!

glocknut · 11-12-2007, 09:37 AM

We have an "informational and technical Archive" that is still there for anyone who wants to research a previously discussed subject. It is set up so it cannot accept additional posts....
I had always assumed that dormant threads automatically went in there after a certain ammount of time? Maybe its only if the staff manually puts them in there... i dunno?

mike
gn

catfish83861 · 11-12-2007, 10:20 AM

Hey Mike, I am one individual that is not on the other forums much at all so mainly my information comes from here on TFF and Fox news. I went to mot of the old posts when I became a member so I wouldn't ask quite so many redundant questions. I did not repost these but if I found one that I was particularly interested in I would have. I also have to say that if you find one or even two posts that you want to comment on, then by all means do it, just don't be pushy and do several at one time. Now if you have a medical condition that is going to take your life tomorrow, then by all means post away and let us know where to send condolence cards

. In other words , just use you brain. I have to agree with you Mike and Crp that sometimes it seems to get carried away

. catfish

Pistolenschutze · 11-12-2007, 11:08 AM

I think the occasional dredging up of an old thread does no harm, but too much of that just mucks up the works. For one thing, our threads have a tendency to go off in many directions once they are started with all kinds of interesting and useful information offered that may not bear directly on the original topic. Also, times change, and what was true and relevant in, say, 2003 may not be in 2007.

catfish83861 · 11-12-2007, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

Also, times change, and what was true and relevant in, say, 2003 may not be in 2007.

Excellant point pistol, hate to agree with a Rockies individual though,

catfish

BobMcG · 11-12-2007, 11:51 AM

I don't care either way. I've been on a number of different forums for over ten years now and have seen it go both ways over and over.

Sometimes a person can ask a question that others know has been hashed over a dozen or more times and yet they get a whole new set of positive replies to their question. Other times they get the reply "do some research first, you'll find this has been discussed numerous times already". When posting to an old thread they located and found interesting because they did begin with a search sometimes evokes the response "isn't this thread x years old?" while other times the post simply comes back to life again with a whole new set of opinions and ideas added to the mix.

If I'm not interested in rehashing something, I simply keep quiet. With the amount of members and their differing personalities involved there's always someone who'll lend a helping hand or point the poster in the right direction. There are times when old threads are brought up I find interesting and wasn't previously aware of, and there are times when I get really interested in reading a new response to a thread thinking it's a recent one only to look back to the beginning and find it's a couple of years old and get a bit disappointed. Oh well, not a big deal to me. It happens in all the forums.

22WRF · 11-12-2007, 12:00 PM

I don't mind until someone dredges up a 1/2 page of these at a time kicks all the current topic down.

polishshooter · 11-12-2007, 02:32 PM

I actually like it, so let me be the one dissenting voice here for once...

Many of them bring back old memories..sometimes of close friends who for some reason or another have moved on, including a few who are no longer with us in this life.

And SOMETIMES I read things I myself posted YEARS ago, and AMAZE myself...

(sometimes I even actually AGREE with what I said back when I was young and stupid!

)

But actually, the way I look at it, we may have touched on a topic near and dear to a new members heart, and they were DENIED the privilege of talking about it simply by time?

Let the thread live on..sometimes there are NEW solutions to OLD problems, sometimes REAL experts show up to clarify our "BS.."

And sometimes guys have questions about what soembody actually DID post...

To me, it's kind of like saving old magazines....there might be an article about some old rifle from long ago that meant nothing to me at the time, but 15 years later I OWN one, and I'm on my knees in the back of the garage digging out the old mildewed magazine to bring it back into the house and a prominent place on my bookshelf, because NOW I'm interested...

Locking them or not allowing them to be brought back in would be like me finding out my WIFE just threw out a bunch of "old magazines" from the garage a week before I bought the rifle....

armedandsafe · 11-12-2007, 02:33 PM

I agree that research should be done before asking a question, but sometimes an old thread will be pertinant to the times or emotion of the moment.

Perhaps the fact that a couple of the recent dredged up items were mine has something to do with my opinionofthemoment (tm).

Pops

Pistolenschutze · 11-12-2007, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polishshooter

And SOMETIMES I read things I myself posted YEARS ago, and AMAZE myself...

(sometimes I even actually AGREE with what I said back when I was young and stupid!

)

But some things never change, Polish. Even back in the "dark ages" you were still trying to defend the indefensible . . . like the M4 Sherman tank!

pickenup · 11-12-2007, 04:34 PM

I pretty much agree with what has been said so far.

As long as there are not TOO many, it's OK, if.........there is a thoughtful response to it, but if it's brought back by someone just adding a smiley face, or something similar.....WHY?

TheJakster2 · 11-12-2007, 05:22 PM

Being new to the forum, I will say that if I have a question I will usually research first. If I find a post that is relevant and doesn't already have several pages of responses I tend to work off it and revive it so to say to get the info I am looking for. If the post has several of pages of responses spanning a couple of years I tend to start a new thread. I enjoy reading all the responses in the older post but realize most of the long-time members don't really want to click through old posts over and over again.
I also tend to get a little miffed when I see a older post with a new reply that I may be interested in only to find someone has posted only a smiley face. I think if your going to dredge at least say something constructive.

henry0reilly · 11-12-2007, 07:35 PM

Um, over at that other place I'll sometimes get a wild hair and drag up several humor threads on the same subject or maybe half a dozen threads by the same member.

glocknut · 11-12-2007, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickenup

I pretty much agree with what has been said so far.

As long as there are not TOO many, it's OK, if.........there is a thoughtful response to it, but if it's brought back by someone just adding a smiley face, or something similar.....WHY?

Ditto!!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheJakster2

I also tend to get a little miffed when I see a older post with a new reply that I may be interested in only to find someone has posted only a smiley face. I think if your going to dredge at least say something constructive.

Double Ditto!!!!!!

The more i think about it that is really the part that irritates me the most.... new posts that only add a smiley or a jab at me for liking Glocks. Adds nothing good to the thread.

On a humerous note ... i have been on some gun forums like GunTalk that so much time elapses between posts on a thread that every single post dredges the thread...."FROM" THE FRONT PAGE!!!!!!!!! LOL
One thread i remember was 15 posts long and 2 months apart for each post.... LOL

mike
gn

polishshooter · 11-13-2007, 07:28 AM

And MIKE?

Do you do polls for Democrats too?

TWO choices for "Dislike," ONE for NEITHER, and only one "like"?

SO knowing people generally do NOT like to commit themselves, you know going in it's two against one, and we can throw out a BUNCH of "undecideds?"

Just wondering....

But I know, that is a fault of our "polls," we should have FIVE choices available, two Degrees of "pro," two degrees of "con," with the one in the middle either "undecided," or "I feel very strongly BOTH ways...."

Smokin Guns · 11-13-2007, 06:18 PM

I vote..."it's ok with me"...I like the forum history...

glocknut · 11-13-2007, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polishshooter

And MIKE?

Do you do polls for Democrats too?

No, just for 1911 owners....

mike
gn

travihanson · 11-14-2007, 05:44 AM

I have no opinion, only because the things that people are dredging I probably haven't ready anyway...

View Poll Results: Do you like or dislike thread dredging?
Dislike it alot... feel like you got suckered into thinking things have been said recently?	5	22.73%
Mildly Dislike it...	5	22.73%
Neither dislike or like it...ie neutral opinion...	8	36.36%
Like it...	4	18.18%
Voters: 22. You may not vote on this poll

11-11-2007, 11:26 PM	#1
glocknut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: THE FORUM MASCOTT... Posts: 12,482	Thread Dredging... Personally, i hate it. I'm not trying to hurt anyones feelings...but its really strange to start reading a conversation that has been long dead. Not to say that the subject shouldn't ever be brought up ever again, but I wish a new thread would be started instead of rereading the start of old old conversations that should..."in my opinion" be archived for posterities(sp)? sake..? So, i'm posting a poll to see what others think on this subject.... mike gn __________________ Where O where are you tonight? Why have you gone and left me alone? I searched to world over and a thought i found true love... You met another and PTThhh you were gone.... -->

11-12-2007, 08:02 AM	#2
Jay Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 1,286	Re: Thread Dredging... I think it's a "catch 22". I feel like most of the old threads are discovered by someone doing a search, and finding an old thread with the requested subject. On the other hand, if certain questions are asked without doing a search, many folks will "suggest" that the person posing the question do a search. As old as I am, I don't remember what's in those old threads anyway, and I'm used to reminders...... __________________ "For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected cannot taste." "USMC 8652, 2531, RVN Jun '67, - May 69"

11-12-2007, 08:25 AM	#3
Crpdeth Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Location: Location Contributor Posts: 8,247	Re: Thread Dredging... In many forums that I go to, someone will ask a question only to be bombarded with "Do a search, we discuss this all the time!" as Jay has mentioned. So in many ways I have no problem with it...Also, at times, General Discussions will become all but dead and I give props to anyone taking the time to bring up an old thread or two in order to keep the conversations going...Somehow I do get a little miffed when someone "dredges up" 10 or more of these at a time...You have to wonder why...And if they are burying current threads that I was hoping to get a response to, etc, yeah I'd have to agree. Crpdeth __________________ Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there. ~Eric Hoffer

11-12-2007, 09:25 AM	#4
Bruce FLinch Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bay Point, Kali..aka Gun Point Posts: 5,016	Re: Thread Dredging... Guess my memory ain't what it used to be. (don't tell Terri I said that) I would rather see the old question/comment reasked/restated. I looked @ one thread the other day to find I had posted a comment 2 years ago. My opinion had changed a little bit, but I didn't repost, so no one can say I was a flip-flopper. If some one is going to call me a flipflopper, then I want them to have to read all the old threads to prove it! __________________ A bad day @ the Range, is better than a good day @ work.

11-12-2007, 09:37 AM	#5
glocknut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: THE FORUM MASCOTT... Posts: 12,482	Re: Thread Dredging... We have an "informational and technical Archive" that is still there for anyone who wants to research a previously discussed subject. It is set up so it cannot accept additional posts.... I had always assumed that dormant threads automatically went in there after a certain ammount of time? Maybe its only if the staff manually puts them in there... i dunno? mike gn __________________ Where O where are you tonight? Why have you gone and left me alone? I searched to world over and a thought i found true love... You met another and PTThhh you were gone....

11-12-2007, 10:20 AM	#6
catfish83861 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: North Idaho Posts: 2,019	Re: Thread Dredging... Hey Mike, I am one individual that is not on the other forums much at all so mainly my information comes from here on TFF and Fox news. I went to mot of the old posts when I became a member so I wouldn't ask quite so many redundant questions. I did not repost these but if I found one that I was particularly interested in I would have. I also have to say that if you find one or even two posts that you want to comment on, then by all means do it, just don't be pushy and do several at one time. Now if you have a medical condition that is going to take your life tomorrow, then by all means post away and let us know where to send condolence cards . In other words , just use you brain. I have to agree with you Mike and Crp that sometimes it seems to get carried away. catfish

11-12-2007, 11:08 AM	#7
Pistolenschutze Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 13,094	Re: Thread Dredging... I think the occasional dredging up of an old thread does no harm, but too much of that just mucks up the works. For one thing, our threads have a tendency to go off in many directions once they are started with all kinds of interesting and useful information offered that may not bear directly on the original topic. Also, times change, and what was true and relevant in, say, 2003 may not be in 2007. __________________ --Pistolenschutze (Pistol Shooter)

11-12-2007, 11:51 AM	#9
BobMcG Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Somewhere in the Twilight Zone. Contributor Posts: 1,119	Re: Thread Dredging... I don't care either way. I've been on a number of different forums for over ten years now and have seen it go both ways over and over. Sometimes a person can ask a question that others know has been hashed over a dozen or more times and yet they get a whole new set of positive replies to their question. Other times they get the reply "do some research first, you'll find this has been discussed numerous times already". When posting to an old thread they located and found interesting because they did begin with a search sometimes evokes the response "isn't this thread x years old?" while other times the post simply comes back to life again with a whole new set of opinions and ideas added to the mix. If I'm not interested in rehashing something, I simply keep quiet. With the amount of members and their differing personalities involved there's always someone who'll lend a helping hand or point the poster in the right direction. There are times when old threads are brought up I find interesting and wasn't previously aware of, and there are times when I get really interested in reading a new response to a thread thinking it's a recent one only to look back to the beginning and find it's a couple of years old and get a bit disappointed. Oh well, not a big deal to me. It happens in all the forums.

11-12-2007, 12:00 PM	#10
22WRF Advanced Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pea Ridge, FL Contributor Posts: 4,271	Re: Thread Dredging... I don't mind until someone dredges up a 1/2 page of these at a time kicks all the current topic down. __________________ NRA GOA CCRKBA Happiness is a warm barrel

11-12-2007, 02:32 PM	#11
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,879	Re: Thread Dredging... I actually like it, so let me be the one dissenting voice here for once... Many of them bring back old memories..sometimes of close friends who for some reason or another have moved on, including a few who are no longer with us in this life. And SOMETIMES I read things I myself posted YEARS ago, and AMAZE myself... (sometimes I even actually AGREE with what I said back when I was young and stupid!) But actually, the way I look at it, we may have touched on a topic near and dear to a new members heart, and they were DENIED the privilege of talking about it simply by time? Let the thread live on..sometimes there are NEW solutions to OLD problems, sometimes REAL experts show up to clarify our "BS.." And sometimes guys have questions about what soembody actually DID post... To me, it's kind of like saving old magazines....there might be an article about some old rifle from long ago that meant nothing to me at the time, but 15 years later I OWN one, and I'm on my knees in the back of the garage digging out the old mildewed magazine to bring it back into the house and a prominent place on my bookshelf, because NOW I'm interested... Locking them or not allowing them to be brought back in would be like me finding out my WIFE just threw out a bunch of "old magazines" from the garage a week before I bought the rifle.... __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.

11-12-2007, 02:33 PM	#12
armedandsafe Former Guest Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Moses Lake, WA Posts: 10,344	Re: Thread Dredging... I agree that research should be done before asking a question, but sometimes an old thread will be pertinant to the times or emotion of the moment. Perhaps the fact that a couple of the recent dredged up items were mine has something to do with my opinionofthemoment (tm). Pops

11-12-2007, 04:34 PM	#14
pickenup Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains Posts: 6,841	Re: Thread Dredging... I pretty much agree with what has been said so far. As long as there are not TOO many, it's OK, if.........there is a thoughtful response to it, but if it's brought back by someone just adding a smiley face, or something similar.....WHY? __________________ The gene pool needs chlorine

11-12-2007, 05:22 PM	#15
TheJakster2 V.I.P. Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 274	Re: Thread Dredging... Being new to the forum, I will say that if I have a question I will usually research first. If I find a post that is relevant and doesn't already have several pages of responses I tend to work off it and revive it so to say to get the info I am looking for. If the post has several of pages of responses spanning a couple of years I tend to start a new thread. I enjoy reading all the responses in the older post but realize most of the long-time members don't really want to click through old posts over and over again. I also tend to get a little miffed when I see a older post with a new reply that I may be interested in only to find someone has posted only a smiley face. I think if your going to dredge at least say something constructive. __________________ Take a kid hunting and create a lifelong momory Gun control is being able to hit what you aim at.

11-12-2007, 07:35 PM	#16
henry0reilly Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Indiana Posts: 553	Heck, sometimes I do it! Um, over at that other place I'll sometimes get a wild hair and drag up several humor threads on the same subject or maybe half a dozen threads by the same member. __________________ The only Thing necessary for Evil to Triumph is that Good Men do Nothing. Recruit someone for the NRA today!

11-13-2007, 07:28 AM	#18
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,879	Re: Thread Dredging... And MIKE? Do you do polls for Democrats too? TWO choices for "Dislike," ONE for NEITHER, and only one "like"? SO knowing people generally do NOT like to commit themselves, you know going in it's two against one, and we can throw out a BUNCH of "undecideds?" Just wondering.... But I know, that is a fault of our "polls," we should have FIVE choices available, two Degrees of "pro," two degrees of "con," with the one in the middle either "undecided," or "I feel very strongly BOTH ways...." __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.

11-13-2007, 06:18 PM	#19
Smokin Guns Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: "Gun Culture Members Clubhouse"... Posts: 4,463	Re: Thread Dredging... I vote..."it's ok with me"...I like the forum history... __________________

11-14-2007, 05:44 AM	#21
travihanson Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Milo, ME Posts: 582	Re: Thread Dredging... I have no opinion, only because the things that people are dredging I probably haven't ready anyway... __________________ The two loudest sounds in the world are a click when you expect a bang, and a bang when you expect a click.