The Enid Blyton Society

There are a number of threads in this society that sparked my interest, especially the ones that discuss characters. One problem, these threads haven't been posted in for years.

What is the Society's view on a new member posting in a dead thread? Other forums I frequent don't encourage this, and will lock/delete dead threads regardless of content.

I think I can speak for most people here in saying it's fine to resurrect old threads, TheOriginalFIve. As has been shown in the past it can often provoke new debate and information. Besides most of us here are so senile we probably won't even notice they're years old, and just treat them as new ones anyway.

I think it's fine too - just so long as the person resurrecting the thread is aware that it's an old one and that the people who started the conversation may no longer be around or active. I've been on other forums where some well-meaning newcomer has posted on an old thread and addressed the original poster(s) personally without realising that they haven't been heard from in years!

There has never been a problem with resurrecting old threads. I think we actually prefer it to starting multiple new threads on the same topic.

If the mods have any objections they will soon let you know. Very nicely of course.

I agree with what people have said above - it's actually nice to see old threads getting an airing if someone has something to add to the discussion.

Definitely. It is also very true what Walter said - I forget posts from a week or so back!

     I entirely agree with the idea that, if you have something to add to a topic an old thread exists about, you should be free to resurrect it.
     I have often wondered why this is disapproved of in some places - never understood it. As a matter of curiosity, does anyone know what the reasoning is behind this stance, and might there be good reasons for such a policy?

Regards, Michael.

I can only think that it might be if the subject was a bit contentious and participants became rather heated in their posts. As new people join the forum here it is nice if they find a subject they are interested in and wish to make further comments or ask more questions.

     That certainly can happen, but I think it's an unrelated issue to that of reviving old threads. Such contention can just as easily happen on recently-started threads as on old ones brought to life again; and also, many, many additions to old threads are simply new thoughts on the topic, and not contentious at all.
     So if discouraging the revival of old threads is a measure to try to stop argument, it's a very poorly-targeted remedy for that.

Regards, Michael.

Come to think of it such threads are usually locked so it isn't possible to open the subject up again... old threads are usually just forgotten and there is no reason why they should not be revived. It is odd that in some places that is not possible.

TheOriginalFive wrote:There are a number of threads in this society that sparked my interest, especially the ones that discuss characters. One problem, these threads haven't been posted in for years.

What is the Society's view on a new member posting in a dead thread? Other forums I frequent don't encourage this, and will lock/delete dead threads regardless of content.

I did it several times since I joined and am always excited when I discover a "new" old thread that I've never seen before (especially if it's about the FF, Adventure series, Adventurous Four or R series).
However, I don't know how to find these old threads. I found a few by chance, but am sure there must be a lot more. Wish there would be a chronological way of looking them ALL up.

Chrissie, if you start on the home page of the forums http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/forums/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and choose any of the various forums from there, you can see the list of all the threads in that forum in chronological order from when they were last posted on. You can scroll down through them and go right back to the earliest threads in that category. That's a fun way to browse and just see if there are any topics that interest you. There's also the search function (on every forum page) if you want to look up threads on a certain topic - that will also bring up older ones as well as currently active ones.

Courtenay, you mean I can go 10 years back to the very first threads? That would be awesome!

Chrissie777 wrote:Courtenay, you mean I can go 10 years back to the very first threads? That would be awesome!

     Yes, you can do that. You will find far more than you will ever get the time to read.

Regards, Michael.

Chrissie777 wrote:Courtenay, you mean I can go 10 years back to the very first threads? That would be awesome!

Yep. It's all there! Here, for example, is page 5 - the furthest back - of The Author forum: http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... &start=200" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(You can see the numbers 1 to 5 across the top of the list - click them to go to each page of thread titles in chronological order. Page 1 is always the most recent.)