I think the solution is simple. Count all posts or count none.

I would also prefer eliminating the titles.

My "constituents" (and we don't really have districts here & I don't know who specifically voted for me here) voted for me to make my voting decsions based on what I feel to be the best thing for FlyerTalk.

I've already voted against this motion - and FWIW, there's a good number of folks in this thread that seem to agree.

That said, IMHO, as FlyerTalk is a very status-oriented community and post-counts count towards that status at this time, in simpler FT-type terms, I view posts in Miles/Points/Travel-based fora as EQMs and posts in the OMNI fora, which aren't really related to what I perceive to be the core mission of FlyerTalk, to be like credit card and shopping portal miles...

The EQMs count towards status (i.e. titles) within the community - and the credit card and shopping miles can be used wheny flying around (participating in OMNI, etc) the community...

Yeah, it's a bad analogy, but whatever...

This is my last term (by choice and also now by the new FT TB guidelines) - so I'll voice it how I please...just because voted for me want to jump of a bridge doesn't mean I'm going to jump off a bridge...we were all voted into "office" and my thoughts on this have been clear for more than just this current term, so the folks that voted me back in should have been well aware of my point of view.

None that I have seen. They would simply delete them. Why Randy, rather than put a stop to them simply stopped posts in Omni from counting is beyond me. But he did that often - got rid of the feature rather than the trouble(makers).

What I have seen are some of those big boards simply not allow politics and religion to be discussed.

So in the end, it all ends up being about moderation-they are the ones who allow them to stand. Those who oppose counting posts, IMHO, never said a bloody word when they did count, nor do most of them have issues with the contest or lounge threads that are also a post padders dream :)

It's only the red-headed step-child of FT that seems to be the real "problem" here.

You have said that FT is a status conscious community, and it is, I would be all for removing counts and titles based upon post counts. Or at least make them only visible from within the user's profile.

I think it's dangerous to assume yours is the majority position. I'm not seeing your belief replicated on the thread.

This is basically what I posted last time round. I still feel the same.

I've learned as much good stuff on Omni as I have on any other forum. But I also understand why people wouldn't want the counting threads and the like to count.

I support OMNI counting because it eliminates a disparity within the community. I've not been here very long but I think that many of the high post count people who've been here a long time have post counts that include Onmi posts from the time before Omni counting was stopped. That creates a potentially false image of the value of "older" contributor vs a newer one. But then this is also an argument to avoid linking post count to contributor value (which is what makes MilePoint's "like" system a good idea in theory).

Just count all posts. It's not like someone can come here just for ONMI anymore. With OMNI masking we are now fairly well assured that people at FT are here for the travel related stuff not for OMNI alone.

Just to chime in here on this issue as I have not addressed it as either a TB Member or the Co-Moderator of both of the OMNI's.

Here's what I posted in our private TB Forum on this subject:

and I also added this later in the discussion:

I think it's dangerous to not read all of a post and assume you know what a poster is discussing. :D I didn't assume my opinion was the majority position, but rather, pointed out that bhatnasx was assuming the majority of members want posts to count, yet he was going to vote against it. I was quoting bhatnasx's post below, and I've bolded where the assumption you've attributed to me was made.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. As you have to deal with OMNI moderation issues, I think your thoughts are quite valuable.

As bhatnasx said, I was elected to represent FT. It doesn't mean I'm going to have a poll every time something like this comes along to tell me how to vote.

It was clear during the campaign that I supported this and would likely make a motion or support someone else's early in my term. I keep my promises.

Since I supported this the last time & had posted in the private forum in Dec that I was going to do the motion after the new year (RichMSN beat me to it by a few hours), it's not surprising that I support this this time as well.

I posted this in the private forum when we were discussing it in December.

Those who are supportive of Omni posts counting:

Some of the problems folk have w/ Omni posts not counting is the 'stepchild' aspect, and their feeling that Omni is indeed a community and often a place to get valuable info from other FTers, whether travel-related or not. It rankles them that their posts don't count yet posts in the 'lounge threads' do.

Some feel the lounge threads don't offer value because a post could be as simple as a good morning & people are able to rack up post counts that way, thus getting titles and Omni/CC access. Some such as jackal and canarsie feel lounge threads (at least theirs) do offer a community.

Those not supportive of Omni posts counting:

Those who don't want posts to count feel that Omni isn't part of the core of FT and thus shouldn't count. There is also a big concern that people who post in the games threads aren't really contributing, but well - playing games - and if Omni posts counted, people could rack up a high post count & get to evangalist or legend status.

There is the perception, right or wrong, that people with titles know more, and thus newbies would be influenced by their posts.

Other stuff:

We know from IB that lounge threads cannot be made to not count because they are located within a post-counting forum. Sub-forums can be made to count or not count within a post-counting forum, but individual threads cannot.

Some of the FTers who are not happy that lounge posts count yet Omni posts don't do understand the concern about people being able to rack up a lot of posts/titles via the games threads.

I was supportive of posts counting in Omni before & I still am. I do believe it's a community, and I've gained a lot of good information there, whether it be furnace, travel, Kindle, insurance, cooking, etc, from my fellow FTers who I've come to know/trust. Note I rarely spend time in Omni PR, but my guess is most of the people in there kind of know each other.

In December I had suggested possibly spinning the games threads into a sub-forum and making it a non-counting forum, as I thought that would satisfy concerns on both sides. I also asked cholula about that vs just making all posts count.

I think we & a couple of others could have gone either way on it, but ultimately decided that all posts counting (at least for me) was fine given part of what cholula & kokonutz stated above in this thread (ie, barn door open, not much dif btwn 27,000 & 36,000 posts & games threads have been about the same whether posts counted or not), but primarily cholula, especially since he's moderator of the forum and would know of any possible difficulties.

On a dif note. I'm going to ask IB-Dick about whether the software allows for an individual thread to be put on the ignore list. My guess (and it's only that) is that it's not possible, but I'll check and report back.

Cheers.

A very concise and clear statement of the arguments of whether certain posts should or should not count. However, what almost never seems to be discussed is why this all matters. What difference does it make? Except for the restriction about minimum number of posts for Coupon Connection, why is this such a big issue in the first place. Are people really so starved for attention that they need a high post count on FT to build their egos? Are people resentful or someone else's high post count because many of the posts are not "substantive" or not related to travel?

IMHO, of all the issues that have come up on FT since I became a member more than 10 years ago, this one truly seems to be the most trivial.

I'm anti this measure just as I was last year. I think posts should reflect content contributed to the discussion of travel and miles and thinks tangential to those purposes (Dining, News etc.). Had I been elected I would have voted no. I hope the motion fails.

One also needs 180 posts/180 days of membership for OMNI-access.

I think this is a big issue because there is a lack of consistency. If it was consistently enforced throughout, then I'd think the issue would die.

There's also some threads that get moved over to Omni because of the way they evolve. Depending how long/involved the thread is, I may split off what should go there or stay, so long as both threads would still make sense. Anyway, some posters begin a thread in good faith in an airline (or other) forum, other posts after it caused the thread to move, and all of the users lose their post counts.
I know I've personally moved threads over there when the topic evolved significantly outside the boundaries of the US forum.

+1 ^

There are plenty of forums here where there is little valuable information being provided though. There's one travel safety/security forum that's just full of rants. Forums like that should also be grouped with OMNI, and the posts in there shouldn't be counted.

Please note that it's not a matter of me being for or against the positions they are making in there. An objective observer can look through there and determine that the majority of posts - or maybe it's just a few specific people posting - are not helpful.

Completely agree. TD to the TB :td:


I agree. I know slick deals has a "reputation" system, which is supposed to reflect the value of that member to the community. Systems like that can also be gamed (cliques develop in any "anything goes" forum). But something like that seems better than just post count. That site and fat wallet have a similar system where you're allowed to rate individual posts + or -. Seems like with that, you could let the community decide who is a valuable member and who is not. Don't show those votes to users (just admins), or you create new problems.

Why not just do a coin flip on this proposal every year? :D

Does this proposal mean you get CC access after adding 180 letters to game thread?

And to avoid the post padding denial, maybe wait a few months after 180 days.

Are CC mods going to more heavily value the posts?