Aug 15, 2016, 3:59 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Post #116 by the Community Director:
"I've no plans to close the forum."
It's great to see new voices in this thread. Some have just learned of the Smoking Forum and hopefully will now use it. For the many reasons listed above:
I've no plans to close the forum.
Carol
Community Director
"I've no plans to close the forum."
It's great to see new voices in this thread. Some have just learned of the Smoking Forum and hopefully will now use it. For the many reasons listed above:
- It's a resource forum that doesn't require give and take conversation to be of value
- Smoking has become a negative topic in general. This forum is a safe haven for discussion.
- It doesn't take resources from other forums
I've no plans to close the forum.
Carol
Community Director
Closing the Smoking Section Forum [Update: it will stay open]
Jul 31, 2016, 12:45 pm
#1
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Closing the Smoking Section Forum [Update: it will stay open]
When the votes were based on a "build it and they will come" premise that has turned out to be false, the decision to have a smokers lounge forum should be reevaluated.
The opponents of the smoking forum have been proven correct; there isn't enough traffic to justify a separate forum. The smokers forum is less lively than the Cuyahoga River flowing through Cleveland in 1969...
If any TB members were convinced by the "build it and they will come" crowd, you were "curevballed". Will the TB members take steps to correct their mistake?
The opponents of the smoking forum have been proven correct; there isn't enough traffic to justify a separate forum. The smokers forum is less lively than the Cuyahoga River flowing through Cleveland in 1969...
If any TB members were convinced by the "build it and they will come" crowd, you were "curevballed". Will the TB members take steps to correct their mistake?
Jul 31, 2016, 4:08 pm
#2
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There are some forums that will never have the # of threads/posts/views as other forums (such as airline/hotel forums) yet they still serve a need on FT because they're specialized forums. When I review the threads since the creation there are a # of views in each thread (and depending on which go into the thousands).
I am not a smoker, but I have no problem w/ the forum being created or staying in existence.
Cheers.
Jul 31, 2016, 4:37 pm
#3
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Jul 31, 2016, 5:04 pm
#4
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Jul 31, 2016, 6:52 pm
#5
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And I agree as well and no, I'm not saying this as one of the forum's co-moderators but as one who smokes and actively seeks out locations to smoke when I travel
Jul 31, 2016, 9:43 pm
#6
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TB has set the forum creation bar so low that this moribund forum barely sees one post every 3 days and a topic that draws so little interest could have easily be accommodated in another forum. The 'build it and they will come' mantra clearly has failed in this case.
Compartmentalization has fractured FT into so many small pools of discussion that not only are new members daunted by the myriad of forums and are unable to easily determine where to post but veteran members rarely venture beyond their 'home' forums and don't participate in other areas of FT. More forums don't encourage a feeling of community and so would urge TB to admit it erred in creating this forum and roll it back into an existing forum.
Compartmentalization has fractured FT into so many small pools of discussion that not only are new members daunted by the myriad of forums and are unable to easily determine where to post but veteran members rarely venture beyond their 'home' forums and don't participate in other areas of FT. More forums don't encourage a feeling of community and so would urge TB to admit it erred in creating this forum and roll it back into an existing forum.
Jul 31, 2016, 9:47 pm
#7
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TB has set the forum creation bar so low that this moribund forum barely sees one post every 3 days and a topic that draws so little interest could have easily be accommodated in another forum. The 'build it and they will come' mantra clearly has failed in this case.
Compartmentalization has fractured FT into so many small pools of discussion that not only are new members daunted by the myriad of forums and are unable to easily determine where to post but veteran members rarely venture beyond their 'home' forums and don't participate in other areas of FT. More forums don't encourage a feeling of community and so would urge TB to admit it erred in creating this forum and roll it back into an existing forum.
Compartmentalization has fractured FT into so many small pools of discussion that not only are new members daunted by the myriad of forums and are unable to easily determine where to post but veteran members rarely venture beyond their 'home' forums and don't participate in other areas of FT. More forums don't encourage a feeling of community and so would urge TB to admit it erred in creating this forum and roll it back into an existing forum.
Though, elections are coming up, in case you want to think about campaigning on a closing of forums platform.
Jul 31, 2016, 10:34 pm
#8
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Thank you and I will consider it as the fact you feel a forum with such a limited appeal is "an important niche" only serves to highlight the folly of this TB's approach to forum creation.
Aug 1, 2016, 5:16 am
#9
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I don't think the forum does not have a limited appeal. I refer to it often when needed and I also add when I find something new.
Just because there aren't a lot of posts doesn't mean the information in the forum is not used. This type of info does not lend itself to conversations.
Just because there aren't a lot of posts doesn't mean the information in the forum is not used. This type of info does not lend itself to conversations.
Aug 1, 2016, 5:32 am
#10
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I don't think the forum does not have a limited appeal. I refer to it often when needed and I also add when I find something new.
Just because there aren't a lot of posts doesn't mean the information in the forum is not used. This type of info does not lend itself to conversations.
Just because there aren't a lot of posts doesn't mean the information in the forum is not used. This type of info does not lend itself to conversations.
If someone else plans to go to Bucharest, he may well see my threads and not make a new post but will be satisfied with what I wrote.
Aug 1, 2016, 7:06 am
#11
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Folly according to you, you're being outweighed by people who are talking about how the forum is important to them. Are we to cater to just you who has a very narrow view of which forums should be created, or are we to cater to those who want a niche forum and who have suffered harassment when smoking threads are created otherwise? As there isn't a finite number of forums we can have, I choose the latter.
Aug 1, 2016, 7:21 am
#12
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Furthermore, I posit that Flyertalk should give more weight to people who want forums retained than to people who want forums removed. The latter group gains essentially nothing by getting their way. They can easily just not go to a part of this site that they see as unnecessary or redundant. The former group actually would lose something they value. Whose interests should Talkboard serve?
Bruce
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Aug 1, 2016, 7:53 am
#13
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Furthermore, I posit that Flyertalk should give more weight to people who want forums retained than to people who want forums removed. The latter group gains essentially nothing by getting their way. They can easily just not go to a part of this site that they see as unnecessary or redundant. The former group actually would lose something they value. Whose interests should Talkboard serve?
TB should be serving all member interests and not just those few lobbying for a special interest forum.
Originally Posted by CMK10
are we to cater to those who want a niche forum and who have suffered harassment when smoking threads are created otherwise?
Aug 1, 2016, 8:25 am
#14
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Bruce
Aug 1, 2016, 9:35 am
#15
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What's ridiculous is suggesting some opinions matter more than others.
I hope the new TB will take a different approach to forum creation as I feel the catering to every conceivable special interest and niche in the long run makes FT less of a community and more of a collection of topic storage units but will leave it at that.
I hope the new TB will take a different approach to forum creation as I feel the catering to every conceivable special interest and niche in the long run makes FT less of a community and more of a collection of topic storage units but will leave it at that.