Does FT "attitude" drive newbies to blogs?
Aug 26, 2012, 7:55 pm
#76
Join Date: Dec 2009
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But blogs are unlikely to be useful about topics like the best seat on the aircraft, so them stealing our readership here isn't really much to worry about.
Aug 26, 2012, 8:12 pm
#77
Join Date: May 2012
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I do completely agree about the negative attitude towards newbies. IMO it's not a "misunderstanding" of language, nor is it directed just at newbies who don't do their "homework." FT could be a lot better if everyone was kinder.
Perhaps one of the things lacking is "thank you's" are frowned on as it's "assumed" and there are no reps. It seems like the niceness that makes for a great forum should be included in FT.
Perhaps one of the things lacking is "thank you's" are frowned on as it's "assumed" and there are no reps. It seems like the niceness that makes for a great forum should be included in FT.
Aug 26, 2012, 8:46 pm
#78
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So is the purpose of this thread just to have a discussion about what is wrong with FT without asking for the Talk Board to do anything? Have you seen one single person in a position of authority in this thread indicate any changes will come about because of all the venting here?
Aug 26, 2012, 8:49 pm
#79
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Can the TB revisit the Commercial links in Signatures issue?
Aug 26, 2012, 9:07 pm
#80
Join Date: Dec 2008
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So which acronyms are people having trouble with? I suggest that a new thread is started to see how many acronyms newbies come up with that are NOT Googleable or searchable on FT. If there are less than ten or twenty, as I suspect they are, can we agree once and for all that FT is not difficult to understand if you are willing to put in time? This is NOT a complicated technical forum like doom9 or hydrogenaudio.
The trick it thread doesn't count because it is meant to be obscure, even for veteran FTers.
Aug 26, 2012, 9:12 pm
#81
Join Date: May 2012
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Well Tom911....
We're Newbies which means:
1. We don't know what talk board is - we're new and don't plan on being around long.
2. If we have heard of talk board we wouldn't do a search for it to find out how to ask them to "do something" - we don't do our research.
3. We most definitely wouldn't read up on talk board. As many other older FT members have pointed out - we don't read back more than two posts.
In case you missed the humor as most senior members are convinced that newbies don't understand "tone" in posts... this was in jest so no need to point me in the right direction.
The reason I'm posting here.... it's nice to know I'm not the only person that feels ostracized for being new.
We're Newbies which means:
1. We don't know what talk board is - we're new and don't plan on being around long.
2. If we have heard of talk board we wouldn't do a search for it to find out how to ask them to "do something" - we don't do our research.
3. We most definitely wouldn't read up on talk board. As many other older FT members have pointed out - we don't read back more than two posts.
In case you missed the humor as most senior members are convinced that newbies don't understand "tone" in posts... this was in jest so no need to point me in the right direction.
The reason I'm posting here.... it's nice to know I'm not the only person that feels ostracized for being new.
Aug 26, 2012, 9:35 pm
#82
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I hear what you're saying and nothing wrong with encouraging more positive posts but in some threads in some forums a balance has to be struck between usefulness and friendliness as many threads wouldn't function as well as they do if dozens of readers all added their 'thank you' posts.
Aug 26, 2012, 10:37 pm
#83
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
I hear what you're saying and nothing wrong with encouraging more positive posts but in some threads in some forums a balance has to be struck between usefulness and friendliness as many threads wouldn't function as well as they do if dozens of readers all added their 'thank you' posts.
Aug 27, 2012, 12:03 am
#84
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Aug 27, 2012, 12:25 am
#85
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You shouldn't feel that way. If you're being taken to task in any of the forums you participate in, and there's a violation of the terms of service, whether you're a new member or an old member, the moderators should deal with it. We're not allowed to discuss moderators or moderation here, though, so it's really hard to offer additional comments without having them deleted or getting myself banned.
Aug 27, 2012, 2:14 am
#86
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IMO the rules are written in a way that just about everyone one would be able to tell what is an overly rude or offensive post (and of course it is ultimately up to our highly-trained moderation staff to use their personal judgment to determine what is or isn't rude/offensive), but one that might just be a bit snarky or potentially rude is a bit more gray area IMO.
I can't agree with you more, lo2e!
Not everyone is a wordsmith. Intent and words are easily misinterpreted in the virtual world. It doesn't help when some people are "sensitive" to words and some fail to understand and/or see the humor, let it be dry or not.
In a way FT mimics the real world. You encounter every possible type of persons: some polite, some funny, some stiff, some cynical, some shy, some fragile, some lunatic, some argumentative, some straight-forward, some easily-irritated and some socially awkward. FTers have to learn to read, both people and posts, just like in the real world.
It gets more complicated when FTers are communicating in a second, third, or even fourth language in English on FT. Imagine how much can be "lost in translation."
There's no way to relegate human nature online or offline, at least not in a free and real world.
CodeAdam it happens, I see it happen on a regular basis, it has happened to me recently even though I have been around for 5+ years. I posted a question and got two responses (more feedback would have been helpful) because I am not part of the "in crowd" on a particular posting board. I lurked for 2-3 years before I was brave enough to put up a posting name and jump out there. By that time I had a pretty good idea flow of various forums. FT is the toughest posting forums I have ever been a regular poster on. People can be helpful but they can also be rude, condescending, exclusionary, know-it-all, have an attitude their way is the only way or everyone should have the same beliefs they do. In some ways I am still feel like I am a newbie because I don't have posting numbers in the 10s of thousands and probably never will.
You can't be thin skinned if you want to post on FT.
You can't be thin skinned if you want to post on FT.
I think that has to do with more the nature of FT and the type of question you are posting. If the thread is about deal/s that could potential save thousands, a question like "I have no idea, someone please help me do this" is going to be met with a less positive response than a similar thread asking about the best seat on the aircraft, for example.
After reading that thread, I personally can't find any "unfriendliness" in any of the 2 replies. They both answered your questions directly. I also agree with belfordrocks the nature and type of questions will "pre-determine" how a thread goes on FT.
Have you noticed how this following "simple" Q&A thread has been going for 13 pages since May, and is still going strong? FTers are such an engaging crowd with some wicked sense of humor, if you will.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...hawaii-13.html
Last edited by lin821; Aug 27, 2012 at 6:31 am Reason: missing a sentence
Aug 27, 2012, 6:13 am
#87
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You shouldn't feel that way. If you're being taken to task in any of the forums you participate in, and there's a violation of the terms of service, whether you're a new member or an old member, the moderators should deal with it. We're not allowed to discuss moderators or moderation here, though, so it's really hard to offer additional comments without having them deleted or getting myself banned.
Aug 27, 2012, 12:34 pm
#88
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I agree with you, and would love to discuss it further, but that M...... word comes into play.
Aug 27, 2012, 1:57 pm
#89
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So is the purpose of this thread just to have a discussion about what is wrong with FT without asking for the Talk Board to do anything? Have you seen one single person in a position of authority in this thread indicate any changes will come about because of all the venting here?
i guess im not sure whether mia moved posts here
"venting" by definition is not about being constructive
TB is not prevented from proposing terms of service etc
TB is also not prevented from discussing/changing itself within existing guidelines
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Aug 27, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Aug 27, 2012, 7:34 pm
#90
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