New threads like existing threads: delete, merge, or leave alone?

What do you do when a new thread is posted that's almost an exact carbon copy of an old one? Do you delete the new one and tell the member to bring their question to the old thread? Merge the two? Link to the old one in a reply but otherwise leave it alone?

 

If it's a thread similar to one that is really, really old, then I'll leave it alone. I will link to the others as a resource, but I don't hinder the existence of their own thread.

If there is an identical thread that is recent, then I will close the new one and provide a link to the old one. Merging them would just make the new post seem out of place. Halfway down the page you would see the original question being asked again and it would be odd.

Thread moved to Community Organization.

 

I would redirect the user to the other "older" thread, leave it for x amounts of days and then delete to prevent further confusion.

 

My members are free to post as they want. Their threads are left alone, they can post as much as they want, as often as they want and without fear of someone telling them to "next time use the search feature."

 

That can be a bit off-putting, but on the other hand it's useful to have all the information together. I would probably just link to the older threads as part of my reply.

 

Let it stay open and post a link to the other thread. That way the spider will hit it and go to the other thread. To me that means more relevancy and similar content (likely with slightly different keywords). If I can have 2 possible entries onto my board from a single topic (as long as it's not completely duplicated) I'm all for it.

 

I'll leave the thread open and post a link to the similar discussion(s) - I find that there's really no need to close an identical thread. The discussion comes to a screeching halt (usually) after the already existing thread is mentioned.

 

We merge the new into the old and discussion continues.

 

Depends on the topic and ages of the threads.

 

if the old thread is weeks old, then i will let the members carry on posting in the new thread

if the thread is only a few days old, then i will merge the two threads

 

Same here