[jtraffic]

Off topic: I posted this exact article four days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14813807

In the past, when I post exact duplicates, HN redirects me and automatically upvotes the original instead. I wonder why this doesn't always happen. (I'm not bothered, just curious.)

Double off topic: It's very interesting to see how much difference timing makes. My original had a single upvote, and this hit the front page.

[boulos]

The merging is fairly narrowly windowed in time (I think ~hours not >1 day). Sometimes the mods will send you an email (if you have one stored in your account profile) and ask you to repost with a front-page bonus attached. But yeah, timing is everything :).