The problem with the "past" link is that it appears regardless, so it's barely better than copying the link and pasting it in the search box. The advantage of these posts is the lack of friction, they're just there.
That’s pretty much what the “past” link gives you. I like the human touch of someone consciously deciding whether there’s value in highlighting previous posts.
I like this idea a lot. How many reposts don't end up getting a comment like this because no one remembers the original submission? It would be interesting to see a history of every time an article was submitted.
