(with thanks or apologies to thenewgreen for the title)
I'm going to start off this post possibly by defeating myself by saying that I don't know how necessary it is. Maybe I will delete all of this instead of posting.
As Hubski grows we necessarily gain more members who aren't aware of previous posts. In addition, perhaps the search feature is not ideal (I don't know. I've always been able to find what I've been looking for but hey, I don't search a lot). #askhubski continues to grow in popularity, and our new users are beginning to be bolder about, well, asking us stuff.
As a result, we've seen some questions crop up again that have been previously asked, and by that I generally mean "previously asked in relatively recent history" as opposed to "previously asked three years ago." This has come up in the comments of the posts I've noticed.
Example 1 - First Love Example 2 - Looking Forward Example 3 - Wants
Now, I feel that I of all people have a certain tendency to get cantakerous and possessive of 'my' Hubski. I have posted long pseudo-rants about influxes of new members before, it takes me a while before I start liking new people, sometimes they are alienated (by my long pseudo-rants). So what I'm about to say might seem like, well, an atypical turn for me.
Maybe it is kleinbl00 who has commented quite articulately on the value (or lack thereof) of reposts. Oh look. I have found it. Warning, Reddit link But that is on Reddit and kb's argument applies more directly (not that it does not apply at all) to Reddit's system of upvotes. With the mute and ignore perhaps some of these problems can be avoided. Hell. I follow 13 people. I get to see what they share and that's how I encounter these reposts if/when/at all.
Some of kb's argument definitely applies. I get that reposts can be infuriating. Sometimes I see an #askhubski thread that has been asked before and my first instinct is to keyboard-mash and scream, "Don't you respect what has come before? Can't you search? DON'T YOU KNOW WE'VE DONE THIS? (And recently?)"
But here's the conclusion I have come to, calling upon the better, more tolerant angel of my nature, and especially in regards to #askhubski (don't ask me about reposts of links that's a different story): I could ask you the same question today, tomorrow, and Saturday, and get a different answer.
Some questions, admittedlly, could be construed as kind of dumb. If you are trying to provide me an example of a question with a changeable answer day-to-day I'd much rather prefer something like "What do you want?" than "What did you have for breakfast today?" I'd prefer "What was the best moment of your day?" to "What was the first thing you thought when you woke up?" I'd prefer "Who was the last person you had an argument with and why?" to "What's the weather like in your area?"
I think that when posting an #askhubski thread it behooves the poster to have an awareness of previous threads. In my examples there are #askhubski reposts that range from less than a month old to almost 4 months old (aka the same question has been asked in a range of less than a month ago to nearly four months ago). I also think that, when it is a repost, it's appropriate to post to the prior thread and say something like "Let's consider this an update to this thread. If you posted then, what's changed?" or "Hey guys, this was posted before and there was a great discussion, you might want to check it out."
I of all people am not well-placed to create unofficial Hubski rules, nor do I want to. That's why I have some reservations about this post. I don't necessarily want to discourage anyone from posting to #askhubski. I would just prefer if we could try to do so mindfully. Contributing to Hubski and asking hubski questions can come with its own sort of thrill, the thrill of attention, good discussion, and unexpected viewpoints (it's really the last that I love most). I am not lambasting anyone for posting questions that have been asked before and I hope the people whose posts I have linked to do not take this personally, it is not meant that way. I have enjoyed your #askhubski threads and I have even contributed different content to one of them than I did previously (here's lookin' at you, kid nowaypablo ). As I said: you could ask the same person the same question three times and get a different answer.
I guess my point in posting this is twofold:
1. I hope that no one on Hubski is excessively irritated at these reposts and if they are I am attempting to appeal to the better angel of your nature. Be forgiving. Maybe this comment is directed as much as myself as anyone else; I have not seen anyone get too snappy about the fact that a given question is a repost, although I also note it has been pointed out each time.
2. For people posting to #askhubski it might be a good idea to search for a keyword of your question.
3. (A wild point appears!) Perhaps we can start using the community tag #repost when we notice reposts. This way those who dislike reposts, for instance kb, and anyone else, can ignore/mute/whatever the tag and avoid any rage-making that may come about - see point 1.
Has anyone else noticed the reposts? Do they bother others? Is my post pointless? What do you think?