Recently, I was fifteen seconds into a welcome comment on a new user's first question on which no comments had been made when the question was closed—without comment—as a duplicate. I posted my welcome comment, but the event left me uneasy.
Closing the question as a duplicate is absolutely not the issue: the question really was a duplicate. The issue I have is that the question was closed without first welcoming the new user.
Should a new user's status be acknowledged before managing the new user's question?
Note: Exceptions abound, of course. Managing misogynistic, racist, antisocial, or other loaded questions first and then dealing with the new user appropriately is, indeed, the proper course. This question concerns itself with the vast majority of nonevil new users who pose in good faith real questions that seek real solutions from the site's experts.