As years go by, I am seeing an interesting trend, one that is causing great difficulty making one find a solution to their issue: "Necro Posting". Bear in mind, this is completely different than posting a similar question on the same site without first checking to see if the question has been already asked.

How many times have you searched the net for a question, and how many times have you landed on a forum that has the same question but it locked without an answer. Or worse, you are very knowledgable in that field and are happy to answer, only to get flamed because you opened an old thread? That is getting old fast. If the thread is considered "dead" the admin needs to delete it. Read on.

What is Necro Posting
The short version, is someone the comments to an open thread that is considered "dead" due to some per-determined amount of time that has passed. Depending on the Admin (or SYSOP to you old guys like me), it could be a month, or even a few years. However, posting beyond this time frame is frowned upon, and many are quick to flame the person doing it. Keep in mind, this person might have just solved the OP problem, as the thread is still open after all these years unsolved.

The Fallacy
What is going on? JohnThePoster asks a question and post it in a forum. The question is moot, just the fact that time is passing and no solution. Millions of people go on the internet each second, and someone else has the same issue. They search and search, and finally they see JohnThePoster's question. However a year has gone by and still no answer, so they vanish to their search engine again - in search of. A year or two later, the thread now has thousands of views, but no solution and then, SamSolver knows the answer and posts it. But instead of praise, he get flamed!

What happened?
Here is the problem with those that follow the Necro Post BS. You have been had (or trained). You do not need anyone to tell you there are millions of forums out there that have unanswered questions that are locked and still available to the public. And like a happy floppy eared beagle, you go from search to search finding the same question you have at countless forums, but not answered and worse LOCKED! However, what is really happening is these Admins are POLLUTING the search engines with worthless threads that are unanswered and locked.

Why do Admins do this? The answer is simple, something that grew with the 90's. To get more views and more threads started. This makes their site look big. To many though, it is a waste of time and rarely do people sign up because they have a LOCKED and unanswered thread sitting on their site - what purpose does that thread have? Right. Nothing however it helps increase the view count,

Necro is usually synonymous with dead. However, the Admins do not understand this. Back in the BBS days, dead threads were deleted. We only wanted quality threads. Threads that served a purpose. However, today, just do a basic search of a complicated or even common question that is difficult to answer, you will see tons and tons of search results, all with the same question, but they have no answers. How much time do you waste search and searching and keep finding a thread with your question only to find it not answered? How many of you have answered those questions, only to get reprimanded for opening a dead thread instead of getting a thank you for adding meaning to that thread?

Sadly Admin's haven't figured out, if they consider their thread "dead" they should DELETE THE THREAD. Locking it without an answer, is just garbage to search engines and makes the search a PIA.

Necro Posting is a fallacy, it doesn't exist. So if you see a thread anywhere and it is locked without an answer, have the admin either UNLOCK it, or delete it then tell them that their useless thread is clogging up the search engine.

I noticed that a lot of the necro'd threads are from 2015, which "coincidentally" is also the first year still available - after the archived years of 2008 to 2014.
My guess is:
most (not all, mind you!) necros happen because the posters think the last page of the GD is the most recent (which is a logical assumption, if we're honest), therefore they click on that page 8xx (or whatever it shows for you), click on some thread there (which of course is from 2015), and comment on that.

This is because the Admin is not deleting or combining the thread, therefore the user is just going to post in one they think is best. The Admin is confusing people by leaving dead threads up.

My big gripe with necro threads is that they are open and unsolved (locked or not), and the admin grate on those the keep working on that thread until it is solved. Sometimes it is a odd question so it will not solicit many users and that thread WILL sit for a long time before posts are added. If they are considered DEAD, and the Admin prefers users start a new thread, the need to delete the old DEAD thread and bury it, it is no longer useful.

But the worst part, is that it infects the search engines. When want to solve an issue, I don't want to be confronted with thousands of search results, all of which are not answered and probably locked. I have see several sites (including GOG) that have the same - unanswered question - posted in several threads??? Those threads need to be combined. It is one topic.

very few necro posts are answers to a question. most are just random replies to a user which may have left the forum years ago, no longer care about the subject, or the answer have actually been given. many necro posts are by spammers.

necro posting is a thing. a thread "dies" when it falls out of use and is no longer being replied to or discussed. the further down in the forum it falls, the "deader" it becomes. when a thread is "dead" then there is little sense in resuructing it, unless you have a very good reason. it is better to start a new thread.

as you observed, forums and BBS is not the same thing. the role of a sysop and a moderator is different. the reason why the threads are not deleted is that many users like to keep their threads, and sometimes will refer back to them, especially if it is a solution to a problem. Should they be locked after X amount of time? maybe, there is a case for it, bu tthey should not be deleted.

They are related though. It's sadly common for someone to post a question where the reply is "this has been posted before! use the search!", then they reply to an old thread, and the reply is "don't necro old threads!", as if it's not allowed to discuss anything that has ever been discussed before.

Not all forums are like this. There are some with threads have been active on and off for decades. I like places like that. Places where old threads aren't dead, just resting.

Are you sure? If the answer actually contributes to the thread (either being a solution or a question that indicate the problem still exist years later), this kind of "necroing" isn't scolded. At least that's what I've seen most of the time.

You are 100% CORRECT

Problem? They need to delete those post so they no long polute the search engines. The reasons are exactly as you say. Necro post only works if the admin delete the useless thread. since it does not serve a purpose or answer a question, leaving it up is just a slimy way to draw people to their site, when in actuality.. the thread serves no purpose.

Many of us, and I include myself, sometimes forget to check the date of the last post or three.

But what many who accuse of necroing fail to take into account, is whether despite the date, is the thread topic still valid. They also forget that it is not just about posters in the thread, as most threads have many more readers than posters.

Then you look at the lousy search ability of the forum, and the way results are returned. Many of course just search GOG via Google.

Some threads are never really resolved or not well, until someone comes along, perhaps years later, and provides a better reply.

The only real necros, are threads that are very outdated with content, that may even be dangerous or misleading.

There are oodles of great interesting and informative threads from years ago, that are worthy of some more time in the spotlight.

Depends on the type of thread. In the gaming world - your flamed, however if you are in a handyman thread or other such "non-internet" related (such as DIY) then yes. you get praised. Hi
Again - missing the point. If the thread is useless and "dead" admin needs to delete it. If there is a dumb poster that doesn't search, the Admin needs to move it (what do you think admins and moderators do, that is part of their job, it is a lost and forgotten task).

True, but how do you feel about OP that ask a question? I forgot to put that into my OP. The problems are not general conversations (like this thread), but a question. Difficult questions could day weeks or months if not longer on more complex. If the admin is going to lock it the need to delete it as the question no longer serves a purpose, and prevents someone in the future providing an answer. So now when you search for your question, you found said site, but there is no anwer and it is "still in their face".

I have no problem with reviving threads. In fact, I think it should be encouraged if an user has something to add to the discussion. Better than that having duplicate threads.

The exception would be news posts because people could believe there are, well, news.

This is also why necroing a thread even with valid follow-up question may actually hurt the necro-er. People will start problem solving the original issue because they don't notice the date and don't read the full thread burying the necro question. In such cases it is often better to open a new thread and reference the original thread and solution.

Necro posting to solve aproblem is accepted around here. if you actually have a solution, it's ok to do it. It's when people necro post to add nothing of value, or to correct information given (that may have been totally accurate at the time of the original posting) that is generally frowned upon. That, and spam bots replying to build "legit posting cred"

Another problem common with forum posts are tech support questions. You get the drive-bys who post a question and never respond to any of the responses. They seem to post their question and forget about it. Related to that is the self solver. Someone who posts a question, then finds an answer or figures it out themselves, and then just posts "I solved it" without posting the solution. The last one irritates me to no end, because I can't tell you the number of times I've been searching for a solution to a problem, find a thread somewhere with the exact problem I have, and the solution is "I fixed it."

I agree that I am 100% correct, but you may need to read my post again, as I disagree with almost everything you say there