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I noticed that a user reposted a question that was already posted on this site. Originally the question of the user was closed due to being too broad or opinion based by users. However, the user proactively asked for help improving the question and later made some adjustments to the question.

After improvements were made I voted to reopen it as I thought that after the changes (although still bit crude) my reasons for closing were no longer valid. However, the question remained closed as far as I can tell.

Now the user deleted the old question and reposted the improved version (i.e. the last edit of the old question was copied verbatim as far as I can tell). On one hand I can on some level understand it - I am guessing the user thought that many other users simply won't bother going back and considering reopening so the user wanted to give it another 'shot' with bit improved question. Also, to my best knowledge this is the first time the user did this and I don't think the user is 'troll' even though the user caused some problems in the past I think the user engages in good faith.

On the other hand, if we allow users to do this where will we draw the line? Also, this unnecessarily wastes time of the community as it is entirely possible the users who vote to close down/downvote went through their ques and simply decided the improvements were not enough to retract their votes.

Furthermore, I am aware that this issue was already discussed on meta here. However, the post only discusses this ex ante (saying we should not repost but rather edit) and does not say what we should do ex post (when we see someone reposting). Should such question be closed or should be allowed to stand? Technically since old question was deleted there is no longer any duplicate to use as a reason for closing. At the same time as discussed above I am not sure if allowing this practice is good for the community.

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  • $\begingroup$ I think the issue are questions that are obviously trolling. Although it’s bad form, the linked question seems legitimate- although the current title is misleading. (I don’t think it can be answered, but it is possible to explain why it can’t be answered, which is effectively an answer.) Not sure if it’s a great example to worry about for that reason. $\endgroup$
    – Brian Romanchuk
    Oct 8, 2020 at 1:12
  • $\begingroup$ @BrianRomanchuk I am open to editing the title but how should we call this? To my mind repost is the most suitable word. Also I totally agree this case is not going to ‘make or break’ site still I would like to know what others think not just for this case but also for the future. I also personally try to be objective so I prefer to decide on some rule for myself to follow rather than exercising discretion (or at least I try not to do it arbitrary). Also I agree the linked question as it is would be legitimate problem for me is that it’s a copy of old closed question that was deleted $\endgroup$
    – 1muflon1 Mod
    Oct 8, 2020 at 1:21
  • $\begingroup$ I meant that the question you linked to has a misleading title, which is the only major issue I see with it. (It’s an unusual question, but it could be answered in a paragraph.) Since most of the troll posts are different (like the “Keynesian economics” troll from awhile back), not sure whether a repost policy will catch many other cases. $\endgroup$
    – Brian Romanchuk
    Oct 8, 2020 at 2:10
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    $\begingroup$ @BrianRomanchuk oooh I misunderstood. No I totally agree user is not a troll in fact in my Q I explicitly state that in order to let people know that in this case this is not an issue. However, this kind of deleting and reposting of questions seems to me like a bad practice - it removes all the old comments and creates new work for people to write the comments again and to again vote to close (since the question was not reopened it’s possible simply most users did not wanted to reopen it and stick to their votes). My Q is basically whether this is okay or should be discouraged I am on a fence $\endgroup$
    – 1muflon1 Mod
    Oct 8, 2020 at 2:14

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