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There's a disparity with using and . They're used about 50/50 on questions right now, sometimes doubled up.

It seems like the best bet for tags like these is to make the synonyms, but no one in the community really has that ability yet.

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  • As a note, this may not always be the best policy in the future... With crochet (since the base stitch for the craft is referred to, in AmE as a "single crochet"), I doubt it will be a problem but with "painting" and "paint" for example, it could be perfectly acceptable for both tags to be valid. The former for the art form and the latter for the medium itself. – Catija♦ Apr 27 '16 at 16:45
  • @Catija Yes, my thoughts exactly. Crochet seemed a unique case. – user24 Apr 27 '16 at 17:05
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Done.

But a tag synonym is not needed. Synonyms were designed for when there are two completely different words to describe a concept (e.g. car → auto). When two words have the same root, text completion will show them which is correct.

croc → crocheting

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  • So how did we end up with 4 [crochet] questions, some with [crocheting]? I guess I'm confused on those mechanics. – user24 Apr 27 '16 at 16:04
  • @CreationEdge During the private beta, everyone can create tags to help bootstrap the system. But once the site launches, only users with a sufficient reputation/experience can create new tags, so folks will be forced to use those we already have. If an experienced user is prompted to tag something crocheting but they ignore that and enter crochet instead, they are just being obstinate... and the regular community vetting can weed out such willful disorganization. Bloated synonym lists only fill the tag lists with unnecessary shadow tags without ever teaching users which is correct. – Robert Cartaino Apr 27 '16 at 16:11
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    Thanks for that explanation! – user24 Apr 27 '16 at 16:13

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