Understanding "Rehashing" Topics, and The Search Function.

I just left the latest installment of members having to be reminded to behave on certain subjects, and I saw something that reminded me of the repetition of subjects here on ATS, and the search function.

As many of us know we have a search function, that works well btw, but doesn't always let you know that it has been written before do to something as simple as you used different wording. Now if this happens then there is no harm in making a mistake, and getting it removed, or closed. No harm... no foul.

But what happens when you see a thread already done. Of course if it was recent you can of course write your post and revive it, which in turn will place the subject back in recent topics, but there is something else.

If the thread is 6-12 months old, and you have something new to add, you can in fact write another thread.

There is no way that the amount of info here does not sometimes reemerge. with sometimes a new perspective, and info.

I know that sometimes you can lose your thread, to newer news. You can add new info to your existing thread, which will give it a bump. There is no harm in that.

With that said, there is no real reason that 2 or more of the same (recently made) threads should emerge. If one the search function is used, and 2 it is quite old, and you may have a new and refreshing look into something that maybe some newer members have never seen.

Knowing this can seriously cut down on mods having to remove recently duplicated threads. I know that till this day I will go to recent posts and see something that someone revived after 3 years, and I loved it, and flagged it.

And anytime someone can show me something, especially if its been hiding here for so long and I didn't catch it, its an automatic thanks for bumping this thread, and an automatic star.

If people knew that they can re-do a thread as long as you had new info, ideas, and at least a 6 month window, and new perspectives, people would try harder use the search function, and if someone does come in to remind them that it was done before, they can in turn show a date of the last thread, and point out that they have "new" info, without a problem.

BTW, I share this because I have done this. I always use the search function (I think one time I didn't and it was closed), and if I truly had something great to say, I could either make sure that there was a decent size window to redo the thread, or it is important enough that though its not mine, to revive an already written thread, and share my finding.

Either way, its the message that counts.
Peace, NRE.

I think the biggest problem with this is that ATS allows someone to post a story in "Breaking News" and then allows another person to post the same exact story in "Breaking Alternative News"- it just seems silly and repetitive to me....

reply to post by Skippy1138


I agree!
I just saw a thread pretty much repeated in
The forum we were recently reminded about (op).
It is indeed silly and repetitive. It seems that the substantive admonition about the A & UFO forum is less about content, and more about hits that drive revenue.
Or, more likely, the mods are spread alittle thin thease days.

OK... The search function OBVIOUSLY does not work here.

I posted this thread AFTER running an ask ats search function for the EXACT title of that news story.

NOTHING matched the (as news is supposed to be reported) EXACT title of the news story in the ask ats search function.

cool. I'll post it then.

BINGO, I get all these people telling me it was posted DAYS ago.... SEVERAL TIMES EVEN.

"I SHOULD HAVE USED THE SEARCH FUNCTION", "MOD NOTE: USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION" THREAD CLOSED...

I DID USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION

It's obviously broke, if it will not report a positive hit, on a title I wish to report on.

This is a very weird issue...

FACE SLAP

UGG... it wouldn't match if there existed another story with a different title....

You know what really sucks?
I think some people just don't care if there is a thread already done on the same topic.

Sometimes you can work so hard on a thread with the anticipation of continuing it when a certain event happens, then BAM! You log in anticipating on writing your analysis to see that the mods have allowed it to be usurped by a thread with a couple of paragraphs and a quote. I can only assume that this person didn't care that a thread was already done on the topic way in advance and would rather have the flags than contribute to a thread that was already started, which included videos, quotes, and a thorough analysis of previous events.

Thanks, mods. It really stings when you realize that all your hard work has just gone down the drain.