How long is too long?

Screw it, I'll necrothread like a forummancer.

Hell yeah, cyber archeology. Coming into old comments threads like Lawrence Fishburne, "this place is a tomb."
- @PCChipsM922U@sh.itjust.works
  
  The URL for the comment you want to reply to is: https://sh.itjust.works/comment/348087

I don't even really think about it, I just comment if I have something to say. At worst, nobody reads it and I was shouting into the void for a minute.

But the Lemmy userbase isn't massive yet, so those week+ old posts still see more engagement than you'd think.

Even on reddit new comments were sometimes useful. If I had a problem with some software it was useful to see how others solved it as time progressed.

Given how little activities there are on most lemmy posts, I usually comment everytime I find a post worth commenting.

I usually decide whether to comment or not based on comment count instead of time. I'll happily comment on weeks or months old post if it only had one or two comments, but skip over hours old post if it already has plenty of comments.

I do this too. Especially weeks/months/years old post that ask IT-related question that I found in the first place from search engine because I was trying to find the answer. I feel the obligation to leave a reply after I found the solution.

Be the person who finally posts a solution to a seven year old program, which then helps out one person needing that solution next year!

Never. If it’s not locked and I have something to say imma say it.

I posted on a two year old thread (not on the fediverse) this week. I found the thread by searching and I'm sure other people will too if they have the same problem. So why not?

a relevant response is timeless

I don't see a problem with posting to very old ones, even years old. There will always be someone after me who will approciate more context or information.

I guess we'll see if I comment next week

I'll necro a years-old thread without blinking. Never bothers me when somebody does it to a comment of mine, though I usually no longer have any idea what I was talking about.

As a long time former lurker I'm trying to go based on active conversation, others saying what I had to say, and if it's something I'm interested in devoting time to. I'd say that is my criteria and not really how old the post is. The content.

You my first comment on tha interwebs, shout out
- I like your username, very clever. Glad to have you here with us. I'd say just comment anywhere and everywhere, activity is the name of the game at this early stage
I prefer old school forums with thread bumping, it saves a whole lot of repeats, it might not scale as well or work for everything, but where it works it's much better than the Reddit formula (which was also used on some forms of old school forums, I know).

I think it really depends on the context of the post for me. For example, I wouldn’t bother to comment on a news article from 2 years ago, but a tech support request in a retro gaming forum might have some new relevant information

I feel like this is something that arises organically in each community; on bigger r*ddit subs anything older than a few hours usually didn’t get read or responded to, but on Mastodon I’ve seen plenty of convos come back to life after weeks. If you have something meaningful to add, go for it. If nobody sees it, oh well

If you have something to contribute, it is never too late. This isn't like forums where you "necro" a post.

Oh I'll find a way...

If there aren’t many comments (and I have something useful for the OP) or if i have a question, then even a month is okay IMO.

But if it’s a post getting a ton of comments on a super popular sub or something that hit the front page or r/all… I give up even after 24 hours because my comment will never be seen.

I do not impose artificial limits on myself.

I would go with 6 months because after that it gets locked anyway. Well at least it did on Dig 5.0

Depends on the thread. Some things are going to be essentially useless the next day. Others might be in hours, or never reach EOL in terms of there being a point in commenting.

BUMP

Honestly I'm still trying to get over my lurker habits. They're very hard to break.

Same, lurking is all the dopamine hit of social media with none of the risk. eg. Can't correct my grammar and embarass me if I don't post.

For me it's generally a couple of days. Any longer and I feel I'm necro'ing the thread, though I have broken that guideline on occasion

@W_itjust_works I really don’t pay attention tbh

I'm still reddit brained I would think anything after 24 hours is too long. but other people are right if you have something to say it's never too late lol

Comment whenever you want, but based on Reddit I wouldn't expect a reply after a thread is more than ~2 days old. That may end up being different here.

Weirdest response I ever got was 2 years after I posted. Like, who are you talking to? I’m a completely different person now.

In smaller communities, a week or 2 isn’t so strange.

I once posted that I wished I spent more time in a neighborhood in Chicago and 4 years later someone replied asking me for a realtor in that neighborhood. Though now that I think about it, that was probably just a bot.

If its a serious question thread and I don't feel it has been answered well then I may comment even if it's weeks old.

I just set a calendar reminder to let you know in 7 years.

I don't look at time. If I have something to comment then I do.

There's no set time in terms of when I might comment: It would depend on the thread's context.

I was vary much an "/all" super lurker, but as of recently we’ll see if an old dog learns new tricks.

Unless I'm helping someone, I try to refrain from posting on anything older than a day. I also don't try to add comments on everything I read cuz opinions are like assholes

What everyone likes em?

It depends on the nature of the material. If you wandered by, say a post about some AR glasses that you happened to own and could provide useful information, it'll still help people for years into the future. There really is no time limit to those. If it's just an opinion on some current event, or cool pic, then after a few days it probably has little to no value.

For most threads, I won't comment on anything older than 2-3 days. In part because I comment largely with the hopes of discussion and it's unlikely I'll get replies in threads once they've fallen off of hot. But for stuff like a newly released movie discussion thread, I can go for several weeks after it was posted. There'll be more people watching the movie a few weeks in. Google was pretty good at finding the same thread when you googled "<movie> reddit". I sure hope the Fediverse gets similar soon.

Here, it just depends on what's on the front page. A week was too long for most anywhere on reddit, but here there are still some places where I think a week would be fine.

I think after a few days it's fair to expect nobody else but the author of the post and the commentators to see your reply. But if it's a niche thing it still might make sense to comment