Some thoughts
Apr 25, 2014, 2:32 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,145
Some thoughts
Hi,
I am not really sure what I think about this new format. No, I have not tried it, yet, and I might give it a try, but I actually find that the trip reports work well the way they are. I like the flexibility, sometimes writing a lot, sometimes just a few sentences, not always feeling like posting a full "official" review like at TA. I am afraid that having such a fixed format might mean that some posters might feel that it is more of a job to write something and therefore will end up writing nothing. And also that our reviews will be more like TA reviews easy to find for "everyone using the internet" instead of helping out some friends in our little, private luxury hotel "club" (yes, I know there are many lurkers there as well, but I am posting for the regulars/my FT "friends"). I feel that a review often start interesting discussions where a certain experience is discussed in depth and explained further in the thread (and in PMs), something that might be lost if the review gets an official format. I write things in the TR at FT and in the threads following the TR that I would not write at TA for example because I feel it is not for everybody. FT is more complex, you have to know where to look for things, who to ask, how to search and I actually like it that way since it feels like it is not for everybody.
I guess this comes down to me wondering what the higher goal of FT regarding this new format is: Will it be marketed in any way? Do you want to be a TA competitor? Do you want more readers/members? Have the FT luxury hotel posters asked for this? Or someone else?
Just some questions while I think about this a little more.
I am not really sure what I think about this new format. No, I have not tried it, yet, and I might give it a try, but I actually find that the trip reports work well the way they are. I like the flexibility, sometimes writing a lot, sometimes just a few sentences, not always feeling like posting a full "official" review like at TA. I am afraid that having such a fixed format might mean that some posters might feel that it is more of a job to write something and therefore will end up writing nothing. And also that our reviews will be more like TA reviews easy to find for "everyone using the internet" instead of helping out some friends in our little, private luxury hotel "club" (yes, I know there are many lurkers there as well, but I am posting for the regulars/my FT "friends"). I feel that a review often start interesting discussions where a certain experience is discussed in depth and explained further in the thread (and in PMs), something that might be lost if the review gets an official format. I write things in the TR at FT and in the threads following the TR that I would not write at TA for example because I feel it is not for everybody. FT is more complex, you have to know where to look for things, who to ask, how to search and I actually like it that way since it feels like it is not for everybody.
I guess this comes down to me wondering what the higher goal of FT regarding this new format is: Will it be marketed in any way? Do you want to be a TA competitor? Do you want more readers/members? Have the FT luxury hotel posters asked for this? Or someone else?
Just some questions while I think about this a little more.
May 5, 2014, 5:08 pm
#4
inactive
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 16
Thank you for your feedback.
We understand your concerns and do not intend to create a TA competitor. FlyerTalkers have different standards than the average TA user; you are more experienced and have a genuine interest in both luxury and quality. While the typical TA review may cater to a backpacker, family traveling on a dime, or recent grad touring Europe, FlyerTalk forums, and more specifically the luxury hotel forum, attract people looking to learn about, and share a unique experience. Our goal with this new product is to improve communication, legibility, and content within the forum.
We believe by making photos easier to add and cleaning up the design, you can more easily spark “interesting discussion[s]” amongst the community. Our biggest challenge, one that we are hoping to overcome, is creating a product that allows you to create a complex review, while also making it easy to read and share with your FT friends. Our headers are simply suggestions, and have been selected based on extensive FT hotel review research. We’ve found reviews with this breakdown to be very successful in creating conversation in the forums, as they cover a breath of information about a given hotel. We don’t intend to solicit this info to the average Joe, but feel we have an opportunity to strengthen the expert community. We want others with your similar expertise to participate in the conversation.
Please keep the feedback coming as the product is still in Beta, and if you have any more questions or concerns do not hesitate to shoot them my way!
Samantha Klein
Product Manager
We understand your concerns and do not intend to create a TA competitor. FlyerTalkers have different standards than the average TA user; you are more experienced and have a genuine interest in both luxury and quality. While the typical TA review may cater to a backpacker, family traveling on a dime, or recent grad touring Europe, FlyerTalk forums, and more specifically the luxury hotel forum, attract people looking to learn about, and share a unique experience. Our goal with this new product is to improve communication, legibility, and content within the forum.
We believe by making photos easier to add and cleaning up the design, you can more easily spark “interesting discussion[s]” amongst the community. Our biggest challenge, one that we are hoping to overcome, is creating a product that allows you to create a complex review, while also making it easy to read and share with your FT friends. Our headers are simply suggestions, and have been selected based on extensive FT hotel review research. We’ve found reviews with this breakdown to be very successful in creating conversation in the forums, as they cover a breath of information about a given hotel. We don’t intend to solicit this info to the average Joe, but feel we have an opportunity to strengthen the expert community. We want others with your similar expertise to participate in the conversation.
Please keep the feedback coming as the product is still in Beta, and if you have any more questions or concerns do not hesitate to shoot them my way!
Samantha Klein
Product Manager
May 6, 2014, 6:53 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,145
Some thoughts
Thanks for the clarification. I agree that the possibility to add pictures easier, would be great.
Headings the way they work now is complicated in use for me because I would write the review in word and copy into FT.
For the rest I am still worried that an "official review format" would put off some posters who would normally just write brief reviews.
Headings the way they work now is complicated in use for me because I would write the review in word and copy into FT.
For the rest I am still worried that an "official review format" would put off some posters who would normally just write brief reviews.
May 7, 2014, 11:59 pm
#7
Moderator: Luxury Hotels and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
Posts: 17,856
There is already a way to host pictures already on FT, it's just sufficiently obscure that the only one who remembers how to do it in our forum is Kage -- even I have forgotten again. So maybe just making it easier to use would make a big difference.
I have also wondered if a smarter search function would eliminate a lot of the need for separate reviews since the totality of views could be found from the existing threads.
For example, if I search for "Four Seasons San Francisco," it should also find alternate spellings for both the hotel chain (FS, 4S) and the city (SF, San Fran,...). I was going to try my hand at producing a tool like this but have had to put it on the back burner because other parts of my life have gotten busier. Also, if I did my implementation using the FT search functions multiple times, it could well bog down the site.
Anyhow, that's some thoughts from me.
I have also wondered if a smarter search function would eliminate a lot of the need for separate reviews since the totality of views could be found from the existing threads.
For example, if I search for "Four Seasons San Francisco," it should also find alternate spellings for both the hotel chain (FS, 4S) and the city (SF, San Fran,...). I was going to try my hand at producing a tool like this but have had to put it on the back burner because other parts of my life have gotten busier. Also, if I did my implementation using the FT search functions multiple times, it could well bog down the site.
Anyhow, that's some thoughts from me.
May 13, 2014, 2:49 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: France
Posts: 971
Indeed I just checked my profile, it is interesting as I value advices from some members and it is an easy way to find their reviews.
Richard is right about the necessity to improve efficiency of the search engine for multiple words requests.
Richard is right about the necessity to improve efficiency of the search engine for multiple words requests.
Dec 22, 2014, 4:45 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
great post Musken.
i imagine very few (almost none) of the regular posters (who do 'reviews' etc) on the luxury hotels forum are interested in their comments having more exposure outside the luxury hotels forum.
i am guessing the luxuy hotels forum was used for the BETA (in terms of conversions) because of the format of report threads there, compared to megathreads in the hotel forums and trip report threads in Trip Reports forum.
so luxury hotels forum was used, but they are not targeting luxury hotels forum (and that is not a guess) which is a very different forum compared to other forums on flyertalk. part of what makes luxury hotels forum great is that it has a pretty low profile, as do many of its posters. there are many luxury hotels forum regulars who do not 'post' anywhere else on internet, and many even have low post counts. kind of the opposite of elsewhere on flyertalk/internet.
i imagine very few (almost none) of the regular posters (who do 'reviews' etc) on the luxury hotels forum are interested in their comments having more exposure outside the luxury hotels forum.
i am guessing the luxuy hotels forum was used for the BETA (in terms of conversions) because of the format of report threads there, compared to megathreads in the hotel forums and trip report threads in Trip Reports forum.
so luxury hotels forum was used, but they are not targeting luxury hotels forum (and that is not a guess) which is a very different forum compared to other forums on flyertalk. part of what makes luxury hotels forum great is that it has a pretty low profile, as do many of its posters. there are many luxury hotels forum regulars who do not 'post' anywhere else on internet, and many even have low post counts. kind of the opposite of elsewhere on flyertalk/internet.
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Dec 28, 2014 at 7:30 pm