Should MoFo "retire" threads?

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MoFos, I seek your collective opinion on a particular matter.

As the site nears the end of its 7th year of operation, it has, inevitably, seen its share of duplicate threads. I, and the staggeringly capable moderators who have generously given of their time and energy, have done a good job of getting rid of them, I think. However, it seems the community at large has lost interest in this sort of thread policing, electing to let newer members revisit old topics like "Best villain" and "Favorite soundtracks."

So, my question is this: should we give into this as an inevitability, given the site's tenure? And if so, should we take certain steps to facilitate the process? A few ideas to streamline the whole thing:
  • "Retire" old threads by closing them (with an explanatory post at the end, perhaps pointing to a newer instance of the same topic).
  • "Retire" old threads by closing them and moving them to a special archival folder, where other such threads would be stored. This archival folder could possibly morph into a "Best of MoFo"-type thing, or at least "Most Popular Thread Topics."
  • Leave all such threads open, and simply let moderators and helpful members continue to occasionally link people to older, related threads as they see fit.
  • Tighten up and remove all duplicates, pointing users to the existing versions of such threads.
What say you, MoFos? I figure one of the possibilities above is inevitable, but let me know if I'm glossing over any others.



I do more reading, than writing. I also take note on the more-so popular films. I like the opinions of the regular posters, from however many years back, to now. I would prefer that the same topic threads be combined. Say you have 3-4 threads of "Your favorite . . . " Put them all together. That's just my opinion.
You could make a section for the "Why was this thread even made?" and stick all the silly ones there. heheh



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I think retiring old threads could work - it would be annoying if we had dozens of the same topic, but if a thread has been lost to the mists of time, there is no harm starting up a new version...especially with things like 'favourite soundtracks' etc etc., because after a few years you a. forget whether you posted on the old thread, b. forget what you posted and c. have probably changed your mind since then anyway. Plus, some threads degenerate into discusion which is off the original topic, so are not the best place to post about the topic anyway.

Can I dare suggest that the "I love you {username}" be the first for retirement...?



A system of cells interlinked
I choose D

I, for one, love skimming old threads for fun posts to read. Even if most of the people taking part in the thread aren't with the site anymore, I feel the info is still totally valid, and most of all, fun. I can;t count how many times I have run across something goofy/informative/fun while just sifting the lists...

My 2 cents, anyway....
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Revenge of Mr M's Avatar
Get off my island
I'm happy for old threads to be closed and archived. At some point years down the line, you might look at the different threads and notice generational shifts in opinion. As long as we could still see the old threads of course
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Randomly visiting for now
I love the old threads too. I'm with you Sed, D. If some new threads appear to take off, such as favourite soundtracks and the like then perhaps move all the posts to the end of the old thread or something like that.

If we put the old threads away somewhere new people won't get to see them and part of mofo history will be lost. Crazy kooks like Django and cool mofos like LordSlayton are a part of the site too. I'm a bit nostalgic by nature but yeah I'd prefer to keep the old ones going. Or perhaps we could move threads into a 'golden oldies' kind of folder that only the mods can place threads into, so even now the best threads can be more readily accessed.

But i'd be interested in seeing what the many voices of mofo vote for cause that's just my opinion



I like the archival option, myself. I would hate to see duplicate threads deleted when there could be some good information in them! Actually, if I had the time, I would actually go into each duplicate thread and pick out the good stuff and add them to the thread to keep and trash the rest. But that process would take an insane amount of time, which I doubt anyone really has. So the archival option would be my choice.



The People's Republic of Clogher
I can remember this converstaion from a while back and, unless I've completely lost it (always a viable notion), think something was mentioned about combining old threads with new ones.

For instance, we have curmudgeonlyoldbugger's 5 year old thread on Robert DeNiro's facial expressions as a means of articulating Imperialist oppression - discuss and RoxXx0rboy's That old guy looks like he's taking a dump in Goodfellas.

They could be combined into That old guy looks like he's taking a dump in Goodfellas as a means of articulating Imperialist oppression - discuss.

....ermmm...or something.
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Well, the new thread wouldn't be deleted, yet combined with the old thread. Then we have a chance to see something we may have overlooked, as it was several pages back. Also, if someone had a certain opinion years back, that has now changed, they will see this, and make a new post, listing any changes in opinion.



  • "Retire" old threads by closing them (with an explanatory post at the end, perhaps pointing to a newer instance of the same topic)
I like this one the most...I really don't mind multiple threads of the same topic...newer threads will spark activity (which this boards needs sometimes)...
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Horrorphiliac



Standing in the Sunlight, Laughing
I agree with Briscoe, and not just becuase his av is shooting at me.
It's great to be able to find old threads on a topic, but not so fun to have to sift through a lot of Favorite Whatever by posters who haven't been around in a long time, so keeping the newer thread and cross referencing them would be great. I think old threads are still a source of foot traffic though, just from looking at the Who's Online thingy - people still seem to google into here using them.
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[*]Tighten up and remove all duplicates, pointing users to the existing versions of such threads.[/list]
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Randomly visiting for now
I agree with Briscoe, and not just becuase his av is shooting at me.
It's great to be able to find old threads on a topic, but not so fun to have to sift through a lot of Favorite Whatever by posters who haven't been around in a long time, so keeping the newer thread and cross referencing them would be great. I think old threads are still a source of foot traffic though, just from looking at the Who's Online thingy - people still seem to google into here using them.
What do you mean by cross reference? How would that look?

More opinions everyone!!!