tom911

I remember the long road to getting a Virgin America forum, and one particular TalkBoard member who told me he'd know when the time had come to open that forum, but couldn't quantify when we would reach that point. I provided links to existing threads in other forums, but for months we could not get that forum off the ground. Then one day the magic day came and we had a Virgin America forum.

Now I see there is a vote underway to close a different forum, and some of the discussion relates to the volume of posts in that forum.

I also see proposals for some new forums, and I'm anxious to see what develops with those.

Has the current TallkBoard developed guidelines for when new forums should be created or existing forums should be closed, or is just a matter of getting two TalkBoard members to make a motion for a vote? If there are such guidelines, could you share them with the rest of FT?

Thank you.

bhatnasx

There is no "official" guideline for opening/closing forums.

BiziBB

In the absence of official guidelines, can individual TB representatives make a comment on whether they have their own method for evaluating every request for opening or closing forums?

I recall some 2008 representatives had commented of their thought process.

Is this constructive? I applaud Tom911's question as it would be good to be able to refer to some tips for anyone proposing a new or closed forum. It might save some time for a lot of people.

The precedents set by approval of certain forums in 2008 (and ongoing 'closure' proposals) might not be applicable in 2009, so clarification could be a bonus.

tom911

Could any of the TalkBoard members offer guidance to members that want new forums opened, or existing forums closed, as to how they make their decision to put these issues out to a vote? For instance, a mens forum has been discussed in the past, as well as a singles forum. This last week there's been discussion about a dating forum and a student traveler forum. None of those, as far as I know, has ever come up for a vote.

How would members go about getting TalkBoard members to put those forums up for a vote if there are no guidelines? What criteria do TalkBoard members use lacking any guidelines? Is it just a matter of members lobbying the right two members that will put an issue up for a vote?

Tom in Chantilly, Virginia

nsx

As with practically everything else on FT, I ask myself: Does this add value to FT on balance, or does it subtract value? Adding value means providing information and entertainment to FT members. Subtracting value means wasting their time or annoying them.

Writing guidelines to mechanize this evaluation would be a huge challenge, and the forum opening and closing decisions might get worse rather than better. There is so much guesswork involved. Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.

Spiff

Opening: I look for a demonstration of a previously unmet need on FlyerTalk. "I want" or "Wouldn't it be nice if..." doesn't carry much weight with me.

Closing: I look for severe underutilization of an existing forum.

In neither case am I willing to consider numbers of posts/threads/etc as a metric because that just encourages junk post/thread padding to create or prevent forum opening or closing.

bhatnasx

I'm pretty much aligned with Spiff's thoughts on this.

There is no quantitative data that will convince me either way, unfortunately. Every forum is a judgement call and for me.

Rather than re-type my thoughts - please read post #4 in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...-deletion.html

scoow

There are also some General Guidelines posted in this sticky. Granted, they aren't very specific, but it shows the kinds of things the TB considers in making these decisions.