Big-Ass Old Threads and what to do with them

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

I have a feeling I know what response I'm going to get for this one but I'll throw it out there anyway.

So at this point we have several very long-running and very ancient threads with a gigantic volume of posts in them. I'm talking the prestigious few topics on the forum that break 150 pages and remain relevant. One that shall not be named just broke 300, twice that, and it reminded me of an old observation.

Threads that big are off-putting for new members psychologically, even when there's no reason for them to be put off: they will feel like they need to read the entire thread to get up to speed when really only content from the last 10 pages or so remain relevant to the active discussion, if that. The simple solution for this psychological barrier is to renew the thread and lock the old one.

Ideally, the renewed thread's original post should be a FAQ covering the commonly-raised topics and consensuses reached in the lifetime of the previous thread. (ex: Gurren Lagann is considered to be f-ing awesome by virtually everyone who uses the Anime/Manga thread.) This also prevents worn-out topics from being raised repeatedly in the new version of the thread and also gives the new reader a primer on what's come before.

In short then: we have several very popular threads floating around but it's always the same people posting in them. Whilst you expect that from any thread, I'm concerned that newer members are being intimidated by the sheer volume of existing thread content and either skip it completely or don't post even when they have something useful to contribute: evidence of this is strongest in the A/M thread.

Your views on this?

I swear I've brought this topic up before, sorry I couldn't find it. :|

[Tornado]

I'm kinda torn on this, because I know for a fact that this exact topic has come up in regarding the Anime thread before. However, I'm not entirely sure how much the daunting aspect of it applies to threads that aren't the Anime thread.

Or, put another way, is it simply because the anime thread is absolutely massive and broad in scope? Because the anime thread on another forum I go to is the same way (well, same issues with barriers to entry, same general group of people talking to each other; much larger size than the SSMB) and has the same problem; but that same forum's equivalent to the-thread-that-shall-not-be-named is 5 times larger than the one here but still has new people entering it all the time.

Edit: Bad example. Thread-that-shall-not-be-named here and there does have a FAQ of sorts in the OP.

I still think extenuating circumstances about the anime thread is a legit question to ask about your theory, though.

Edit 2: Electric Boogaloo: And what would locking a thread and starting a new one do anyway? The people who are the ones who generally post in that thread are just going to continue posting wherever the discussion left off, and then the new member will just be expected to keep track of their discussion and whatever ones happened in the original thread.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Tornado

[pooshoes]

Threads that big are off-putting for new members psychologically, even when there's no reason for them to be put off: they will feel like they need to read the entire thread to get up to speed when really only content from the last 10 pages or so remain relevant to the active discussion, if that. The simple solution for this psychological barrier is to renew the thread and lock the old one.

[Mollfie]

The anime thread on another forum I go to is over 600 pages long, and other threads are well into the 800 nearly 900 and new members still join in. Personally, I think that as long as the forum and members in itself seem friendly and welcoming then new members don't tend to find it off putting to just jump in. But I'm also no opposed to splitting threads, it's happened before and it doesn't do any harm. If a thread is split mid-discussion it can be annoying but you can always have a quick recap in the first post. But really it doesn't achieve much other than splitting a thread, potentially causing some confusion and the posters will carry on as usual. All that changes is how many pages the thread seems to have.

[Remy]

Considering the last thread was started in 09 I wouldn't be against a new one. It'd be cool especially with an FAQ post. Maybe like SSMB's fav shows, what's on atm, etc. It'd be cool.

[goku262002]

Edit 2: Electric Boogaloo: And what would locking a thread and starting a new one do anyway? The people who are the ones who generally post in that thread are just going to continue posting wherever the discussion left off, and then the new member will just be expected to keep track of their discussion and whatever ones happened in the original thread.

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

Have you ever considered going into local government? I think you'd be really, really good at it.

Not sure if cleverly-worded insult or legitimate praise. For the record: no, never.

Anyway.

Personally I'd renew a thread every 50 pages, but I know that won't jive over here.

As for resuming the previous conversation from the end of the last thread, I never saw any problem with that, getting people up to speed on that conversation would be part of the OP FAQ, I thought.

[Stacy]

With those kind of threads like the Anime one I thought you just dropped in a Anime you just watched or enjoy and ask others if they like the same, especially if it is not in the middle of a debate or something, but that happens anyway.

Also if the discussion of the said Anime kinda derails the thread its probably best to post a Separate topic on said Anime.

[Old dead account]

I see no problem with a large thread. As someone pointed out, the new thread would just continue the old discussion and just seem like an awkward transition and the OP of the new thread would make no sense for newbies unless they just cutnpaste the old thread's OP. I'd say just leave it as is and let threads be huge.

[Katzii]

Maybe a possible better compromise would be for the original poster of the thread, or a moderator, to update the original post every so often (either a timed amount or every certain amount of pages) to summarise what's been going on in the thread so if people want to just jump in, they can, or if people want a recap without trawling a thread, they can.