nigelloring

+1

Mary2e

For a while, I thought it was just me feeling a bit exposed by the sudden opening of Omni to the general public. It didn't matter much to me if the logged in community could see the posts, but it bothered me that everyone could now see it. Add to it that it can now be searched, well, and I'm thinking about going back and deleting alot of my posts.

It is disturbing that this was done without any prior notice or warning. Some people use their real names, quite by accident, when they first joined FT, and now I'll bet some are really regretting it.

pseudoswede

I'll chime in and agree with everything karenkay said.

soitgoes

Randy,

You/IB have the right to make this change, just like airline FFPs have the right to increase miles needed for awards, fees, etc. with little or no notice. Having that right, though, doesn't mean that it is always best to use it.

Since membership is free and open to all, make OMNI member-only is not a burden to the FT community. Removing the post count restriction addresses the desire to provide an OMNI catchall/OT forum for all who post on FT. However, OMNI is ancillary to FT's main mission--miles/points/travel. Allowing OMNI to be accessed by non-members and, therefore, by search bots, changes that ancillary relationship to some degree.

I'd prefer if posters were attracted to FT by the miles/points/travel forums and then stumble into OMNI. I think this benefits all members and makes our OMNI a little bit different than other boards' OT forums. Since other boards have OT forums open to all, there is no need for FT to do the "same thing" as all the others. Yes, FT can learn from other online communities, but FT has its unique characteristics. And that's what makes it interesting.

Please reconsider your decision to make OMNI accessible to non-members.

Most respectfully,
soitgoes

BiziBB

Dear Randy,
You've 'enhanced' our 'club' and I'm wondering why !

Echoing several people above - I understand that you have a plan, but you (we) will lose some of the flavour of FT as a community with this restructure of OMNI to a general OT forum.

I always thought of OMNI as a privelege extended to people how had made a contribution to FlyerTalk - both questions and advice, primarily to give back to new users or people new to that particular miles/points program or destination.

An attraction of OMNI (2006-2008) for me was a ready-made audience of pre-qualified existing (usually experienced) frequent travellers, to have a chat/debate/rant with.

To your credit, it was pretty lasseiz faire and therefore it was possible to post some wild and fun topics there (and play some incredibly addictive games with a few fellow FTers on the road)

Remaking OMNI into a moderated, non-travel, not-so-community forum will, I believe, dilute the experience so much that we will see it change incredibly - more than it already has with tighter moderation and a PR split.

Please reconsider the no-restrictions requirement that repealed our priveleged access to a 'community lounge'. I'd hate to lose the sense of community which has been built up by its regular contributors.

Please reconsider this decision - at least re. making it open to search engines and to unregistered people.

Sincerely
BiziBB

tcook052

Add me to the list who favor a less open OMNI. While I didn't jump for joy at a divided OMNI, I've been trying to play nicely on the new PR forum and found it not too much of an issue to jump back and forth between the two OMNI's but would favor it being less accessible a forum.

birdstrike

I think you will find that has changed. You have, rightfully IMHO, been revered here as the founder of FlyerTalk. In return, you have suddenly revealed eight years worth of our posts to the casual inspection of the world at large. The "vast majority of members" only know you as a spokesperson for Internet Brands, if they know you at all. Your constituency is the long-tern FlyerTalk loyalists who are rightfully concerned with this development.

None of us are stupid enough to expect privacy for anything we post on the Internet, but some of us were indeed stupid enough to believe it would remain contained to the FlyerTalk community.

To the best of my knowledge, I haven't posted anything here I wouldn't mind my mother reading, but I now find FlyerTalk much less interesting if it reveals my give-and-take with other members via a casual Google search.

I've had an account on the network since the early ARPAnet days. This action is unique in my experience. Good luck with that.

Will you still honor the ability to remove all of an individuals posts upon request?

Bobster

People can now Digg OMNI threads to bring in thousands or even hundreds of thousand of views from complete strangers that the OP didn't invite.

Somebody could even Digg an OMNI thread for the purpose of ridiculing the OMNI posters. Digg has it's own forum to talk about the links they post. We no longer have protection against that.

This and other outside links to OMNI will inhibit people from posting in many cases, depending the OP and the subject matter being discussed.

It's a pretty drastic change and not one that I like.

runnerwallah

I personally do not like this change. OMNI was a forum unique to flyertalk.com. By taking away the restrictions you now have a website that is well on its way to being just another generic bulletin board with a travel theme.

There were some persons in OMNI who let themselves be exposed with extremely personal threads. The suddenness of this OMNI change is a violation of trust and makes me glad the most personal thing I posted in OMNI was about the color of my hair. In this new OMNI I would not do such a thing.

scoow

I'll echo the above. The logged-in/ min or no post count requirement didn't bother me too much - at least flyers will still be the main audience/community. However, I did spend some time last night going back through EVERY ONE of my Omni posts. Fortunately, I've either been discrete, lucky, or just have a low privacy expectation. I didn't delete anything. However, there have been several OPs I sent a PM rather than posting a response over the years. And, I'm now VERY glad of that decision. I also hope those PMs have been deleted!

Following this "opening" and apparent change of heart about keeping things private/within the smaller community... is there any chance we will soon see an opening of the "private" Talkboard forum? How about the moderators "private" forum? No, I don't want to see either of these forums opened. But, I would also prefer that someone who finds Flyertalk via Google do so when searching for miles/points/airline topics - not relationship or legal advice, appliance repair, fantasy football, or political debates.

Dovster

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I have always been rather contemptuous of the internet "hero". These are the guys who let you know just how brave they would be in taking down any terrorists who might be on their flight or, for that matter, standing up to the TSA or police if they overstep their bounds.

Usually they begin by saying, "It's a good thing I wasn't there, I would have..."

Of course, the internet hero posts anonymously under a user name and is very careful not to let anything slip which might reveal his true identity. If one of these "brave" souls did ease his guard when posting on Omni, and revealed something which would let others know who he is, I would not be at all upset.

On the other hand, there are quite a few Omni posters who don't take that heroic pose and reveal quite a bit about themselves, a lot of it with the potential to be very embarrassing. Much of this would not allow a fellow FTer who does not know them in person to identify them but it would make it clear to a friend, neighbor, or relative.

I would hate to see them get hurt by this move.

chgoeditor

Hi Randy,

Please add me to the list of people who would prefer to make OMNI posts invisible to search engines. (I haven't had enough time to form an opinion as to whether its good or bad to remove the post-count restriction.)

I'm sensitive to my internet reputation. I avoid posting things that--if taken out of context--could portray me in a negative light. In a forum where I post regularly and have a good reputation, I feel comfortable letting down my hair. I can joke with other participants, because they know me and I know them. In forums where I know fewer people or haven't participated as frequently, I'm more reserved because I don't want to offend others or have my comments be misconstrued.

When OMNI was invisible to search engines, I felt comfortable because I knew that the only people who saw my posts would understand and take them in context. Now that those posts are visible to the outside world via Google, etc., I'm more inclined to bite my tongue. I don't want people to jump to conclusions about me based on a couple comments read out of context. And I suspect that other people who regularly participate on OMNI feel the same way. OMNI is at risk of losing the very atmosphere that makes it unique because people will become more reserved.

(Yes, I know that anything you write on the internet has the potential to become public, and I keep that in mind no matter where I'm posting, including OMNI. I always try to think before I post, so I'm not embarrassed by anything I've written prior to this.)

lalala

I'm also going to chime in now. I want my old OMNI back. I appreciate the Political SubForum, but honestly, OMNI was a place I felt like I could post nearly anything because very few of my non-flyertalk friends know of its existence.

Now I feel a tiny bit exposed. Not that I have anything to hide, but I liked the closed nature of the forum. I'll be posting less and less there now.

lala

Jeffie

A unique feature of Flyertalk is Omni. At least it was. Other travel-related sites have come upon the scene, achieving a modicum of success by emulating the FT model. Posts in the various Miles/Points fora should be searchable. I feel it safe to say that most of us stumbled across FT while searching for some travel-related information. Well, at least I did.

The lure of Omni (and CC, which I've visited but never used) was the fact that the participants had reached an arguable level of credibility within the community. As a reward, if that's the right term, for ongoing participation in what makes FT great, there was CC and Omni. Look at this from a 'why we are here: miles and points' perspective.

1. unregistered lurkers: no status, non-elite
2. registered users / infrequent posters: bottom tier status, moving up (generic)
3. registered users, 90 day/90 post: mid tier elite... CC bonus (Gold)
4. registered active user, 180 day/180 post: Top Tier Elite... Omni Bonus (Platinum)
5. Evangelists, etc: Who knows what perks and upgrades (Double-Secret Platinum)

Most of us are here to find better ways to obtain miles/points/status. What would the outcry be if an airline or hotel group said: "We are keeping the loyalty program, but giving everyone the same benefits regardless of miles, trips, stays and so forth. Just show up at the gate, doesn't matter if you're a member of the program or not. You get on the upgrade list and free drinks in the club."

The world should certainly know about Flyertalk and be able to use it for the valuable resource it is. Airlines and hotels spend a fortune marketing their brands. New or prospective customers are told about the benefits that lie ahead if they meet the criteria. They just don't get them until they qualify.

Please consider the model of the overall miles/points industry. Only confer 'status' upon those who have earned it. Fortunately, we don't need to requal every year. Yet

SkiAdcock

I'm adding my voice to those who do not like OMNI being opened up to the world to see. Others have eloquently stated the reasons why, so I won't copy all these quotes.

My understanding was the original purpose of OMNI restrictions was so that people would contribute to the 'core' of FT first, which was miles/points & then earn their way into the Candyland of OMNI. So, with this now open to all, does that mean you've decided it really doesn't matter if people contribute to the core of FT, that it's ok for them to come just for OMNI? If so, please explain your reasoning for taking away from the core of what you created because I don't understand.

Please change OMNI back to a restricted-access forum.