Starting discussions that were posted before, is it not allowed? What if...
By silentwill
@silentwill (1685)
Philippines
December 25, 2010 12:31am CST
So you have a topic in mind to start as a discussion and you searched myLot for anything similar and you found one. But the discussion was last updated a year ago and the member who started it and those who responded don't seem familiar. What would you do? Should you "resurrect" the old thread and post a response there or is it okay to continue starting you own discussion about the same topic? If the latter is okay, how long should the last update on a similar discussion have to be for you to be allowed to start a discussion with the same topic? If it's not allowed now, do you think myLot should allow it?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
25 Dec 10
From what I understand we can respond to any and all old discussions on the site, whether the member is here or not, as it is my understanding that the initiator is not the only only one who has to respond to discussions.
So let say you resurrect a discussion from last year, it now moves back to the tabs as a recent discussion, so someone like me wants to contribute to it, well you know how the rule goes that we should not duplicate, so I can respond to your comment and or add my own.
I also feel that resurrecting, especially with the history of some others, that chances are that your comment will never be replied to, but I have seen some and commented on that the initiator actually has responded.
As for start a similar one, from lets say a year ago, this one I can guess and say so as long as it is worded differently, however I can not be held to whether this is truly allowed or not as unless it is reported I do not see where admin would be able to determine if it is truly a duplicate.
The guidelines can be a bit confusing at times, huh?? I tend to over think on them way too much at times. 
1 person likes this
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
25 Dec 10
Yes they can be confusing. The guidelines are not very thorough. In this case I found these two:
[i]Do:
Make sure you search for existing topics before starting new discussions.
Don't:
Post similar or identical postings. Stealing posts from other users or posting the same thing over and over again will not help your myLot earnings. Multiple identical postings, even if legitimate, may be considered spam.[/i]
The thing about resurrecting old discussions is that even if I may have something significant to add to the topic, some members may not see it because they'd only read the first post, we both know that frequently happens for different reasons I found out on my last discussion, and then they'll see it's a year old and may just decide against responding. Or perhaps they'd be curious enough as to why it is being resurrected hopefully?
And what if the initiator is no longer active or it is already a "resolved" discussion? That means no one can get a best response anymore. But of course that's not a big concern.
By the way, I hope you'll allow me to post this link in your box. I mean to post it with the discussion but forgot to include it. The reason I thought of this discussion is because I read this one:
http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2462923.aspx
Thank you!
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
25 Dec 10
silentwill you can post absolutely anything you like in any comment box I respond to. I do recall that discussion and being that I am the first responder it absolutely helps all who see your discussion.
Merry Christmas Sweetie may we all be blessed with great health in the upcoming New Year!
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
25 Dec 10
You're not supposed to start discussions about existing topics no matter how old they're!If you have something new to discuss about a certain topic which wasn't covered earlier then you can start one.Majority of the members think it is useless to respond older discussions coz your response goes unnoticed...above all its quiet rare that the host drops by your box to add a comment.Its fun actually to resurrect old discussions.great day.
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
26 Dec 10
Sorry I'm confused at what you said sunnycool. You said I'm not supposed to start, but on the next sentence you said I can start one? Which one you really think it should be?
@hardworkinggurl, wow that must've been a treat to the initiator! Good job! I unknowingly responded to an old discussion started by my referrer here when I came back to myLot a couple of months ago. I wouldn't say I "resurrected" it because no one else replied and the members who responded to that discussion don't seem to be active anymore including my referrer...
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
25 Dec 10
I had a great time one day when I resurrected a discussion from 3 years ago. Whereas no one commented to the initiator back then, so the initiator was very pleased. It brought it back up to recent discussion tab the the discussion was a big hit. 
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
26 Dec 10
@silenthill --- you shoudln't start new one until and unless you have 'something'worthy which wasn't discussed earlier(in the old discussion).hope it is clear now.
@HWG --- Wooow that really goood...we can make new friends whilst helping their discussions get some new responses...turning out to be a hit would be a bonus 
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
26 Dec 10
Nobody cares if you start a discussion with the same topic. Mylot does not have the man power to check every discussion.
They only check on those which are reported by the members for not being PC.
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
27 Dec 10
Right. But I think it will only appear there if there's the same keyword on the title or if the discussions have tags. Of course I'm just guessing. 
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
26 Dec 10
Well in that case, those who report do care don't they? But I agree that myLot cannot check on all the discussions, it's even stated in the guidelines that they ask the help of the members:
[i]Do:
Help us out and report trolls, flame wars, and troublemakers by sending an abuse report to myLot.
Help out when you can. The myLot staff tries to monitor the site constantly, but we also need your eyes and ears to catch problems when they arise and report abusive behavior.
[/i]
@mysdianait (66009)
• Italy
26 Dec 10
It is not necessary to check every discussion.
To the right of every discussion, when it is open, there is a 'similar topics' column.
There will appear other discussions with the same tags as the one that is open - and often they are ALL the same. With one page we, including admin, can see them all and then they can be dealt with regardless of whether they are reported or not.
@mysdianait (66009)
• Italy
26 Dec 10
As other responses have said, myLot is not clear as to how long 'recently' and therefore we cannot be certain whether we are doing things correctly if we start a similar topic.
Also, when we start one similar to a topic started a year, two or even more years, ago, it will appear in the column to the right of discussions open called 'similar topics' and others will see it and might respond there, bringing it back to life.
I feel that to avoid this problem, we should either revive an old discussion or, and this is easy for enterprising Lotters 
, create a new one with a new slant on the same topic. I am certain that you can do that and resolve your 'problem'.
, create a new one with a new slant on the same topic. I am certain that you can do that and resolve your 'problem'.@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
27 Dec 10
I just wish myLot would elaborate on that guideline so we'd all know for sure. Giving a new slant as you put it to a topic posted before should be valid enough to start a new discussion.
It's neat that similar discussions show up on the right side of the discussion as you said, that way, if there are responses there that are worth reading as well, other members can also see it. But I'm afraid that's highly unlikely that a lot will check that out, especially if they see those discussions being inactive for a long time.
1 person likes this
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
20 Jun 11
As far as I know, one can respond to any old discussion. I have done it many times. Some of the older discussions seemed very interesting and I have added my own views and have been credited with earnings. One can also start a discussion on any topic approved by the admin. In case it is violating the guidelines it gets deleted so no worries...You can start discussion on any topic in your own words even if the topic has been discussed before and I dont think that there is any time frame or limit...
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
23 Jun 11
I'm not going to argue that you do like to respond to old discussions after seeing this one go on the top of the discussions I started list 
@love4kolkata (279)
• India
11 Jan 11
Whenever I start a discussion, I check whether its existing or not. If its long long back, then I try to post that topic in a slight different manner. But if its posted recently, then I dont post a duplicate topic. Because it will not get that much responses.
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
Yeah that's another thing we need to consider. If the topic has been discussed in other threads recently you might not get a lot of replies unless you present something new to it. Thanks for the response! 
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
25 Dec 10
I've been on myLot for over 4 years and have never searched a discussion before starting a new one. I try very hard to be original, always have a distinctive twist to my discussion, and have never had a discussion canceled or deleted. But as I said before I never start a dumb discussion (what do you eat for breakfast, etc).
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
26 Dec 10
I guess if you're really confident that no one else will think of the discussions you are starting then there's no problem with that. But it's gonna be hard as well because you will need to come up with something unique all the time. But whatever works for you.
