(This idea assumes the votes of deleted accounts disappear and that old accounts are not already deleted - both assumptions which may not be based in fact.)

Proposed: Old accounts which haven't been used in {insert arbitrary time period here} should be deleted/expire unless the account has created at least one exising idea.

This idea attempts to overcome the technological bias of a given 'generation' of HB users: What was impossible and fool-hardy or silly a few years ago maybe possible tomorrow. The longer an idea exists, the harder it may be to overcome it's record because non-returning 'Bakers won't be around to change their vote. This also negates the effect of bozos (sorry [beauxeault]) posting inane ideas and having their friends artificially inflate their croissant count. The idea itself would still stand, but would sink in rank over time. The reverse is true as well: Spiteful (and artificial) negative votes would eventually drop off.

HalfBakers without posted ideas who want to take a hiatus longer than {insert arbitrary time period here} could inform a moderator to have their account protected.
-- phoenix, Apr 07 2003

Ehhh, hmmm. Lose a lot of history that way.
-- bristolz, Apr 07 2003


Do we get much of that? (Vote inflation.) A sledgehammer to crack a non-existent nut, I think.
-- DrCurry, Apr 07 2003


We'd lose a lot of ideas and funny commentary. Even if the account was someone nobody really liked.
-- Parvenu, Apr 07 2003


To get rid of all those old decoys and quacks would be mah-velous
-- thumbwax, Apr 07 2003


[-] I was away for two years, and glad to come back. Then again, maybe it would be better for the bakery without me... I know of a financially failing kibbutz where half of the members were threatening to leave for a few years. Then finally there was a major rift and they left. The kibbutz began to thrive.
-- pashute, Oct 31 2008


No Hullaballoon? [-]
-- theleopard, Oct 31 2008


Yeah, this was an ill-conceived idea, kept to keep someone else from making the same mistake.
-- phoenix, Oct 31 2008


I think there's merit in some aspects of it. How about if votes expired? After all, pastry doesn't last forever, and a favourite today might sink back into obscurity a few weeks, months, or years later. Meanwhile, those *really* classic ideas will continue to have fresh pastry launched at them as people read, or re-read them anew. Maybe the freshness of an idea's buns could be linked to the amount of traffic it gets, more traffic having some kind of preservative function - but then again, it might be a bit ott.

If this idea were renamed Stale Pastry Expiration, I'd give it a bun, and then maybe another one in 6 months time or so.
-- zen_tom, Oct 31 2008


That gets more difficult as more ideas are added to the 'bakery.

How about, aside from those accounts archived by request, an account can "coast" for the same amount of time a user actually uses the halfbakery? My account was created in 2001, my last login was in 2008. If I croak tomorrow, my ideas will idle for the next 7 or so years, then slowly fade way over the next 7. No one would care by then anyway.
-- phoenix, Oct 31 2008


I like your "fade away" idea: content generated by users who have logged in within the last 12 months is displayed in black. Dark grey for 12-24 months, medium grey for 24-36 months etc. I'm not suggesting we should actually do it, but it's kind of cool.
-- wagster, Oct 31 2008



random, halfbakery