On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 8:56:39 AM UTC-10, Default User wrote:
>
> They were talking about this on alt.usage.english. I think someone said
> it had to do with a Google Groups app that doesn't quote by default.
> Regular GG through a web browser does.
>
> But the old thread thing is weird, and suddenly happening a lot. It was
> always a bit of a problem. I don't know if the app is finding
> "relevant" threads or something and presenting them to the users or
> what.
>
>
> Brian

It's not possible to auto quote in Google Groups mobile interface. That's a serious problem and makes posting from a mobile device impractical. I don't see the connection myself.

Mostly, people on newgroups just get upset whenever they see a post not in the format they expect. I suspect it's a personality defect and these folks simply have a hard time living in this new age.

Why these really old post appear is kind of a mystery. Your best bet is to study the folks that post them. Typically, they'll make a single post on a topic and disappear. My assumption is that it's some kind of research project on how people react to this situation. Perhaps these things are being posted by the Russians or Chinese i.e., the commies.