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Is it OK for a user to post a question, receive an answer and then repost the question using a different account?

This question was asked yesterday by user 158322. This question with a similar title was posted by user 158411 a few hours ago. The question text and code within are identical to the earlier question.

I upvoted the answer to the first post because it seemed to address the question well and to allow me to flag the second as a duplicate. I've downvoted the duplicate.

Can I do anything more?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ While I don't see any reason to upvote the second question, I don't see much reason to downvote it either. There is not unquestionable evidence that the second question was asked in bad faith. It could be a simple matter of using the browser's back button and not refreshing the river of questions. Flagging the question as a duplicate is solves the only real problem at hand. \$\endgroup\$
    – ben rudgers
    Jan 24, 2018 at 16:53

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There are two things to focus here:

  1. Is it ok to post a duplicate question?

    The answer to this is no. Either flag or vote to close these questions as a duplicate.

    Other than that, there is nothing the common user can do. Once there are five VTC, the question will be closed, and will have been successfully handled. The exception to this is that; a gold tag user, and moderators can instantly close these questions.

  2. Is it ok to post two questions about the same code base, as different a user?

    As long as the questions would be ok if they were the same user. Then there shouldn't be a problem.

    There can be other complications with having multiple accounts, but they're not specifically disallowed. On some StackExchange sites, they can be encouraged.

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    \$\begingroup\$ "On some StackExchange sites, they can be encouraged." - I don't believe we're one of those sites. The only such site I can think of is The Workplace. \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon Forsberg
    Jan 19, 2018 at 11:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SimonForsberg IIRC IPS does too. Some encourage having different between sites - if you don't want people to know you're a massive fan of Anime, Lego, etc. And so they're not forbidden on the StackExchange network. I don't see how you my answer above can imply we (Code Review) want you to have multiple accounts. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peilonrayz Mod
    Jan 19, 2018 at 12:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SimonForsberg academia as well \$\endgroup\$
    – Vogel612
    Jan 19, 2018 at 12:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ ...or you can simply hide other accounts and use different nicknames on other sites. There's not need for having multiple accounts. \$\endgroup\$
    – t3chb0t
    Jan 20, 2018 at 14:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @T3chb0t IIRC there are ways around the 'hide account' feature. Also that doesn't solve having a 'hidden' account on the same site. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peilonrayz Mod
    Jan 21, 2018 at 17:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ If the programs are identical, then there's a strong suspicion that at least one is off-topic asking for a review of someone else's code. Either that, or it's too trivial to warrant review at all (i.e. Hello world). \$\endgroup\$
    – Toby Speight
    Jan 22, 2018 at 11:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ @TobySpeight I don't think it's OK to accuse people of asking for a review of others code - without actual proof. If the programs are identical close as duplicates. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peilonrayz Mod
    Jan 22, 2018 at 11:55
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When you see this happening and you suspect that it is actually the same user with two different accounts (which it seems to be in this case) you can also flag one of the posts and ask the moderators to check if it is a user having two accounts, then the moderators can ask the community managers to merge the two accounts.

(I've done all of this now)

Sometimes users seems to create two accounts by accident.

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Note they are not exactly identical (there are small variations after the first half of the code). But I'd say they're close enough to be highly suspect. Not nearly all advice was incorporated and at the least the original question should've linked back to the original account.

I have voted to close the question and, since you already raised this on meta, would advice to wait and see what happens. I don't know if I normally would've flagged for moderator attention as well, but that's definitely not necessary after posting this meta. Meta is probably even the better of the two.

In my opinion you did exactly what had to be done. No more, no less.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ If you already know what to do, I'd say flags is more recommended than a meta post. \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon Forsberg
    Jan 19, 2018 at 12:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SimonForsberg, I only visit CR every other day so don't really understand the etiquette here as compared to SO where I'm more active. I couldn't find a similar question on Meta so thought I'd raise a new one in case anyone else encounters this sort of behaviour. Normally (on SO) I'd just flag for moderator attention though. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Fitzgerald
    Jan 19, 2018 at 12:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SimonForsberg Of-course, IF. The question wasn't whether I'd flag instead of meta post, but whether I'd flag at all. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mast Mod
    Jan 19, 2018 at 13:16

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