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So this question was recently asked: "Any Recent News on a Foundation (Asimov) Series of Movies?"

It's been marked as a duplicate of this previous question: "Have any movies been based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series?"

The previous question was asked 3.5 years ago, and the most recent answer there is about 2 years old. The new question is asking about recent news. There is no recent news in that previous question. There can't be recent news there - it's over 2 years old.

The note about the duplication says:

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question

But, those old answers can't fully address a question about recent news.

And, I don't know how to "un"-mark that question as a duplicate for the asker.

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  • 1
    When you reach 3k rep, you can cast close and reopen votes. In the meantime, here on Meta is the right place to ask for clarifications (and possibly get it reopened).
    – Izkata
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 2:08
  • That said, I agree with closing it as a duplicate. Questions have no time limit on them - and the accepted answer links directly to one of the best places to find out the most recent information. (Well, it does now; the link had changed slightly, I just fixed it)
    – Izkata
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 2:09
  • 2
    Thanks for explaining about closing/opening votes.
    – Algernon_Asimov
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 2:35
  • So how does a two-year question answer a current question about recent news? This confuses me. There's no information in that thread more recent than May 2012. How is that considered an answer to a question about recent news?
    – Algernon_Asimov
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 2:36
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    @Algernon_Asimov I think the main issue here is that this site really isn't geared towards "What's the most recent news". StackExchange sites try to become repositories of knowledge. If your question becomes meaningless in six months, it's not a good fit for the site. A better way to do it is to update the older question with updated information.
    – Avner Shahar-Kashtan
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 7:17
  • related on the main meta: meta.stackexchange.com/a/194479/147247
    – Kate Gregory
    Commented Oct 31, 2017 at 1:33

2 Answers 2

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As Avner says in the comments:

I think the main issue here is that this site really isn't geared towards "What's the most recent news". StackExchange sites try to become repositories of knowledge. If your question becomes meaningless in six months, it's not a good fit for the site. A better way to do it is to update the older question with updated information.

We used to have a close reason of 'Too localised' but this has vanished. IF it had not I would have closed it with that reasoning.

As it stands it's either 'Too Broad' (expected to be valid for all time, and cannot be). Or it is 'Primarily Opinion based' (what is 'current'?)

As it stands I may add another 'off-topic' category for 'News, and current events.

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  • Okay. Thanks for explaining that.
    – Algernon_Asimov
    Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 11:11
  • 2
    Upvoted for everything except that last line.
    – user1027
    Commented Feb 15, 2014 at 15:43
  • @keen to the bat cave? I mean <strike>chat room</strike> meta.
    – AncientSwordRage Mod
    Commented Feb 15, 2014 at 17:01
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I'll try to cover everything here. I was the one who closed the question, since the old question is perfectly capable of addressing 'recent' news.

The previous question was asked 3.5 years ago, and the most recent answer there is about 2 years old. The new question is asking about recent news. There is no recent news in that previous question. There can't be recent news there - it's over 2 years old.

Questions and answers can and should be edited to be updated if they're out of date. We even have a bounty reason devoted to 'current answers are outdated' to help encourage this.

And, I don't know how to "un"-mark that question as a duplicate for the asker.

When you have enough reputation, you can vote to reopen closed/on-hold questions.

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  • Thanks for explaining all that. But, how do people know to update a 3-year-old question? The default sorting algorithm here prioritises questions which have had some recent action: this particular question has had no changes in 2 years. No one will ever see it, to know that it needs updating.
    – Algernon_Asimov
    Commented Feb 16, 2014 at 10:03
  • They find old questions by searching? Long-time users remember the question? Someone notices that the answers are outdated and offers a bounty? All have resulted in older questions getting updated answers.
    – user1027
    Commented Feb 17, 2014 at 18:22

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