Do questions get bumped?

It must be one year since it was asked again. When I first joined in 2009 I asked every variant of what to do when I am bored at night. I will see any new answer on an old question as long as I am still following it.

Yes you can weigh in on old questions. I love when someone does that and if I had been in on the question originally, it shows up in my activity for you.
I like to re-read the question and answers and see what new insights are added.
So please answer all the old ones you want to.

I love it, when someone weighs in on one of my old questions.

New activity on old questions is fun.

It will be seen by the current members that participated in the question you answer.

I get all excited about answering an old question sometimes, only to find out it was asked in the heyday and there are already 78 answers before me. Not really fair or productive for me to weigh in at this late date without reading all the old posts, and that’s a huge investment of time for potentially little reward.

I wish that general was linear (as it is) since if you are seeking help there is a expiration date on when any new responses are not helpful to the OP since their situation is probably resolved.

But in general I do wish that the page was sorted by last comment made. Say when the next presidential thing kicks off we could keep the crazy to a thread that just floats on top due to activity instead of having a thousand questions about gaffes.

I ask because my brand new car was pelted by hail damage. Being a responsible jelly, I did a search and found another hail damage question. I posted there mainly because the original question wasnt thoroughly answered. Unfortunately, no one seems to be following questions that are years old.

Oh, for something like that just ask a new question. I wouldn’t even worry about posting a double that was asked a month ago. User churn is pretty fast here and the new people will never know of the old question.

I like to ask a new question because there are lots of new users and I want to hear opinions from the new ones (as well as researching what was said years back).

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One We’d only know you posted if we had answered the original question. If you want to research it, take a look and see if any current Jellies posted on that old one.

@jca when I do that your always one of the first people to point out ,and most times with a link that I asked this question before.
And I ask again for the exact reason you just pointed out.

@SQUEEKY2: Your duplicate questions are sometimes only a few months apart (for example, your questions about why it’s better to not have children), whereas I’m referring to questions that were asked 3 or 4 years ago.

So that’s the difference? A few months NO, a few years OK?

@SQUEEKY2 Yes, that’s the difference.

@SQUEEKY2: Yes, that’s the difference.

So, basically just wait a year. Thats unfortunate. There should be more incentive for people who find the old question.

Lets face it, after 300 days (or insert your own lengthy time period), most people aren’t following questions any more.

The message to new jellies (like me) is that I need to ask at a different site.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One I only “stop following” a question if it has descended into a mudfest between two people or a discussion about food. If I was on the original question and you answered it now, it will come up in my activity and I will read the new post. If I don’t have anything new to add, I won’t post again. If I didn’t answer it the first time, I won’t be aware of it now.

If you have a burning question to ask that seems new to you, ask it. If it isn’t something we’ve hashed and rehashed recently, we’ll probably jump in.

For the record, I probably had nothing to say, then or now, about hail on cars.

@janbb
Right, so my odds arent good that you are involved in every question.

What Im learning is that some questions should just be asked somewhere else. Its not necessarily a bad thing. Im just learning how things work here.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One in the bottom right corner of the question is share question click on it and direct it to who ever you might want to take a look at it.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One (It just feels like I’m involved in every question. Get a life, @janbb)! Yes, but it all depends on the pool of users at any given time and what their knowledge and interests are. I just don’t know much about hail on cars – it’s not that it’s a bad question.

The topic of “stop following” came up and more than one user said they stop following after only a few days. I don’t do that, which is why I have over 100 in my New Activity. However, I bet for the most part, if only 5 or 10 people answer a question and 7 stop following, you’ll not get a lot of new posts on a question if it’s more than a few days old. I’ll sometimes search for a user and then seeing one of their questions will bring me to a nice walk down memory lane. If I need a specific topic, like “fleas” which is what I always say brought me to Fluther, then I will ask again and also read old posts, as it’s all informative, whether old or new.

In the example of the hail damage, due diligence was practiced. If the old question was asked less than a year ago, and it doesn’t answer your specific question, then ask it. To be on the safe side, it would be prudent to add in the details that you found “this” older and similar question (and share a link to it), but the responses didn’t provide the guidance being sought.

My guess is that deleting duplicate questions pertains more to current event topics that are almost identical and show up in a very short timeframe, e.g., a Jelly celebration, national or global news, same question repeatedly asked by the same user, be it sincere or spam. Then there is the occasional troll, like Pink Panty Guy, who pops in once and awhile to give us his latest version and a good laugh.

Anything beyond that should be allowed a free pass IMO. If a more experienced Jelly picks up on it, then they can flag it and/or hospitably share a link to the other question with the comment, “You might also find some help from the answers on this similar thread.” There is no reason to intimidate a new member over something so trivial.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One, if a question is old some of the people currently participating in Fluther will still have it listed amongst questions they’re following. So if you answer that old question they will receive a notification that there’s another answer on that old question and it can regenerate participation.

However, the community changes. If the question is very old, many of the original participants will no longer be here. So by asking the question again it comes to the attention of a whole new range of people plus any members who might have been here at the time the original question was asked.

Our questions never die, although some should be put down at birth.

The spirit of the “duplicate question” rule is simply that none of us wants to keep seeing the same questions popping up over and over. If a question triggers one of those “Hey, didn’t we have a question a lot like this not long ago?” responses among regular members, than it’s probably too soon to ask it again. The mods will often just make a judgment call on this rather than apply a strict time rule. In general, if a few months have elapsed since the last iteration of the Q, then a new one will be allowed (Note: there are certain questions that have been asked so many times over the years that we’re less likely to allow it to stand).

Obviously, newer members (or irregular visitors) don’t know what has or hasn’t been asked, so it would be nice if they do like @Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One and do a Fluther search before asking a question. If they find a similar thread that satisfactorily addresses the matter, then they may find it unnecessary to ask. If not, or if the old thread seems moribund, then they’re perfectly welcome to open a new thread.

Some members with long memories may be reminded of past discussions on the same subject and post links to those threads. Hopefully, that’s done with the intention of adding to the discussion, not of shutting it down.