I usually don't look before I post. I'm posting an article or observation to share my views and or see what others think. I'm not looking for points, pals or commendations. If there is going to be rules, regulations, policies other than simple good manners than count me out. I often sometimes to my detriment, don't even check to see if there are other comments before commenting myself. I read many, many different newspapers, articles, listen to Ted talks, podcasts and watch Youtube videos. I come here for the conversations, views and others' offerings I may not have heard or seen before.

Do you really need to regulate what's on tap?

It's a byproduct of the spam-posts-for-points nature of this site and its ranking system.

The more you do it, the more you're rewarded, so there's not much incentive not to duplicate hot topics to get points.

I don't place as many new posts as I once did. I mostly reply to existing ones. I rely on my head to remember if something has been posted since I joined, before I post. I have only had very limited success using the search.

I also have seen the same stuff I've posted that was posted by others. It is ineveitable to some extent.

I'm not certain, but think my few posts haven't been very .... 'Current newsy' so I've not searched, yea, there's a pinch of 'lazy' involved.
If, however, I were so moved as to create a post involving current news, I'd likely scan for similar items.
I so dislike being a copycat...

im still trying to get used to everything, but i do try to at least see if something similar has recently been posted. it doesnt really bother me tho, if i see something multiple times i just keep scrolling

Seem to me that most just want to interact. I do not think it us a plagiarism issue. They are looking for different takes. The other thing new members are just looking for commonality.

You can lead a horse to a tutorial, but you can't make him read it. Welcome to internet: the world's finest showcase of human idiosyncrasies.

If I ever make another post, I will do a copious amounts of searching before i do so.

I wasn't aware of the "spyglass" feature - does it only appear when viewing the site via the app (which I don't use)? If so, that could be part of the reason we get so many near-duplicate posts - people logging in from computers and new users using phones who haven't yet found and downloaded the app wouldn't know it was there, whereas if they can see it they're more likely to be inclined to search before posting.