Originally Posted by
Randy Petersen
Honestly, I did not even think of the search engine implication. I know, being honest is a strange thing some times. ..... I'm all for OMNI being fun and informative and if being "transparent" can help that, then heck, don't we all gain?
I am no techie but I know google is a very "powerful" tool that digs up deep in the virtual world. Once the info gets indexed, there's (almost) no escape. It was not a concern when OMNI was not open to "the public." The search engine implication due to their power is a more imminent issue now.
I would think most of the fun in OMNI has been built on the sense of community. Folks were drawn to FT because of passion for travel, miles & points. The 180 "privilege" gives the posters enough time to know FT. We get to know what FT is really about. FTers get to know each other by the post interaction. Some actually meet in real life for DOs or other small gathering. Because you get to know the persons you are interacting with, and because the "wide" latitude OMNI has, OMNI frequent (OMNIites, sp?) are able to let their hair down and enjoy themselves over the years. You can't even get the "insider" jokes if you are too new.
And now the new "transparent" policy kicked in without any prior notice. Almost like living in a gated community for such a long time, you sort of know all your neighbors. The next day you wake up and learn your community is open for "all visitors." Now you don't know who may be passing by your front doors. You have no idea what brings in the visitors (or trolls). Folks didn't even have time to clean up their backyards and hide the laundry.
I am not sure what impact the lift of OMNI will have on the FT community (yet). I am sure the sense of FT OMNI community is going to change. I am just not sure if that's the direction FT should be heading for. I've
more than I like in SPAM Forum when I spot those zero- or one-post newbies jumping in from all directions and cut the smooth flow of conga-lines with high referral bonuses. I don't think I want to see similar "ripple effect" in OMNI.
When there's a proposal or motion in Talkboard Topics Forum, there's always one challenge question: "does it serve the core purpose of FT?" Because there's a vision for Flyertalk, some proposals never go anywhere.
We all know there are tons of "strange" people (FTers included
), on the internet. Could the lifted OMNI turn into "fatal attraction" and "disturb" the sense of FT community?
Randy, that the question for you to ponder.
But, seriously, some of the posts would indicate that there was far more posturing going on in the political stream of chat in OMNI and if so, then we already have the trolling and trouble-makers within our walls.
<snipe>
As for our moderators, frankly we have chased many of the trolls elsewhere and I think they (our volunteers) will be OK.
Yes, I indeed observe the "decrease" of certain trolls since early October (i.e. before the OMNI/PR). Thanks for our mod teams! ^