NewbieRunner

And in other parts of the world as well though not as often as they do in and around Chicago.

I'm sure more regular gatherings are organised elsewhere on the Internet but many DOs are still organised on FT as you will see in this thread.

Some people may have moved on but the kind of friendship you describe still exists among FTers. In fact almost all my friends I'm regularly in touch via Facebook and WhatsApp chat are people I have met through FlyerTalk and FT DOs.

TravelinSperry

One idea might be to allow people to add a logo or smthn similar that we can add to our profile that shows how many countries we've visited. Something like 25, 50, 75, 100, etc. Would be cool to see at a glance how many people have done - and may help us ascertain how much travel experience one has when reading their threads.

T8191

Try the BA Forum, and our amazing 'Dashboard' created by some wonderful Brits

flyingnosh

If I ran FlyerTalk, I would do my best to find a business model that doesn't rely on clickbait and trolling.

I last logged in to this site over a year ago. FT was still in my bookmarks, and I clicked on it by accident today. That's how I ended up here, so I decided to log in and leave a comment.

I left FT because of the open promotion of clickbait. Negative comments invite clicks much more than positive comments, and apparently that's good for business. If anyone dares to post something positive, it gets merged into a single "positive experiences" topic, whereas each negative post is allowed to persist as its own thread. People with a negative attitude are permitted to restate the same negative (and false) opinion over and over again. It's amazing that certain people with over 10,000 posts are allowed to go on and on with their negativity.

But hey, if it pays the bills, keep doing it. But I wouldn't allow it if I ran FlyerTalk.

MaldivesFreak

+1. Only god knows why the current 'search engine' is still in use.


+1. This is indeed correct. A good example is Wikis. They don't even load unless you use a proxy or VPN.


And that's only from the first few pages.....

As for these posts, I agree entirely. Further to this, is it really necessary to censor facts about the travel industry and travellers and label the people who point out these facts, racist (or whatever the label happens to be at the time)? Certain travel agents/companies and certain travellers behave in certain ways. That's life. Deal with it. TA lets people tell it like it is. Being so damn PC on a site like this defeats the purpose of parts of it and can make said parts half redundant.


Edit. +1 to the idea of having the acronyms defined on mouse-over for those not familiar with the huge number of them.

JeffAtkinson

I suggest using headlines or captions to convey what the posting are about. Flyertalk has interesting things to say, but I do not have the time or inclination to weigh through all the small print, hoping for some nugget I am interested in in.

T8191

In contrast, the BA Moderators are usually well balanced - indeed, I had a helpful and constructive PM from one today.

Perhaps it's a factor of which corner of FT you use, and the general character of that user-base?

Non-NonRev

The negative side of "community" is 'cliqueish-ness', which I found too much of in FT's earlier years. Very discouraging 🙁

beltway

This also manifests itself in indirect ways. I can think of one forum where the mods are quick to cut off criticism of the relevant airline, but allow loyalist posters far more latitude, up to and including what I consider improper personal attacks on the antis/critics. The result is an unpleasant echo chamber.

Section 107

I hate having to scroll to the bottom of a page just to get a fast way to move to other forums.....please add it at the top of the page.

diburning

Oh, where do I begin?

1. The clickbait and spam articles on the front page need to go. If a first time visitor to the site clicked on any of those articles, they'd probably have a negative impression of the site as the garbage is not welcoming to newbies.

2. The mobile site is terrible! Please either fix or remove it!

3. There should be more leeway in some of the heavy handed moderating done on some of the boards. Not that this is a deal-breaking problem, but sometimes there should be a little room for discussion of fringe details. This is not a complaint about moderators, as they are just doing their jobs, but instead is a suggestion for FT rules to allow for more wandering.

Here's a hypothetical example:

Topic: New Bus Service Comes to City A!
OP: A new bus service to City A has been announced! I can't wait to try it! It starts tomorrow!
FT 1: I rode it today, it was great!
FT 2: I rode it today as well, the ride quality was terrible, it was very bumpy.
FT 3: Maybe the tires weren't inflated properly
MOD 1: Reminder: This topic is about the bus service. Discussion about tires belong in [this thread]
FT 4: I too had an unpleasant ride due to the bumpiness
MOD 2: Folks, this thread is about the bus service, not the ride quality, please stay on topic. Feel free to start your own thread about the ride quality.

Of course, this is severely exaggerated, but this type of heavy handed moderation that disappoints me, and I can't be the only one. When this happens, I feel that people may either feel less inclined to contribute, or will go and make a new thread, clogging up the forums with a separate thread for every little detail. This doesn't occur in every forum though, and some of them actually do allow fringe discussions on the same thread.

email2markt

I love the site and I think doing too much at once to change it risks a LOT. I'd be wanting to see some incremental improvements, or if you're moving to a new platform, trying to recreate much of what is here first before incrementally changing.

The forums do feel a bit old and clunky to me (not that it's all bad, no point changing it just for the sake of change). I would like to see:

- There are so many contributors and contributions every hour. A view that allows you keep on top of the latest updates (without having to reload the page).

- Something that emphases the community aspect. Could each logged in our be able to "favourite" a thread or post, so it is more easily accessible for them personally. They could even drop it into a folder of their own within their login. For example if it contains really useful information. Most favourited posts and threads could be featured or promoted on a new page, helping bubble some of the most valuable information to the top without going down the "rating" system which has been the downfall of many other forums.

- I would also like it to be easier to "follow" a thread, and have those easily accessible all in one place, if there are some threads you want to be actively involved in.

- Wiki articles are amazing and it's important to have them in among posts so they stay relevant. But a new index page for accessing wiki pages only would be great, where none of the contributing posts are shown but they are still easily accessed from there.

- A mobile app. Offline viewing of chosen threads would be great.

psiddle

I would improve the readability of your TalkMail Newsletter.

It is visually torturing to read on a laptop and on an iPhone 6 Plus it is simply deleted by this member.

bobinasia

Didn't the BA moderators recently unilaterally close a hugely popular thread about lounge guesting in opposition to the BA community? This is despire flyertalk having its own lounge thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lounge_connect.php

Well balanced?

Wx4caster

IBobi - Thank you for asking for candid feedback, and providing a safe space for honest discussion to improve FT.

Reading through this thread, and better still - participating in it, has been cathartic for me. As the tone and tenor of posters and posts have changed over time (sadly, mostly for the worse IMO), I've gotten increasingly proficient at filtering out material I didn't want to see. But what I couldn't control was the moderation of the information that I did want to see.

For many years now I felt alone in my opinions of how moderation is being handled in my primary forum (UA). My visits to FT have become less and less frequent, and I have shied away from posting, feeling that a) after taking time to write a thoughtful contribution, it would just get deleted, b) if not deleted, it would get merged into the abyss, never to be seen again, or c) it would be tagged as off-topic if not laser-focused on whatever specific keyword the mods had in mind. And I could see where these types of actions were happening to others as well - leaving the community to lose out on the useful or thoughtful contributions. Too often, constructive and seemingly innocent (IMO) posts of fellow members were met met with over-handed threats and/or punitive actions - further fueling my lack of participation and extreme cautiousness. I've have grown increasingly sad and frustrated to see the impact this style of moderation has had on the content of FT and my participation in the discussion. Many of the "old timers" who's contributions I used to really value have left FT, and the fear and powerlessness to vent my feelings have left me contemplating a similar move.

The FT community has changed as airlines have merged or disappeared, and as social media has evolved. I understand that many of the bad behavior today can't be fixed or undone by the FT Board, and that moderation is a useful and necessary tool to keep the character and content of community in check. I know that you can't wave a magic wand and return FT to 2005. But, I do hope you'll take to heart the comments regarding the effects that over zealous moderation has on the community, and consider the various suggestions proffered for improvement.