[SimonRowberry]

Martyn,

Sage advice as ever. Hard not to agree.

I’ve come to the view that I have no problem with handles as long as:

a) the poster doesn’t consider that gives them licence to hide from unacceptable posts that they would otherwise be held to account for and

b) it doesn’t lead to multiple handles for a single poster, as has been alleged happens sometimes on this Forum

Simon

[IanFromHKG]

Thanks, all.

Martyn, I quite agree with the issue about guidelines – you may have noticed that I very carefully avoided the word “rules” and emphasised that this should be only a code of conduct. We all get emotional at times and sometimes people step over the line – and often are quickly brought back into line by comments from other posters. It would be nice, though, to be able to say in such a situation – or where people deliberately set out to upset others – not just “I don’t like what you are doing” but “That post is against the code of conduct”

Of course, people are free to disagree with the whole suggestion, and if they do I hope they will say so – but if people are in support, then please comment on the initial suggestions I made and add to them or suggest amendments as appropriate

[LuganoPirate]

Thinking about this for a bit, I’m not sure the problem is as bad as we think. Here are the main problems as I see them.

1. Unwanted promotion of products or spam
2. Vile or vulgar language being used
3. Personal insults
4. Thread drifts
5. Bumping of threads
6. “Never fly with x airlines again” syndrome.

1. I’m against this but every now and again a product of interest to me is posted by way of a thread. No excuse though. This can be dealt with by either making new users comment at least 10 times before they can start a new thread and of course Mark’s big black pen which deletes either the thread, the (ab)user or both.

Ironically when we express our disapproval of the free ad we actually keep it in the forefront. Best just to ignore it and it will soon go away.

2. No excuse for this at all. I guess we’re all grown ups here and I think ladies are no longer as “delicate” as they used to be in days gone by. Mores the pity. However I don’t feel it adds to the conversation, is unnecessary and people can and do take offence. It should thus be avoided.

On the rare occasion when it’s necessary to highlight or report bad language used in an incident, the first and last letters with **** in the middle is enough for us all to get the message.

Racist comments are of course an absolute no no. It’s only happened once to me when I was called a “Nazi” and BT took action pretty quickly. I was disappointed the account was not deleted as well, but then I suppose he could have just started a new one. I now ignore his posts which are anyway very infrequent.

3. Personal insults are always wrong. Here the culprit is usually reprimanded by other posters pretty quickly and support shown for the insulted one. 9 times out of 10 the offender apologises and we move on. It’s not an excuse but I guess we can all get a bit worked up sometimes and on a stressful day let off steam when it’s not really meant.

However, there’s no excuse for personal insults aimed at a persons character or abilities and this should be quickly dealt with.

4. All the regulars are guilty of this without exception. Sometimes it leads to a new thread being started, often someone just brings it back to order again. Not a real problem I think.

5. A nuisance sometimes but not really a problem if you think about it?

6. Ahhh, yes. The new user who thinks his one upset reported on BT forum will lead the whole world into abandoning a particular airline. I’m sure BT would like that much influence but the reality is it will most likely not make one iota of difference.

All in all I don’t really see many problems and certainly not ones that can’t be solved simply and without much fuss.

In addition to the 10 postings rule I’d impose an annual (as suggested by me already) £10 charge for all non-subscribers to allow them to post. This could then be used to improve the site, provide for a moderator or pay Tom’s expenses for an extended trip on some tropical island 😉

[MartynSinclair]

I thought that a red and yellow card system would work, but I think that would create different kind of issues.

I do like the 10 postings rule and the £10 fee as well as well as a preference for a general understanding of acceptable posts among he Forum.

Whislt it is a Business Related Forum as one poster once suggested, it is also a form of Social Media.

[Cedric_Statherby]

An interesting thread which shows the thoughtfulness of most contributors.

I do tend to share the views of LuganoPirate in his latest post – there isn’t a lot wrong with the forum or most of the regular posters. One soon learns whose postings to pay close attention to, whose to take with a pinch of salt and whose to ignore completely, and even in the latter category very little harm is done (obvious exceptions like racist comments apart).

I would be wary of stopping occasional posters from starting threads. Sometimes (and I have done this myself) it is an excellent way to ask a question and get advice from more experienced travellers. And if the thread isn’t interesting or relevant it is easy enough for experienced posters to resist the urge to reply to it and then it will simply die.

One comment I would make is that the ease of starting a thread, coupled with a slightly clunky search function to see if a subject already exists, does sometimes lead to near-duplicates. If I could make one request of BT, it would be to make it easier to explore the archive – this might encourage a more diligent search to see if a subject already exists before a new thread is started.

All in all though we all seem to use the Forum regularly so it cannot be all bad.

[BusinessTraveller]

Just to say we’re taking everything on board here and will keep you all informed as move towards implementing new forum software. Thank you all for your suggestions.

[LuganoPirate]

Good points Martyn / Cedric. One thing not to forget is many business travellers are also leisure travellers and just as keen, if not more so, to travel at the best level for the least bucks, especially as probably they are travelling with family.

I’ve never met anyone from this forum, though I do occasionally email a few posters personally. Nonetheless I feel I know many of the regular characters who do post and inevitably you build a picture of that person in your mind even though the reality is most likely quite different.

So the forum is really Business, Leisure and Social and I feel this is an important point to bear in mind.

[IanFromHKG]

I would like to put forward for consideration a slight variation on the 10-postings rule, although I acknowledge it would mean more work for our friends at BT – on another forum I used to participate in (a Jaguar XF forum, so similar in format – people with a mutual interest sharing ideas, asking questions etc), a poster’s first ten posts were fully moderated (subject to moderator approval before appearing on the board). Only after that were they allowed free access to post anything. There was clearly some leeway in this – after only three or four posts the moderator told me that given the nature of the posts I was making he was simply giving me full access anyway. The drawback, of course, apart from the additional work, is that it could lead to delays in additions from new posters. However, I think it worked very well – requiring someone to “establish their credentials” before getting full access.

I agree with virtually all of everyone else’s comments, although I have reservations about charging – not because many of us can’t afford it but because IMHO some of the most interesting/helpful and the most entertaining posts come from people who are, I suspect, less affluent and to whom even such a small deterrent might result in the loss of their perspective (especially given the number of other free boards they could participate in).

[LuganoPirate]

I think your idea of the first 10 comments being moderated is a good one Ian, but as you say it does have some drawbacks though I think the problem mainly occurs when someone posts in the early hours of the morning and the uk based moderator is fast asleep, so perhaps not to grave.

My reason for the charge is that BT is a paid for publication and not a free give a way. For this reason it can be argued the forum is not a public one such as flyertalk but a private one for members. This would also solve the verification of identity problem. After all us subscribers are all verified by BT by way of both Credit Card and address.

I have no objection to people posting for free and understand the occasional person who wants advice. I’ve seen some forums where you join as a temporary member for a month then get charged if you wsh to continue. This would solve that situation.

[IanFromHKG]

Thanks LP – I do see your point on the charge, I just wonder whether some of the cabin crew, in particular, who currently post and give a fascinating alternative perspective would be so keen to do it if they had to pay.

[LuganoPirate]

I don’t know Ian, and it would be a shame to lose them. Mind you in the world of cyberspace we assume they are cabin crew and not well informed passengers.

I guess BT would know who they are and perhaps allow crew and those in the travel industry free access in the way they send out free copies of their magazine to trade partners.

Perhaps some of the crew who contribute would like to comment?

[MartynSinclair]

Ian/LP that is easy to resolve. If there is to be a subscription (membership) etc to the Forum, Cabin Crew / Aircrew contributors who feel they would prefer not to pay, should be required to provide BT with a copy of their Crew ID pass issued by issues by the airport authority. That would enable BT to to verify the ID and perhaps use the small circled v by each handle to confirm they have. This is no different to the rest of us giving personal details and a credit card.

BT of course would have to agree that all ID’s were kept secure.

[LPPSKrisflyer]

Isn’t this all getting a lot more complicated than it needs to? The forum is not the preserve of subscibers to BT, it is open to anyone who wishes to register.

I have been concerned about the identities of some posters and the use of multiple IDs but if people wish to get around that they will find a way. Like many I have a company and personal email address, I have personal and company payment cards with different registered addresses so I could immediately create at least two accounts. Others will be able to create more.

Overall honesty is the best policy and I prefer to take people at face value until I have a reason not to.

[Henkel.Trocken]

Since the chief manipulator is hard at work this afternoon bumping threads relating to his usual agenda maybe we need to revisit some of the thinking in this thread.

[Author]

Posts