Between THREE Scooter Libby threads in the Pit, and BrainGlutton bumping TWO Sicko threads in Cafe Society with the same post, I thought I’d ask the question presented in the topic line.
To put it another way, how different can and should two threads be to consider them “different subjects,” or a different enough treatment to warrant multiple threads? Of course, some folks just don’t care (see Libby thread #3), but I was curious.
Moved from IMHO to ATMB.
At least one of the Libby threads was moved to the Pit from a different forum.
For me, as a mod, in IMHO, one is generally enough. I’m not too delighted when the spin-offs get too deep on the ground either.
Generally, we prefer only one thread on a topic at a time. If there are two threads at the same time on the same topic, we can merge them (the preferred solution) or can close one with a link to the other. Obviously, merging them causes a wee bit of a hiccough in the space-time continuum; closing one means that the people who posted to the closed one don’t get their posts seen in the “live” one. Neither solution is idea, but it’s what we got.
The Moderators, hwoever, can’t be everywhere. We don’t always see the dupes. Best is if someone reports them – hit the little red triangle with the ! in the upper right corner. Ignore the comment about “only for dire emergencies,” this is the fastest way to get moderator attention. The sooner a moderator sees the duplicate topic, the easier it is to correct.
If two threads have gone on for a long time on the same topic, we might leave them, because either “solution” winds up distorting the discussion. That’s the situation with the SICKO threads in Cafe Society: they didn’t come to our attention until now, no one reported them, and at this point each thread is around 50 posts or more. Merging would create confusion, closing one would be unfair, so we’re gonna have two. Less than ideal, but that’s life.
Oh, and by the way, sometimes the moderators decide that, although the threads have similar topics, they’re different. For instance, there are dozens of threads about the Lord of the Rings movies in Cafe Society; the specific topic on each one is different.
One word of advice. Don’t call it “thread necromancy” without an accompanying explanation. 