We've got 4 tags on main that have synonyms, but are currently pending merging with their synonyms. The end goal of tag synonyms is, eventually, to merge them, and so, after a few years, I think it's about time we decide whether to merge the tags or not.
The tags are, with the number of questions with that tag:
- Merge text-processing (25) into string
- Merge networking (15) into internet
- Merge word (21) into natural-language
- Merge optimized-output (17) into optimization
networking and optimized-output haven't been used on a challenge since 2023 and 2024 respectively, while word and text-processing have been used in the last couple months. Forcing through a merge for any or all of these tags would simply retag the existing tags into their synonyms.
The point of merging tag synonyms is to help organizing tagging, to remove superfluous tags and to clean up tag synonyms. Part of a moderator's job is to merge tag synonyms with no objections. Therefore, the question is thus: are there are any reasons why these tag synonyms should not be merged?