What Does It Mean to Bump a Post?

You're scrolling through your favorite Facebook group and in comments, you see the word "Bump." You may even see it multiple times on the same post. Whether it's in a Facebook group or an online forum, bumping a post merely means posting a comment that moves the post to the top.

In the traditional sense of the word, bumping means to knock or run into someone or something. When you bump a post, though, you push it to the top of the page, where it hopefully will be seen by more people. According to Urban Dictionary, "bump" may also be an acronym for "bring up my post."

So what does it mean to bump a thread? Today, you'll most commonly see bumping on Facebook. But it actually got its start in message boards in the 90s. Posts and their comments in those days were known as "threads," and the thread with the most recent comments added to it would appear at the top. By commenting on an important post, community members could make sure it remained toward the top, rather than buried among past posts.

But what does bump mean on Facebook? As Facebook groups have grown in popularity, bumping has become more visible. However, for moderators and admins, pinning a post to the top may be a more effective way to keep an important post active. Bumping only moves a post to the top temporarily. As soon as comments begin appearing on other posts, that bumped post will move down until once again, someone will need to bump it. A pinned post, on the other hand, stays at the top until someone in charge unpins it.

As useful as a post bump can be, it can also be seen as rude, particularly if you continuously bump your own post to the top. Often this behavior is reserved for a post that can be helpful to the community at large. If the guidelines for a Facebook group have changed, for instance, a member or moderator might bump the post to make sure everyone gets the chance to see it.

One way to bump a post secretly is to comment on the post, verify it's gone to the top, then delete your comment. It should remain at the top. No one will see that you commented on it and you'll have achieved your goal of keeping the post visible.