Decade-long master threads
May 2, 2014, 9:16 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP, EY Gold, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Gold, Hertz 5*, Global Entry
Posts: 245
Decade-long master threads
While I enjoy the resources that FlyerTalk offers, I must take issue with some of the thread and moderation procedures here.
Many "Master Threads" are 4, 5, even 10 years old. This forces readers to wade through far too much information to try and find what they are looking for. In some cases, old and outdated information can be recirculated to the top of a board because of this policy. It also causes new threads to be either merged into this massive pool of posts, likely lost or difficult to find, or closed, leaving the person who asked a question to have to search for information in the so called "master thread."
I think that while the elimination of these master threads might cause an increase in redundant posts from time to time, continuing this policy of closing or merging makes it much worse for the novice reader.
Many "Master Threads" are 4, 5, even 10 years old. This forces readers to wade through far too much information to try and find what they are looking for. In some cases, old and outdated information can be recirculated to the top of a board because of this policy. It also causes new threads to be either merged into this massive pool of posts, likely lost or difficult to find, or closed, leaving the person who asked a question to have to search for information in the so called "master thread."
I think that while the elimination of these master threads might cause an increase in redundant posts from time to time, continuing this policy of closing or merging makes it much worse for the novice reader.
May 2, 2014, 11:22 am
#2
Ambassador, New England
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Maineiac, USA
Programs: Amtrak, WN RR, Choice
Posts: 2,655
The most effective way to voice your concerns would be to send a private message to the moderator of the forum(s) in question, or if you've already done that and haven't received a satisfactory response, send a private message to SanDiego1K - the Community Director for FlyerTalk.
Note that discussion of moderators or moderation policy is against the FT rules, so I've alerted a mod to close and/or delete this thread. But hopefully this answer will give you the info you need to let your suggestion be heard properly.
Note that discussion of moderators or moderation policy is against the FT rules, so I've alerted a mod to close and/or delete this thread. But hopefully this answer will give you the info you need to let your suggestion be heard properly.
May 2, 2014, 1:33 pm
#3
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
We will now close this thread for the reasons given; this is not a technical issue.
In the meantime, consider communicating with the forum moderators to pass on your concerns. Be aware they are volunteers with jobs, family and travel, so sometimes they can't spend as much time organising, archiving, cutting and trimming as they like. Though our goal is to provide good husbandry so informational megathreads don't get overly lengthy, discussion threads are not as crucial to trim regularly and even can show some interesting trending over time.
In more active fora, information fragmentation is the other side of the coin to megathreads; everyone has an opinion about which is worse, but searching for crucial information and coming up with fifty threads to sort and dig information out of is very frustrating.
But FlyerTalk is a community, and we can all add value for our membership. It's genuinely a two way street, some learning and some contributing. Often the first become part of the second group, or are both.
You can volunteer in several ways as well, such as volunteering as a moderator or Ambassador. Offer to help maintain and work on a thread of particular interest or topic you are expert in.
Is there a particular topic you're knowledgeable about? Starting or updating a wikipost for one of those threads, distilling the important and useful into the wikipost, and even providing links to salient posts, can be very helpful.
Does your predilect forum maintain a wiki on FlyerGuide? Anyone can add value and update those.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate them, and hope to both see more of you and welcome your participation in some FlyerTalk-building activities.
JDiver, Senior Moderator
In the meantime, consider communicating with the forum moderators to pass on your concerns. Be aware they are volunteers with jobs, family and travel, so sometimes they can't spend as much time organising, archiving, cutting and trimming as they like. Though our goal is to provide good husbandry so informational megathreads don't get overly lengthy, discussion threads are not as crucial to trim regularly and even can show some interesting trending over time.
In more active fora, information fragmentation is the other side of the coin to megathreads; everyone has an opinion about which is worse, but searching for crucial information and coming up with fifty threads to sort and dig information out of is very frustrating.
But FlyerTalk is a community, and we can all add value for our membership. It's genuinely a two way street, some learning and some contributing. Often the first become part of the second group, or are both.
You can volunteer in several ways as well, such as volunteering as a moderator or Ambassador. Offer to help maintain and work on a thread of particular interest or topic you are expert in.
Is there a particular topic you're knowledgeable about? Starting or updating a wikipost for one of those threads, distilling the important and useful into the wikipost, and even providing links to salient posts, can be very helpful.
Does your predilect forum maintain a wiki on FlyerGuide? Anyone can add value and update those.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate them, and hope to both see more of you and welcome your participation in some FlyerTalk-building activities.
JDiver, Senior Moderator
Last edited by JDiver; May 2, 2014 at 1:45 pm