lin821

Why help them out?

But who knows, Jeff and Doug probably were among us. They just chose not to out themselves to avoid more beating. @:-)

I don't think tcook052 was wrong. I know of one long-time official rep who owns 1 green handle and 1 "regular" handle. Ever since the green handles were put into practice, when he posts outside his official capacity (not necessarily "his" official forum), he uses the regular handle. That I personally think is a great way to separate work from personal life. Not to mention it does cut down the confusion whether he's posting on behalf of the company or himself.

Perhaps FT doesn't have a mandatory policy for company officials to get separate personal accounts. If it's up to these official representatives, I think having personal accounts should be a much smart move.

MSPeconomist

I like the idea, but the person I'm thinking of tends to sometimes post information about his company using the regular user name and to post questions and responses about other programs (in their forums) using the green user name, although the second is very rare. I suspect the uses the green one when at work and the regular nonofficial one at other times.

kokonutz

So what I am hearing is everyone saying that this is a great idea, nay, the BEST idea in some time. Yes?

SkiAdcock

No.

kokonutz

So what I am hearing is 'yes!'

kipper

What you are hearing in your head may be "yes," which is your opinion. What you are seeing when you read this thread is, "no."

travelkid

I hear yes too

oliver2002

Put it up for a vote, my friend....

kokonutz

Good idea. I am leaning toward renaming and re-working 'Travel News' to 'Travel and Points News and Blogs'...

Revitalize that moribund forum and segregate the blog-talk away from the milesbuzz forum. It also makes clear that the standard for discussing blogs is the same as for discussing any commercial information ('news') outlet and/or reporter.

SkiAdcock

As I posted in the private TB forum:

I still have major concerns that the entire thing will so south, so right now I would vote no.

Most of the threads in MilesBuzz re: bloggers have had to be closed down due to nastiness/vitirol (sp?) by FTers towards the bloggers, including bloggers that have contributed helpfully in FT forums on dif topics.

Also, the news stand is really more about generic travel news (and is hardly moribund) whereas the bloggers normally blog about either program promos (which should be discussed in the appropriate program forums) & the ubiquitous credit card promos/churns which get discussed in the miles buzz/credit card/manufactured spend forum/sub-forum.

So what's going to be discussed in a blogger forum other than the bloggers themselves?

Also I don't think you're giving FTers enough credit by assuming that bloggers need to be discussed in order to determine which one provides the best info for an FTer. FTers aren't children. My guess is that most can separate the wheat from the chaff themselves & don't need a separate forum for them to figure it out. Not to mention what is one person's wheat might be another person's chaff. Just as there is no perfect program, there is no one blogger fits all.

Cheers.

kokonutz

Respectfully, I challenge you to demonstrate the veracity of that assertion. I spend a lot of time in MB, and discussion of blogs and blog posts come up all the time. Most of that conversation is buried in threads about other topics, and it is always well within the TOS even when it is highly critical of the blogs and the motivation behind certain blog posts. And I am not aware of any of those threads being shut down.

And that's not to mention the threads that are specifically about blogs where there is often criticism, yes, but always within the TOS boundaries:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...lyer-blog.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-paid-fly.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-bloggers.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...l-program.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...milezbuzz.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...est-offer.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-feedback.html

etc.

etc.

etc.

See those links above. There is a LOT more to be talked about than the program specifics of the blog posts and/or the personal life of the bloggers. That discussion is happening, it is being done well within the TOS and it is VERY helpful for FlyerTalkers. Just like how in the News Forum currently, the discussion evolves well beyond the specifics of the news articles and/or the rag/reporter.

Our job as the TB is to help keep FT organized in a manner that best enables FlyerTalkers to easily access the information and discussions they care about.

Blogs have become and will continue to be a growing part of the points and miles world. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of them.

When Smisek drove me from UNITED, I turned to FlyerTalk to decide where to go next. Although I am as savvy a frequently flyer as anyone, I counted on fellow FlyerTalkers to help me navigate the complicated and overwhelming choices. Luckily, FT has forums to help me decide what is good and bad about AA, DL, US, etc.

I could not have separated the wheat from the chaff on my own. But I didn't have to, because that's what FlyerTalk is all about.

Why should it be any different for the category of points and miles service providers called blogs and news outlets?

I submit it should not.

Bottom line:

I can come up with a million reasons to NOT do just about anything. But no compelling reasons not to do this. Phantom fears of FlyerTalkers not being able to control themselves in a News and Blog forum is not a compelling reason to refuse to giving FlyerTalkers a place to Talk about a category of points and miles service providers.

The posters have demonstrated that the desire to talk points and miles blogs exists, they have proven that said discussion takes place in a productive and TOS-compliant manner, and it will make FlyerTalk a better, more informative place.

SkiAdcock

All 3 of these had to be closed & weren't pretty...I have a legitimate concern that the new forum will be more of the same.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...light=bloggers

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...light=bloggers

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...light=bloggers

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

BTW - I did a quick read of this thread. There are very few people who have posted on it at all & the responses are about even w/ yes & no* (with the no's slightly ahead), so I'm really not certain where you're getting the 'everyone saying that this is the BEST idea in some time'.

* Regardless of how many times someone posted in the thread (w/ the biggest poster being koko himself ), I counted each FTer's response as a yes, no, maybe vote one time.

Cheers.

kokonutz

Without getting into specific moderator actions, I think that each of those threads serve a very legitimate purpose helpful to the FlyerTalk community at large, as each of the posts by the mods closing those three threads points out.

Now if you REALLY want to see mud-slinging and things get nasty and personal against points and miles service providers, take a walk in the Mileage Plus forum. Despite the vitriol sometimes spewed there, though, the Mileage Plus forum is incredibly useful and appropriate for FlyerTalk.

Sometimes when mile and point service providers act against the interests of FlyerTalkers, FlyerTalkers get upset and want to vent about it. FlyerTalk is the perfect place to allow for that sort of conversation.

If what you seek is to shield blogs and bloggers from criticism then you need to counsel bloggers to remove themselves from the points and miles service business.

But that only addresses the negative conversations side of the ledger.

There is lots of positive conversation about blogs to be had too. Which are the best travel reports? Which offer the best deals? A million superlatives to discuss along with the negative aspects that get discussed. Just like with ANY points and miles service provider! ^

kokonutz

BTW, in the interest of full transparency, here is the post I put in the private TalkBoard forum regarding this matter: