I would like to broach the topic of bumping posts with y'all today. Before the confusion berating your faces reaches my eyes though, let me explain what we mean by 'bumping' posts.
We have noticed an increasing amount of users saying posting a message in response to a post simply stating 'bump' or even stating 'bump' before their actual response to the original thread. We want to discourage this habit in the future, as it becomes more of a useless venture and possibly hurtful to our members the more it is used. Now, don't jump ahead of me here yet. We understand that sometimes you may find that perfect jewel of a thread, a topic you have been excitedly waiting to see responses to. But, your heart sinks as you notice the three pages preceding your post. Since you currently have no comment you can think of, save excitement, you want to type 'bump' and click submit. We encourage you not to do this any more. Instead, we offer an alternative.
In order to fully present this alternative, I must first tell you a story. On another Forum I actively participate on and moderate, the act of bumping posts was once allowed. Over a period of time, the leadership on that Forum began to realize what we were really saying to our users every time we simply said 'bump' in response to their well thought-out questions and posts: we don't really care. Our excitement for making a post seen better on the Forum was not always transferred in our one little word posts. Our goal on the Forums was and is to bless the users in every way possible, and writing 'bump' posts conveyed quite the opposite of our desires. Though we realized that the other solution would take up more of our time or require a bit more effort on our parts, we decided it would reap much better results and perhaps even bring joy and knowledge to the authors of the said posts. Our solution was to write an actual post, with thoughts, answers, other questions, or encouragement. We wanted to take the time to make the author not only feel appreciated, but to build the author up through our responses to their questions or to their thoughts.
That, my fellow Holy Worlders, is what we call you to do today, here and now and forever more. You are all excellent posts, brilliant people, knowledgeable writers and readers, and truly caring individuals. You can show that by not 'bumping' posts. If you see a post that has not been responded to anywhere on the forums or see an excellent topic buried far in the depths of that particular forum's abyss, joyfully take it upon yourself to channel your excitement into thinking up and writing an actual response to that thread; thereby, 'bumping' the post to the topic of the forum in the most meaningful way possible. We love to see your thoughts on any and all subjects. Please continue to encourage and build-up your fellow Holy Worlders, especially by 'bumping' those posts to the top. But, the point remains to remember to always bump those posts with actual responses, instead of saying the word 'bump' or any other version of that word.
Blessings,
Hannah Marie
~for the Holy World Forum Team
