Exactly why the motion is flawed. Your post on meals in Delta should count, but not a post on the Pats in any forum. Nor should posts on Celebrity sightings, news items nor posts in Community including ones about ongoing wars. None of them have anything to do with flying expertise, but ALL of them are valuable to the community. In even thinking this is a problem you are neglecting the self-policing of the forums, especially the flying ones, that goes one. Have someone with 20,000 posts put something about upgrades on the AA forum that is wrong and see what happens. If the problem is a few threads, close them. If there really is a problem, I sure cant see it, then dont count anything not directly to do with points and miles or travel. Not news, not community, maybe even not things like dining and tech. Just count the airline and hotel forums.

Bargaining or bartering behavior would be anticpated in this circumstance.

Absolutely a fascinating microcosm of macro social-organizational behavior.

Not to discount your elequence but meerly putting a face of reality on the issue....

I just looked at the quoted posters patterns.

Since the fall of 2005, two posts in FT other than the two on this thread. The previous 995 are in OMNI.

I am trying to understand that.

I posted earlier in this discussion. Continuing to read this thread causes me to ask, why anyone would necessarily confer vast knowledge on anyone based on the number of posts that a person made. If I am using the board as a source of information, I am responsible for checking the correctness of the info. Case in point, I have lived in Chicago all of my life (more than 50 years) and can truly only claim to be knowledgable about particular areas of Chicago. My post count may be small but my knowledge of the museums, theater and specific neighborhoods of Chicago is vast. I know that my expertise is limited and as a result, I assume that the post count of another person has only a little bearing on the information posted. I believe that post count is not the determining factor for reliablity for newbies. Continue the status quo

Assuming rational, intelligent people are members of TB (and I do believe this)

IMO, this motion, on it's face value, isn't a logical or efficient solution to the stated problem. I'll therefore conclude that either the true problem being targeted isn't what has been stated, or the proponents advocate this partial solution because it also addresses other problems that have not been stated.

Since you asked me Dov, and I had to guess, I'd conclude that you're advancing this because of a personal bias against OMNI.

While nicely said, you miss my point from before. "non-core activities". Is the core activity posting information on travel only (then we should be a wiki first and message board second) or is the core activity to be part of a community of people interested in travel (what FT started out as). I

t feels to me like FT is trying to go through a metamorphasis as it grows and is at a stage where a choice has to be made. Which of these two things is FT going to be going forward. Both can't continue to exist as the PRIMARY MISSION without constantly having these issues come up- it has gotten too big!!!!! One has to be the primary and one the secondary. We have moderators spending 100's of hours arranging posts into wiki (sticky) arrangements (see Hilton), we have people claiming Omni is non-valueable. Well then if FT wants to go Wiki great, but stop promoting it otherwise in the "about FT" where it talks about community and discussion. We need a strategy for the future, instead of legislating little fixes. And that strategy has to pre-date decisions like this one and a potential redesign may need to also occur if wiki/knowledge is the prime goal.

TB you are putting the cart before the horse with this proposal!!!!

Your claim was shown to be hollow as not all of those who are against this motion are so wedded to their post counts. ;)

I withdrew from participation in FT in 2005. The fact that I am supporting this motion, despite my own posting history, tends to validate that I am viewing this issue dispassionately, rather than from personal interest.

However, you will note that my participation in other fora over the length of my membership in FT was considerable.

Heck a bunch of us have already said we are willing to sacrafice our entire post count, take them away for good on everyone. Just don't make this mistake that will create a MAJOR rift in FT for a long time forward. Not to mention do you know how many posts that start with 'I know this has no value' we will have to read if you do it *smile*

Dov, This partially answers my procedural question posted above.

Does the system prevent you from changing your vote, or do you choose not to do so?

Actually, bargaining behavior, especially when there is no mechanism for honoring the bargain, would be completely expected.

Additionally, you overstate your own importance. This concerns dozens or hundreds of posters who would continue to have their off topic posting validated, not just you. You are merely symbolic of a much larger issue.

As I stated in my disastrous campaign for TalkBoard, ONLY the following subjects should count as posts:

1. Window or Aisle?
2. Recline or not recline?
3. Babies in F Class?
4. Do I tip the hotel maid?
5. What is the value of a mile?
6. How can I get from Albany to Honolulu with one day's notice on a fare of $198 and get upgraded?
7. Chicken or fish?
8. Does the $20 trick work?
9. Window shades: Up or down?
10. Is it OK to wear beachwear in Business Class?
11. How much compenstation should I get?
12. Where's Waldo?
13. Can I upgrade my award seat?
14. Who has the better business class? Delta or Air France?
15. Channel 9: Do you listen?
16. I have 49.949 miles this year -- will they comp me to Gold/1P/Platinum?
17. Why is this night different from all others?
18. Is a Centurion card worth it? Can I get one?

Everything else is fluff.

Also -- whenever I see someone with 20,000 posts, 30,000 etc., my first thought is when are these people on airplanes?.

In any case, this vote is going to be very useful for attack ads in the next TalkBoard election. Will current TalkBoard members please post links to unflattering photos of themselves, preferable black & white and in shadows? Thanks so much.

A few years ago, when I wasn't posting on Omni, you might have been right.

Since then, I have posted more on Omni than on any other forum. In fact, I would not be at all surprised to see that my Omni post count is at least 10 times higher than yours.

I like Omni, I enjoy posting on Omni, and I certainly do not want to see it removed. (Indeed, even when I was boycotting Omni I said in an Only Randy Petersen thread that I wanted to keep it open for others.)

So, no, I don't have a personal bias against Omni.

You mean you can't vote against it after you voted for it? Give us negative campaigners a break!

Frankly, much of what has been posted in this thread is speculation.

Here is a suggestion for the TalkBoard: why not have a trial test period of the proposed motion — 6 months, for example — to prove one way or another what effect the motion will have on FlyerTalk and its members?

There was a period when whatever was posted in the OMNI forum did not count towards one’s “post count”, but I am uncertain as to what effect it ultimately had on FlyerTalk, nor do I recall the period of time that action was enacted, nor do I know the reason why it was ultimately repealed. Perhaps a little history posted in this thread by someone who is knowledgeable about that is in order for a better understanding of the issue at hand.

To Lehava: I don’t care if what I post as a FlyerTalk moderator counts or does not count towards my “post count”. It really does not matter to me.

I realize that the TalkBoard was elected as the voice of FlyerTalk members by FlyerTalk members. However, I would still like to see a poll posted to more accurately and definitively gauge the opinions of FlyerTalk members on this issue. I request that the members of TalkBoard please consider the idea of posting a poll.