Original Member, Ambassador: External Miles and Points Resources
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Digital Nomad Wandering the Earth - Currently in LIMA, PERU
Posts: 58,611
This is the biggest issue facing FT and must be a top priority of the next TB since the current TB punted on it.
The web has evolved. So has the way that information is being monetized on it.
And of course, some have had dollar signs in their eyes ever since Randy sold FlyerTalk to IB for millions of dollars.
The next TB must, in consultation with the posters, make some tough but necessary changes to how we treat and organize efforts that both border and blatantly cross into commercial ventures.
I've been banging my head against this particular wall for about 8 months now. The bad news is that my head is bleeding. The good news is that it is finally dawning on more and more posters that there are people who come to FT for more than community, points and miles. They are here for those things, too, but also to build brands, make a buck and get free schwag like top tier statuses for themselves and be flown around the country as 'experts' so they can drive more and more eyes and ultimately dollars to their brand.
I don't have all the answers. But I do know that a healthy discussion about this needs to take place asap. And I do have a notion of an outline of what I think will fix this creeping commercialism:
1) Admit we have a problem
2) Categorize the level of commercialization taking place, eg
- Is this brand-building
- Is this profit-making
- Is the profit realized or given to charity
- Is this a purely classic commercial venture
- etc
3) Create forums for each category
I think there IS a place for the MegaDos and KVSs and Seminars of the world. But those types of things are various shades of commercial.
Some really great ideas have been talked about on the TB topic forum and in the community thread about the commercialization of Dos. That conversation must be formalized and continue until a reasonable and fair solution is reached.
This is obviously an area where the TB and Mods should work together so that everyone has a thorough understanding of what belongs where.
We really, really need to get to work on this.