Why can't we bump posts in Classifieds?

[boiler1990]

Hey guys,

I've been a member of TH for almost 2 years now, and the one thing that drives me nuts is that we can't bump posts in the classifieds section. I just want to know if there's a legitimate reason we can't, and if we could, why not?

I'm also a member of [H]ardforum and AnandTech's FS forum, and it's impossible to buy/sell things without bumping the threads. I prefer to buy/sell things there because users can bump; it tells me that whoever is buying/selling something is actively searching for it. Here on TH, the "most active" post could be 3-5 days old, and once your thread goes onto Page 2, it is essentially dead because somebody would have to go digging to revive it.

Thanks!

 

[jpishgar]

Primarily because bumps tend to be useless, when it comes to content. Tom's Hardware has always been very content-centric, and that extends to the value of the forum discussions. A series of +1! and "First!" and "tl;dr" posts does certainly pad the post count and increase traffic (a good thing for us), but it lowers content quality as users have to sift through meaningless filler. A bump-war in Classifieds would be pretty off-putting to anyone potentially interested.

 

[boiler1990]

While I see the value in your argument, I believe the Classifieds section is a bit different than the rest of the forums. The threads there aren't really made to discuss anything, only buy/sell things.

I wonder if there's a route in between; maybe adding a bump "button" of sorts (only for the original thread starter), so that active posts can stay near the top of the list without clogging up the thread with an endless list of "bumps"? Keeping a thread alive is key to keeping buyers/sellers interested, IMO, and bumps as you mentioned do get in the way of the information sometimes.

Thanks for the response!

 

[jpishgar]

It's definitely worth considering. Will keep that suggestion in mind as we move forward on the next platform update.

 

[boiler1990]

Thanks for considering it. I'm glad that TH values member suggestions

 

[boiler1990]

Thanks for implementing bumps in the Classifieds! The 24 hour limit is probably better than what I had in mind, seeing as most TH sellers are more casual than the "hardcore" AnandTech/[H]ardForum users. I think it's just what we needed

 

[aford10]

Thanks for the suggestion on this.