Locking threads vs merging threads
 

I've noticed this on numerous occasions so I thought I'd bring it up.

I find it odd & a bit senseless to lock a thread that someone starts about a band, asking for recommendations, etc. rather than merging the person's post with the existing relevant thread. Particularly if thought was actually put into the thread/post, why not just move it to the right place? Of course if the thread/post is totally inane like "I like this band what do you think?" then yes, delete that garbage. If it's spam, of course delete it. But I'm running into quite a few locked threads recently where the post thought out or otherwise meaningful, so it seems like it would be more constructive to move it and send the person a PM (or not, if time is a concern) rather than just locking it.

If this has already been brought up, will I get locked or moved? :D

I know I have merged a couple of threads like that, however all the duplicate threads are usually dealt with before I get to them and I don't always see that they've been locked or whatnot. In terms of a member (usually a newbie) starting a thread asking for recommendations, I (and I think most of the other mods do this too) will generally redirect that person to the appropriate recommendations thread because more people will see the post, yielding more suggestions that the person is looking for. The thread is usually locked after that so the OP can access the link to the appropriate thread.

For me it just depends on what it is. If it's a recommendation thread, I always merge it to the recommendation thread in the relevant forum. It's why I put them in every forum.
If it's a thread about a band that already has a thread, I'll lock the thread and make a post about using the search feature (or post my handy dandy pikture instruktions), because they should learn how to do that, rather than me having to merge their thread every time they falsely assume that there's no Beetles thread in a music forum...
Otherwise, if it's a random thread needing locking, I'll just lock it, make a note, and let it sit there as an obvious message.

I completely agree with you here. I don't generally send PMs about it but I do generally merge in those kinds of situations.

If anyone is in that area theres like 5 doom/black/death metal threads all with about 5-10 posts in each.

Sounds like some new mods be fuckin' up. Circa "before I was modded". ;)

Post any links you find that need to be merged.
In fact, I'll make us a tidy little thread regarding it, in this forum. I'll close this one.