Originally Posted by
Dovster
The fact is, as far as "destinations" is concerned, it doesn't really matter where the poster is from, what is important is where he is going to.
I rarely go to the Middle East Forum, for example, because I don't travel to any country in the area with the exception of Israel and, living in that country, I really don't need to get information about it.
I don't post much in the Germany forum for similar reasons (plus it gets really boring answering the same questions about castles in Bavaria over and over, when there are already a number of excellent threads available on the subject). It may not be the intent, as some fora have ambassadors who do a really good job of giving advice about 'their' country/region, but I simply don't. I suppose that I feel marginally guilty about not giving back to the community that way, but I can do so in other ways.
Originally Posted by
Jenbel
As to this being a US owned board blah blah blah... we cannot attract in non-US members if we continue with the mantra that the US is more important. Why would any non-Americans want to spend time on a board where their own country of residence is accorded such little importance?
Why not do away with the artificial distinction between the US and the rest of the world, create a set of forums by continent (and please reunite the ME with Asia,where it belongs, in the current list it's even more tagalong than normal), and then subforum into their constituent parts? So top level forum would be North America, with subforums for US regions, Canada and Mexico... then Europe - with their associated sub forums/constituent parts... etc.
Agree on all your points. I was told earlier this year however that this website
is primarily for Americans and thus terminology should be presented in a format most suited to American readers. I don't agree and I think many others feeel the same, and I don't know if that really is the intent or the life of this site anymore. Even when it was first created, there were many non-American posters, posting about non-American destinations.
As to the Middle East, I am still extremely puzzled about that one. So it would appear are readers. Questions about Turkey, Azerbaijan, and others are tossed in there more likely due to ignorance about geography and history, but it is debatable if they belong there. They are then difficult to find for those of us looking under other fora for information. (I stumble on those threads via a google search more often than by looking at what I consider the appropriate forum heading)
Thank you however for the efforts which have been made to date, as well as the opportunity to give input. I know that I would use the destination fora more frequently if I could find things more easily.