skunker

I'm fairly certain the sexuality of the blogger in question is thoroughly discussed on his blog. Could you point out some of these "salacious posts and innuendo concerning a member's sexuality"?

And, let's be honest, when was the last time Gary or Ben actually contributed to FT? Sure, they will visit and borrow material for their blogs, but can they really be considered members?

cblaisd

Yes.

I am not aware of any first- and second-class or current vs. lapsed member status in the FT Rules.

The whole forum is simply a gossip venue which, as the op notes, does FT no credit.

TheBOSman

So, if Doug Parker, Ed Bastian, and Oscar Munoz all signed up for accounts, would people not be able to criticize their management styles/positions, despite how those affect the airlines and frequent flyer programs? What about the Chase cards forum if Jamie Dimon became a member? What about Amex if Kenneth Chenault became a member? Etc.

Mary2e

Note your past tense

Yes, they contributed in the past. Now, it seems like they use FT as a place to get information to compile into their blogs - blogs from which they earn a living. I don't think I see many, if any, continue to contribute. Now they're just doing whatever they can to drive the clicks to their site so they have a chance of earning some credit card referral bonus.

cblaisd

Red-herring.

Let's deal with that when they do.

In the meantime we have personal attacks that go untouched on valued members of FT who have contributed much to its growth and reputation.

Let's focus on that.

We'll need to agree to disagree, I hope

skunker

Great, let's focus on the these supposed attacks "on valued members of FT" by giving examples.

You are doing a very good job of dismissing counterarguments while continuing to push your own opinion. "You are wrong because I am right!"

One last thought, you said that the TheBOSman's question is a red herring, yet their are employees who are FT members. The VP of Hyatt Gold Passport comes to mind. Is Gold Passport now exempt from criticism since he is member?

RTW1

I cannot believe the blatant hero worship I'm seeing here.....

I don't see the personal attacks, neither the value these members ad.

Prospero

It would still be perfectly valid to challenge and criticise their management practices/styles/positions et al. Personalised pot shots would be out of bounds though.

TheBOSman

Agreed. However, if personal attacks are occurring, the moderating staff should feel empowered to respond. Yet, one of the forum's moderators stated the following:

This tells me that concerns about the forum being a cesspool of personal attacks are likely unfounded. If it was, oliver2002 would likely have a different response. The only other conclusion from that response (at the risk of discussing moderator actions publicly, but in Talkboard Topics I don't feel it is necessarily out of bounds if done in a topical, productive manner, particularly once the moderator in question has introduced it) is that oliver2002 doesn't see the personal attacks, or has too light a touch. Let me assure you that, both from my personal experience with this moderator as well as my experience elsewhere as a moderator myself, the suppositions in my prior sentence definitely are not true.

cblaisd

That's quite the logical stretch. Rhetorically effective, I suppose, but specious and a logical fallacy.

I'm sorry.

Well-put. Unfortunately, that distinction is not honored in this forum where the whole point sometimes seems to be a place where personalized pot shots will be both tolerated and encouraged.

skunker

Am I on your blocked list? Where are these personal attacks? If EMPR really is overflowing with them it shouldn't be too hard to direct us to a few examples.

cblaisd

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exter...scussions.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exter...ns-merged.html

Passim.

kokonutz

I don't see specific 'personalized pot shots.' And you refuse to cite any. I guess it just 'seems to be' but is not in reality.

What I do see is a lot of critique (and often praise!) of content, style, grammar and practices. If you would like, I can provide plenty of specific examples. ^

work2fly

I find the forum to be an informative counterpoint to the blogs.

Surely, we can continue to point out misleading information, questionable motivations, and horrific punctuation within the bounds of FT's TOS.

cblaisd

The first and the third, certainly. But always respectfully, civilly, and politely. Not attributes, though, that seem highly honored in this forum, unfortunately.

The second is much trickier and almost inevitably leads to personal attacks on FT members.