How do you regard the NECROBUMPING of old threads on WP?

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I sometimes find it interesting to read the old necro'd threads. And the old posts can ensure ground that was already covered doesn't have to be covered again. It surprises me how often people find these and post in them. It shows a lot of people like doing it. I'm also sure this also means people are active in searching for old threads that give them what they want to find out rather than creating new threads to answer questions that have already been answered. This is a practice that should be encouraged, not discouraged.

I like the fact that this BB lists similar-topic threads when you post in (or read) one. It'd be nice if there were a way to link or merge topics and threads more directly, even.

I was just reading comments to a recent post in an online journal - not here! Emphatically not here!

-- and it was obvious that none of the posters there were reading any (and I mean any) of the previous comments. There were several issues from that post for people to discuss, and one issue was being rehashed over and over and over and over - by different posters each time - with nothing new added in any iteration... because as soon as another topic was discussed long enough for Topic A to scroll off screen, someone new helpfully brought up Topic A again, immediately, as though it hadn't been discussed to death already. It was astonishing. (Existential question: if nobody reads anyone else's posts, why would any of the posters expect anyone to read their posts?)

I'm noticing more and more of that in comments to blogs and online news, as if people no longer read, and just show up to post without considering what they're responding to there This particular case was very extreme, though. I finally just gave up expecting anything different and read something else.

Again, that was not here. I enjoy reading threads here, even when I disagree with people's opinions, because people are actually talking to one another and reading what others have said.

I mostly agree with this, though there are some kinds of thread where it's probably less appropriate (e.g. a conversation about a specific event or an OP obviously in need of sympathy.)

I have to confess that there are some commonly raised issues where I find it hard to motivate myself to comment any more. It's partly a kind of fatigue; I've already posted my personal experiences of some autistic traits so many times already that I'm reluctant to use my limited time on the forum to re-hash them all over again. Posting a link is one option, I suppose, but finding an old post can take almost as long as writing a new one sometimes, and linking seems kind of impersonal when replying to an OP who is obviously in some distress.

why are the old posts on the bottom GONE?