Globaliser

And to give context, another number: The total number of posts to the BA board on MilePoint in November 2013 was 67.

Raffles

It is odd, it just shows the power (and value) of incumbency. Even when the newcomer has undeniably a 'better' product in terms of look and usage.

oliver2002

The BA forum at FT made a massive effort to generate content and this also generates traffic, google or otherwise. AFAIK BA gets more hits/click/retention than UA on FT. Just to dismiss it as incumbents fortune would be rather unfair?

Globaliser

I agree that it can't be a pure question of incumbency. The UA board on FT may have taken a big hit from MilePoint, which is very UA-focused. Even making a mental allowance for the effect of rubbish post-padding threads there (illustrated by the average number of posts per thread on the UA board), the disparity is quite marked amongst the airline forums. (The JL board there is an outlier for reasons which are not hard to guess.)

Raffles

Google doesn't do huge amounts for forums. Look at 'avios airberlin' as a random search. Me at the top, the official BA page 2nd, Ben in 3rd and then FT down at 4th.

All you can really do as an FT mod to keep Google happy is to go through thread titles and change all acronyms.

oliver2002

Google shows different results based on your profile, look at what I see for the same search term:

View Screen Capture

You used to be able to switch off the 'personalised' search result, but they removed that feature. On my 'clean' IE borwser BA is no. 1, FT 4, OMAAT at 5.

Raffles

Must be because you are not in the UK. I did an identical search on a 'clean' iphone at the weekend and I was still on top!

84fiero

I'm a bit out of the loop - what are the reasons that is JL such an outlier?

Even the UA forum on MP isn't necessarily that useful, IME anyway.

nsx

Agreed. Boardingarea did a great job of staking out virgin ground for loyalty program blogs. They have a large advantage now. Yet the incumbency advantage of a blog site is less than that of a discussion forum. The discussion forum builds member involvement and, dare I say it, loyalty. Participants begin to feel ownership, and that feeling is valid.

With blogs we are mostly just readers, not writers. We are always willing to give a new one a try, and bookmark it if it's good. If the new blog is clearly superior, we will stop reading the old blog. We don't have to wait for other readers to copy our decision. One lone writer is all it takes to prompt our move.

Randy Petersen

Still not sure why the fascination with others. Nice work on the numbers here though not sure of the purpose. Actually it seems to indicate that members on Milepoint are happily adjusted to social sharing with others in a friendly environment and yet still are posting some very impressive content. Funny thing about your list. It would seem to indicate that there would be about 641,510 +/- posts of relative information (after deducting your list of social sharing) after 2 1/2 years on Milepoint. One might say that's pretty respectable since a quick comparison to FlyerTalk after 2 1/2 years according to the Internet Wayback Machine indicates FlyerTak had 282,315 +/- at the same point:
http://web.archive.org/web/200101232...m/boardsfr.htm

I'll leave the number crunching to you but I think it fair to say good for them with what seems like very positive success in whatever it is they are doing—it helps the average frequent flyer and there's really nothing wrong with that.

So, why don't we do this—quite worrying about any others and continue to work on building FlyerTalk for the better. One of the marks of great communities is they hold their heads high, wish other efforts well and always look forward to helping the next member with some information relative to their travel.

Globaliser

It was to examine the validity of this bald assertion made above:-Just how "well" is MilePoint (and how useful is the 2.2 million posts metric), when:-

• at least two out of every three posts on MilePoint has been made in the threads that I've listed (whose utility is obviously questionable);
• the top poster on MilePoint has alone made over 150,000 posts;
• the top ten posters have collectively made over 500,000* posts;
• the top 20 posters have together made over 720,000* posts; and
• the BA board on MilePoint attracted a grand total of 67 posts in the entire month of November 2013?

As for the politely-worded suggestion that we FTers should simply mind our own business, it's worth remembering that when MilePoint started, a significant number of BAEC board FTers did participate for a while. A few of us are still there, trying to answer the occasional question about flying on BA or (more often) how to use BAEC Avios to fly on other airlines. Why? Fundamentally to help others who are less well-versed in the intricacies of travel, which is one of the foremost benefits that IBBs bring to their respective fields. But most have dropped out because there's so little point in MilePoint.

Participation in IBBs is not exclusive, even when there are competitors. There could have been a place for both FT and MP alongside each other, whatever the power (or not) of incumbency. It's not unfair to ask what went wrong at MP, and to wonder whether and how it could still be fixed. I think that deep down, those of us who ask that question do so because we care rather than because we sneer - particularly when it's being asked by those who still visit MP. But spinning the numbers in the way that you do, while ignoring the underlying reality which they show, doesn't answer that question at all. It's just misleading to make a post count comparison with the total number of FT posts thirteen years ago, when the internet was still a playground for geeks, email was only just beginning to take off, broadband was a novelty for most, and access was much less easy than it is now.

* These numbers include about 30,000 from the BoardingArea news feed, which appears at no 8 in the list of top posters.

AJLondon

That was exactly the first thought that came to my mind as well. It seems quite quite misleading to compare absolutes between now and 13 years ago, given the changes in the internet that have taken place over this period.

obscure2k

Exactly my thoughts. It is ridiculous to compare FT at 2-1/2 years and MP in same time frame. This is rationalization and hyperbole. Emotional arguments.

Kagehitokiri

not sure if i ever posted this on FT. i thought it was interesting, but any conclusions i had/have are not really the same as many conclusions being discussed.

MP Mar 31, 2011 >
116,967 off topic
43,530 feedback
16,455 community center
6,999 offtopic private
= 183,951 = 63% of 293,574
excluding lounge threads, no other forum has more than 7,000 posts

obscure2k

See post #124.