kipper

I'm just trying to obtain clarification on how FT helps newbies, since part of the discussion on this thread is adding another forum to help newbies.

You said that you help, only after you deem that they are really trying to learn, which means that there may be some newbies falling through the cracks because their posting history doesn't meet unpublished standards or criteria.

So, I have to question if creating a new forum is best, or if more help from ambassadors and such, without this unpublished criteria, would be the best option.

tcook052

So you're saying we should create a new whole new forum to enable those disinclined to seek the information out in the individual forums and in that new venue remind them there are the information/means within those forums they've purposely chosen to ignore to that point? Sorry but I still see us enabling the behavior as contributing to the problem but that is only MHO.

Shuai Zeng

From my point of views on this, is one word "laziness". I'm same with everyone else here, that want to view milesbuzz for the deals; and not for everyone asking for advice. I say just creat a forum "Travel Help/ Advice" or what ever. Move everything that is question into that forum, and let who want to help them out help there. I swear that how many people just want answer, and don't want to do the work them self. There is so many blogger out there that will tell them how to use redeem for their trip. I would like to see Milesbuzz go back to the way it was, before all these newbies came and flood with advice asking questions.

beltway

+1

Not so long ago, MilesBuzz was the single best FT forum to monitor for interesting points-earning news. Ever since the Great Banishment of credit-card discussions to the new CC forum (and, somewhat erratically, in the affiliated hotel/airline fora, often duplicatively -- but I digress), MB has been a forum in search of a purpose. Today, the vacuum has been filled with endless advice-seeking requests, making the forum decidedly un-buzzy. (Indeed, I finally unsubscribed.)

Two thoughts:

First, as others have already noted, sometimes there isn't an obvious forum, e.g., if the question is "what's the best carrier/alliance to get me from A to B on an award ticket?"

Second: yes, there is also just plain ignorant behavior involving posts going into wrong (or non-optimal) fora. IMO, this isn't simply a matter of "the blogs are producing all these point-rich noobs"; rather, there's the problem that FT's structure and help system really aren't sufficiently intuitive or user-friendly, especially to noobs. (If you need confirmation, look no further than the discussion above about the MyFlyerTalk feature, which I think is wildly underused relative to its value, for the simple reason that many users have no idea it exists or how to use it.)

I think the behavior in question is like the weather: it's going to happen whether we like it or not. So the real issue is to how to channel that behavior in ways that a) better help noobs to become informed, productive FTers while b) keeping other fora free of clutter & more focused on their core purpose.

As somebody wisely observed up-thread, MB draws the bulk of noob advice-seeking because it's up top in the forum list. If there is to be a MB forum (under that name, at least), it needs to be somewhere else, and the HelpMe/AwardAdvice/whatever forum should be up top, IMO.

sprials

I didn't mind some advice threads (sometimes they are interesting), but its gotten out of control. The whole first page of milesbuzz is advice.

Alphaguy

I agree.. I used to come here to look for CC deals and other ways to earn miles... I think a separate ADVICE thread should be opened..

Mary2e

I am an ambassador for the Hyatt program, where I help. There is none that I know of for miles buzz. Perhaps there should be.

I don't want to give newbies the wrong impression, so in OTHER, non-Hyatt forums, I simply don't bother to respond to them with any response, including the "go look in xyz forum".

Apparently, you don't like my "unpublished" standards, but I am meeting the criterion for being an ambassador in the one I was selected for - not all of them.

Like I said, if you think my lack of posting is inappropriate, you are free to complain.

Mary2e

I don't think they're disincline - I think they're overwhelmed. To us, who have been around a long time and watched FT grow into what it is today, well, we know where to go. To newbies, the myriad of different forums can really be intimidating. Asking them, nicely, to post and/or look for information in the newbie forum, where those who want to help them find their awards, will help them in the long run.

MilesBuzz isn't, and never was, the place to go for award booking help. The individual forums held that role, until the newbies all started to go there for credit card deals and that's the only place they now know where to go.

tcook052

Why can't that happen now within the exisiting airline alliance forums? The obviousness of the forum is IMHO part of the problem.

So would creating another layer of topic duplication with one more forum help that reality? No, not IMHO.

Sorry but while I hear what you're saying I don't feel in the long run it'll help those other fora to continually build bypasses around them. Today's new member is tomorrow's expert and if we continually enable those members to avoid the individual fora it only help makes us poorer as a community down the road. I'd much rather see them encouraged to intereact in those forums rather than build ways to avoid them though that's only MHO.

tcook052

So why add to the myriad? Will another layer of duplication and another forum or two really make FT easier for everyone, new & old member alike, to navigate? No, not IMHO and we're just reacting to a trend and not adressing the real issue.

Exactly why I'm saying we work to reverse the trend now, not later when it's too late. Just MHO.

UA Fan

I like this. I am against adding a new forum, because the regulars will not really step in to help. When I see these threads in forums I visit, I tend to open and read. But when I don't need help, I won't have an incentive to venture there.

I say we have a thread that helps people plan their trips. Also another thread along the lines of the one in the Star Alliance forum that helps people decide the FFP best for them.

Or move threads to the most suitable airline/hotel forum.

beltway

I think your views & mine aren't all that far apart. Yes, newbies should be encouraged to visit (and read up on the accumulated lore in) the program-specific fora. And presumably that's happening today in the responses to the many "Advice:" threads in MilesBuzz.

The problem with the current state of affairs, though, is just that: these gentle correctives (and the queries that prompt them) don't belong in MilesBuzz, if that forum's charter is going to reflect its name and past function.

Like it or not, there is already a "bypass" around the program-specific fora: MilesBuzz in its present state. As far as I can tell, the options available are

1. Leave things as they are, with the function of "MilesBuzz" completely divorced from its past purpose
2. Try to clean house in MB (& restore its charter) by putting the Sisyphean burden on mods to lock/move the incessant advice-seeking threads
3. Create a new Newbie [or Award Advice] forum & place it before MilesBuzz in the fourm list, so it draws these non-MBish posts.

oneoldguy

Mile Buzz is now a BIG WASTE OF TIME. Put requests for advice in a separate forum, please, ASAP.

broadwayblue

Indeed. The forum is a disaster. There are 2, perhaps 3 threads on entire page that have anything to do with earning miles. Make a general help forum if need be, but please get this crap out of MilesBuzz!

84fiero

Quite right. And the few that are there, are not really buzzworthy, mainly just for a pittance of miles earning.

Which is why my view is that, there de factor already is a help me/newbie forum - it's just called MilesBuzz right now. So all of this arguing over whether such a forum is needed, is moot really - it's created itself by default.

Is this because we've now (with the CC forum, blog forum, etc) given homes to prior MB topics? Or there just aren't any buzzworthy offers right now? I don't know, but it's been that way for awhile IME.

So why not give the Help/Newbie thing a try? All you have to do is re-title MB and then move the few remaining actual earning threads to a "New MB" forum. Or if not, then quit pretending MB is still a thing, re-title it and be done with it if it's no longer relevant (for whatever reason).

Either way it seems clear due to the lack of Buzzworthy content for some time, that either something is mis-aligned or is already captured elsewhere...so why not try something to clean it up?

With all due respect, how long does it take to make a TB decision? The relevant threads here have been around since April. Give something a try - if it doesn't work, then roll it back or do something else instead of continuing to stagnate.