Why was the following question closed?

Question

I just saw that the following question was closed for being a duplicate:

However, this question was asked an hour before the other one even existed.. so, how can one avoid doing such "duplicate" questions?

I was just about to ask the same question.
– Sorean
Dec 23, 2011 at 23:39 — Sorean, Dec 23, 2011 at 23:39

Raven Dreamer · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-24 00:00:40Z

7

I originally closed the later question as a duplicate, because it was, as observed, a duplicate.

This meant we had a closed question with an answer linking to an open question without an answer.

That's probably the opposite of what we want, so I reversed the chain, closing the earlier one, and linking it to the later one.

Time of posting is the primary determinator for closing as duplicate, but it is not the only one.

answered Dec 24, 2011 at 0:00

Raven Dreamer

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Hmm, I'd put time as the last criteria. Views, links, quality, answers, etc. are all more important.
– Matthew Read
Dec 24, 2011 at 0:19
1

@MatthewRead if we spot the duplicate soon enough, the latter should all be null. We didn't in this case.
– Raven Dreamer
Dec 24, 2011 at 0:25

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