Originally Posted by
tcook052
I'll be the lone dissenter to the proposed relocation of EM&PR forum to M&P as it's not about M&P in and of itself but rather talking about those who traffic in M&P information and to me there is a difference between those two things.
Trust me,
tcook052, you are not alone.
Originally Posted by
SanDiego1K
Originally Posted by
tcook052
MHO is that M&P should be kept solely for ways to earn M&P and that discussions of people who talk about M&P be kept elsewhere.
I am continuing to listen, but this is the direction I am leaning. The core of FlyerTalk is the airline, hotel, and other forums about travel providers that deal with earning points and status.
I am not convinced that a discussion of other sites belongs above them.
Exactly! ^
Originally Posted by
kokonutz
But 95% of what points and miles blogs talk about are...how to earn points and miles (with about 60% of that being about credit cards with affiliate links
)
And the purpose of the forum is not to talk about the people who blog or offer other types of external points and miles resources.
Really? You think? What about exemplary threads like
this,
this, and
that?
Originally Posted by
tcook052
It may not be the purpose but it seems the practise as a good number of threads on page one focus on blogs and/or bloggers including whether they take comps, if they've been to the Maldives, which ones censor comments and whether payments to them have gone up. That to me says the focus is not on talking about M&P programs but rather talking about those who talk about M&P and as I said earlier to me there's a difference.
EMPR is de facto actively being used to provide "feedback" on what to blog and/or the (bad) practice/motives of bloggers that has nothing to do with "how to earn miles and points" for the general public.
If the percentage of points-miles talking blogs were really as high as
koko stated, "95%" ("of what points and miles blogs talk about are...how to earn points and miles"), why aren't there as many discussion threads in EMPR Forum about merits or good value in those blogs? Can you imagine not seeing extensive coverage on FT when there's a good window of opportunity to earn quality miles or points? Heck,
FTers even helped spread an unfounded rumor with more than 10 threads. (Yes, there's
never such person who ate free at XIY's VIP lounge for almost a year using China Eastern's 1st class tix. I don't recall if there's any one blogger who corrected the wrong in the English world of blogs though).
If I know FT well enough, FTers will definitely leave no stone unturned when great deals & value are spotted. OTOH, the status quo of EMPR simply shows the directions the current participants in EMPR are interested in and/or heading for, which is far from not talking people who blog nor attracting a handsome amount of new fan base:
Originally Posted by
kellio33
... It's currently not much more than the TMZ of FT. Trash blogs and dig for dirt.
I see very few (there are a couple) construction conversations regarding any blogs or external sites.
Originally Posted by
SkiAdcock
As I mentioned, at the Chicago Seminar Event, 375 of 500 attendees were new to the event & had never heard of FT but had come to the event because they heard about the event from bloggers. If moving up the blogger forum to M&P (which is where it belongs given the bloggers talk about miles & points) means more of those newbies discover FT, then more power to it!*
So it seems some "newer" folks learn about FT via reading blogs, not from reading our EMPR Forum.
The bottom line is non-FT people don't come to EMPR Forum to read or learn about blogs. Sharon's question perhaps can be better rephrased as how FT can expand its member base and take advantage those bloggers who help promote FT. How to connect or collaborate with bloggers is something for IB or FT admin to consider but not a task for EMPR Forum to embark.
Not to ignore the fact that certain bloggers does help FT reach out, but I personally don't think a retitled and/or relocated EMPR would make a difference in what EMPR has become. If I were a blogger, I wouldn't count on EMPR on FT to be my platform or venue for visibility. YMMV.