Why do not as many people use HT anymore? - Page 8 - General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips, Holiday Forums

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

SMa

2011-07-28 21:33:48

1. I personally don't like the 'over' modding - merging and moving posts happens a lot more here than other boards I use and it's really annoying.

One of the reasons why I like HT is because I like the level of 'modding' that takes place here - I think that amongst other things it means that it makes it easy to follow relevant threads and keep track of discussions on similar or even dentical topics. The thing that I find really annoying is when someone posts something about a complaint on the 'Complaints' forum and also a very similar one on the Tour Ops Forum. The result is that some people reply in one and some on the other one with the result that vital information can be on one and not the other etc. I thinks it's great when in those isntances a Mod moves/merges posts so that everything is kept together.

as an aside - if I post some info, I don't think it's good if the mods post the identical info an hour later right below it - have a look before posting guys, it gives the impression that you don't care about us 'normal' members!

Phildo74, I assume that you are referring to the fairly recent posts made by you and David about Thomas Cook and their banking arrangements? In which case I don't think that they were identical - you posted a link with very little info and context as to why it would be worth following the link whereas David included all that in his post with the info taken from TravelMole and I found the information easier to understand. I appreciate the extra time he took to do that - I rarely bother following links to 3rd party websites unless the poster has given me a reason for doing so. So in fact I would have missed the information you thought was important.

Not enough banter/variety of topics. I think there needs to be an off topic section (on this board itself - not on the other forum) where the members can chat about 'stuff', this would give the board a better sense of community and keep people online. All the other forums i use have this and you get to know each other so much better by chatting about news/music etc.

Again, speaking personally, I don't come on HT to find friends and all I'm really interested in is having holiday related questions answered and being able to help where I can with answering others questions. It's the focussed nature of HT which is one of the main attractions for me and I do remember the way the 'Off Topic' board regularly turned acrimonious and far from generating community too often degenerated into abusive exchanges. I don't mourn it's loss and despite the occasional friendly invitations to join in And it's the unrelated banter that so often has taken over other forums I've joined in the past (arising from other interests I have) that has eventually meant that the only one I do remain active on is HT.

Too many posts on makeup/hair/bags/itsas etc. I appreciate that's what is interesting to many of you but as a bloke it means I rarely do more than glance at general hol discussions now

I'm not a bloke but I don't especially engage with make-up and hair posts either but I agree with Miss Pink that they are there because that's what interests the people who do take the time and effort to try and generate a more general discussion and keep the 'General Holiday' forum fresh. I think that those of us who don't take the the time and effort to do likewise have only ourselves to blame if many of the threads don't interest us. So why not post about the things that do interest you? I can't see why you would think that posts about driving in the US or 'best buys' for credit cards for use outside of the UK are somehow not holiday related and wouldn't be of interest to others. Why not post something here about them too? There was a long running thread about the Nationwide's CCard and the advantages it offered at that time when it came to holidays which suggests that a thread dicussing a good successor to it would be of interest to many members.

SM

MarkJ

2011-07-29 00:07:14

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

A great post SMa :tup

I have been a member since the EZBoard times and seen the changes over the years. All changes have been for the better in my opinion.

Having also had the experience of being part of the Moderator team (a role I sadly had to give up due to other commitments), I appreciate the time and effort it takes to keep the forums in order, not just from a moderating perspective but also from a technical/Admin perspective. I am too looking forward to what new things Van is setting up.

An Off Topic section has been done before in a number of formats, but these didn't work out for reasons well known to those that may remember.

Due to time contraints, I don't post as often as I used to. I log on each day and read those sections that interest me and put my 2p in when I feel I can contribute.

Mark

Fiona

2011-07-29 00:23:53

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

Very like Mark, I had to give up my role ( reluctantly) for various reasons.
Re posts about hotel reviews- I agree strongly that these are important and during my latter time as mod I spent hour upon hour adding hotels to all sections, and also searching out old hotel reviews we needed to delete. Unfortunately it didn't seem to make much of a difference. We don't have the resources to compete with the big money making sites. And yes Glynis, I haven't forgotten to post my reviews :rofl

I have been too busy since I got home with a procession of workmen sorting burst water mains and a collapsed fence. ( no wise cracks David!!!) I will be writing my 3 reviews tomorrow( and there were only meant to be two but that's another story!)

phildo74

2011-07-29 07:00:50

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

SMa wrote:
as an aside - if I post some info, I don't think it's good if the mods post the identical info an hour later right below it - have a look before posting guys, it gives the impression that you don't care about us 'normal' members!

Phildo74, I assume that you are referring to the fairly recent posts made by you and David about Thomas Cook and their banking arrangements? In which case I don't think that they were identical - you posted a link with very little info and context as to why it would be worth following the link whereas David included all that in his post with the info taken from TravelMole and I found the information easier to understand. I appreciate the extra time he took to do that - I rarely bother following links to 3rd party websites unless the poster has given me a reason for doing so. So in fact I would have missed the information you thought was important.

Yes, that was the most recent one that happened, I accept your point about just posting the link but I was at work when the news came up on newsfeed but I thought it was important enough to very quickly post on here.

SMa wrote:
Not enough banter/variety of topics. I think there needs to be an off topic section (on this board itself - not on the other forum) where the members can chat about 'stuff', this would give the board a better sense of community and keep people online. All the other forums i use have this and you get to know each other so much better by chatting about news/music etc.

Again, speaking personally, I don't come on HT to find friends and all I'm really interested in is having holiday related questions answered and being able to help where I can with answering others questions. It's the focussed nature of HT which is one of the main attractions for me and I do remember the way the 'Off Topic' board regularly turned acrimonious and far from generating community too often degenerated into abusive exchanges. I don't mourn it's loss and despite the occasional friendly invitations to join in And it's the unrelated banter that so often has taken over other forums I've joined in the past (arising from other interests I have) that has eventually meant that the only one I do remain active on is HT.

That's the issue though, no off topic means a narrow group of regulars as many people do like to have a chatter. And if I want detailed holiday Q's answered I usually don't get the answers here as HT is more like a holiday themed chatter forum. There are simply not enough people posting who know about each destination. So it ends up stuck between the 2, not really a chat based forum but not a detailed holiday forum?

SMa wrote:
Too many posts on makeup/hair/bags/itsas etc. I appreciate that's what is interesting to many of you but as a bloke it means I rarely do more than glance at general hol discussions now

I'm not a bloke but I don't especially engage with make-up and hair posts either but I agree with Miss Pink that they are there because that's what interests the people who do take the time and effort to try and generate a more general discussion and keep the 'General Holiday' forum fresh. I think that those of us who don't take the the time and effort to do likewise have only ourselves to blame if many of the threads don't interest us. So why not post about the things that do interest you? I can't see why you would think that posts about driving in the US or 'best buys' for credit cards for use outside of the UK are somehow not holiday related and wouldn't be of interest to others. Why not post something here about them too? There was a long running thread about the Nationwide's CCard and the advantages it offered at that time when it came to holidays which suggests that a thread dicussing a good successor to it would be of interest to many members.

I fully accept that it's a democracy and make up/bags/hair are the winners here - Just like at work it's all Xfactor and Corrie. I don't like it but that's life!

Driving in the USA I was posting to several people who lived in the US on things to watch out for when driving over there when I go next month - don't know if we have any Americans on here??

The credit card thread was one night and was a 3/4 way discussion on 2 different approaches to spending abroad. A post like that just doesn't happen on here. If I post on here there simply aren't enough people logged on at any one time to get a real time discussion going. I'm not bothered about checking back in 2-3 days to see if someones posted a single reply when elsewhere I can have a full discussion in an hour!

I have actually just realised the main problem with HT - not enough members logged on and posting, it's just too quiet! So why is that then?

Helen T

2011-07-29 08:00:04

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

I fully accept that it's a democracy and make up/bags/hair are the winners here - Just like at work it's all Xfactor and Corrie. I don't like it but that's life!

The point is, is it's things like this that keeps the forums going on a general day to day basis. If everyone just posted when they had some earth shattering news to post, then there'd be even less people posting. Personally, I ask for help when choosing destinations, help others when possible, when they are researching theirs, and in between I join in with the light hearted topics and banter. I also post a review every time I go away, even if it's just an overnight stay in an airport hotel.

shirley h

2011-07-29 08:26:15

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

I agree totally with Sma's detailed post so won't repeat the points. Suffice to say HT is all about holidays and for me, first and foremost it's where I look for info about countries and hotels and try and help others with some of the knowledge that I have gained over the years.

Pholdo, I don't agree that it's not a place you can get detailed information and to suggest it's half way between a holiday site and a chat forum is contradicting your statement that you wish there was more leeway for off topic banter :que

In fact, were there to be a lot of off topic banter or if the mods did less merging of posts as you suggest, the important holiday info people are seeking would be hard to find. I've experienced this fist hand with TA- I have to look up several threads to gain all the info I need about one topic, instead of it being all in the same thread.

HT you're my fave holiday info site and well done to all the mods and members for making it such a great place. Long may it continue without too many changes :tup

Sanji

2011-07-29 09:00:40

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

I don't think I made myself clear, (my fault as usual), but I wasn't asking for a chat forum, there is already one available for those who want to chat about anything other than holidays by clicking on the link at the bottom of the main page.

There are several boards which have a thread created for off topic chat, and one thing that has irked me is that this has not been implemented across all the boards because I don't see why, for example, the posters in the Turkey forum should have anymore ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“rights' than let's say the people who go to Spain.
There's loads of things I could talk about regarding Spain in an ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“off topic' thread and some of it could be useful, but this information is never going to be shared whilst there is no facility to do so.

I believe and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but those off topic threads were created because those forums had a core element of posters who had created a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“community' within a community, and they all had something in common and had something to say, other than answering a question with a dead end.

Whilst I agree that the primary function of this site is for the exchange of holiday related information, IMO the pendulum has swung too far and it's now become a very clean cut ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“sterile' environment, and I think the word I was searching for in my previous post was ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“interaction', there is no longer any interaction, it's kindda become robotic in nature.

Someone asks a question, someone answers the question, the OP (if you're lucky) says thanks, and that's it, end of.!"¦Move along now folks and the process repeats itself over and over again with no conversation developing, no community building and no friendships formed, and yes as a bonus, I have made some friends via HT, in fact one very good friend in particular.

As a mature woman, I'm not interested in what colour shade of lipstick is the latest rave or if someone buys a new bikini every few months or every 8 years, so it's not just the blokes who find these threads uninteresting, but having said that, you blokes out there have the same opportunity to start a thread which is ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“male' orientated.
Well, that's my 2 pennies worth, I may be right, I may be wrong and only time will tell, but if I didn't care, I wouldn't be 'wasting' my time in here in the first place.

Sanji

fwh

2011-07-29 09:37:25

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

There are several boards which have a thread created for off topic chat, and one thing that has irked me is that this has not been implemented across all the boards because I don't see why, for example, the posters in the Turkey forum should have anymore ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“rights' than let's say the people who go to Spain.

I wonder how many people have actually taken note that these exist. I am sure that the Mods/Admin would create these if people were to request them.

I believe and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but those off topic threads were created because those forums had a core element of posters who had created a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“community' within a community, and they all had something in common and had something to say, other that answering a question with a dead end

One difficulty with sub forums is that they still have to be moderated - the team here on HT do a great job but it is an unpaid voluntary role. People only have so much time to give. It is interesting to note that often they come on here to do their job at some unearthly hour. Don't they ever sleep?

Whilst I agree that the primary function of this site is for the exchange of holiday related information, IMO the pendulum has swung too far and it's now become a very clean cut ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“sterile' environment, and I think the word I was searching for in my previous post was ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“interaction', there is no longer any interaction, it's kindda become robotic in nature.
Someone asks a question, someone answers the question, the OP (if you're lucky) says thanks, and that's it, end of."¦Move along now folks and the process repeats itself over and over again with no conversation developing, no community building and no friendships formed

I agree. At one time - apart from "Complaints" - topics often did turn into interesting discussions.

I may be right, I may be wrong and only time will tell, but if I didn't care, I wouldn't be 'wasting' my time here in the first place.

Fortunately there are still a few, like yourself, who do care enough.

fwh

SMa

2011-07-29 10:22:34

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

And if I want detailed holiday Q's answered I usually don't get the answers here as HT is more like a holiday themed chatter forum. There are simply not enough people posting who know about each destination.

Phildo74, I think that this varies a lot between destinations. For example, out of those that I keep a regular eye on, the Cuba one, for example, does certainly generate some very detailed conversations as does the Tunisia one and if I ever do decide to visit Goa there is all the info there that I'm going to need to negotiate the complexities of the visa process - thanks guys. Others, however, do only get more sporadic posts in them but perhaps this relates their relative popularity (or should that be unpopularity?) as destinations for UK based holidaymakers?

So it ends up stuck between the 2, not really a chat based forum but not a detailed holiday forum?

But I think perhaps this is the nub of it - there are some people like yourself who are primarily looking for a 'live chat' forum and I can see how you wouldn't necessarily find that here on HT depending on the forums you frequent within in it. And then there are others like me who see it more like a collective archive of useful information that is easy to search and negotiate your way around with a good body of contributors who are willing and able to answer any other questions that you have. Are the two functions compatible? I don't know but I think that the second group are probably the people who like HT as it is and the first group are those who would like to see changes and see this as a quiet board?

SM

Glynis HT Admin

2011-07-29 10:33:09

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

If anyone would like an 'Off topic Chat' type thread within a forum please just contact the person who mods that forum or myself if it's an unmodded forum :tup

(Hope the above makes sense :rofl

)

fwh

2011-07-29 10:38:27

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

Just thinking on what has been said so I decided to make a list.

Complaints.
Cyprus
Costa Del Sol
Greece - Crete
Tenerife
Tour Operators - Travel Agents
General Holiday Discussions
Computer Problems.
Those are the topics I look at on a fairly regular basis - the destinations I visit. I have no interest in visiting the other places so could not add anything of interest. The only place I may visit in the future is the USA if our youngest should decide to accept one of the job offers he gets on a regular basis. And that would be LA.
Perhaps I am wrong in not looking in at the other places. I don't know, but perhaps others also do the same. Certainly the number of people who post in Complaints does seem to be a regular few who try very hard to assist people. I am sure there are many who could make a valuable contribution if they so wished and just maybe help to rejuvenate things in general.

fwh

SMa

2011-07-29 10:40:11

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

There are several boards which have a thread created for off topic chat, and one thing that has irked me is that this has not been implemented across all the boards because I don't see why, for example, the posters in the Turkey forum should have anymore ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“rights' than let's say the people who go to Spain.
There's loads of things I could talk about regarding Spain in an ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“off topic' thread and some of it could be useful, but this information is never going to be shared whilst there is no facility to do so.

I believe and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but those off topic threads were created because those forums had a core element of posters who had created a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“community' within a community, and they all had something in common and had something to say, other than answering a question with a dead end.

Hi Sanji, I see no reason why you can't set the ball rolling on this yourself in that from memory the 'Tunisian Tales' one, for example, was started by members who wanted to share their love and stories of Tunisia and then the Mod/Admin who looks after that forum made it a 'sticky' so it stayed at the top of the forum and it just gained momentum from there. I appreciate that this might be a bit more difficult with regards to Spain as there a number of forums that focus on specific regions but I've noticed over the years that you have posted a lot of really helpful info on the 'Costa del Sol' one and starting a more generalised discussion about items particularly relevant to that region might kick off the sort of more wide-ranging discussion you are looking for.

Or possibly Admin would consider slightly re-titling the 'Inland and others areas of Spain' one so that it could become the visible and natural home for a 'sticky' thread on Spain-wide (as opposed to region specific) discussions about eg the culture and language which I'm sure that you could make a very valuable contribution to. Rick Stein's current TV cookery programme is making me realise that it's been too long since my last visit to inland Andalucia and it would be great to have somewhere to swap recipes and check out where I can get Spanish black beans here - there doesn't seem to be much call for them up here on the east coast of Scotland

Glynis HT Admin

2011-07-29 10:48:26

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

I've 'stuck' a Gossip and Chat thread in Costa Del Sol :tup

Wizard

2011-07-29 13:42:50

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

Greece - Crete

I dint have individual chat threads for each resort/island but i do have a general Greece one on this link http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=70041

I have put one in Cyprus http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=152947 [no political arguments/comments please]

wiz

phildo74

2011-07-29 16:49:42

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

shirley h wrote:
Pholdo, I don't agree that it's not a place you can get detailed information and to suggest it's half way between a holiday site and a chat forum is contradicting your statement that you wish there was more leeway for off topic banter

not contradictory at all. If i want details of best bars, restaurants and hotel reviews then I use TA reviews, if I need specific local info then TA forums as there are usually some very good experts or locals/ex pats who can help but TA is definately not for 'chatting' or off topics. Whereas HT has much less specfic info (and it's not easily grouped by Country/island/resort etc) but does have a bit more off topic chat in general discussions. This post is asking why it is quiet on here - I think that's because it's not one thing nor another. There's not enough people using it to keep factual information fresh and up to date. If there was an off topic area it would keep more people on the site longer and more frequently which would then enable it to compete again.

shirley h wrote:
Long may it continue without too many changes :tup

Change is necessary for things to survive -it's too quiet for a reason and if nothing is done then what ?

phildo74

2011-07-29 16:55:36

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

sanji wrote:
Whilst I agree that the primary function of this site is for the exchange of holiday related information, IMO the pendulum has swung too far and it's now become a very clean cut ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“sterile' environment, and I think the word I was searching for in my previous post was ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“interaction', there is no longer any interaction, it's kindda become robotic in nature.

Someone asks a question, someone answers the question, the OP (if you're lucky) says thanks, and that's it, end of.!"¦Move along now folks and the process repeats itself over and over again with no conversation developing, no community building and no friendships formed

That's what I'm sort of trying to get at....but much better phrased. I logon because I really am interested/obsessed with holidays & travel but the forums themselves are very sterile (perfect word, thanks sanji!)

sanji wrote:
As a mature woman, I'm not interested in what colour shade of lipstick is the latest rave or if someone buys a new bikini every few months or every 8 years, so it's not just the blokes who find these threads uninteresting, but having said that, you blokes out there have the same opportunity to start a thread which is ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“male' orientated.
Well, that's my 2 pennies worth, I may be right, I may be wrong and only time will tell, but if I didn't care, I wouldn't be 'wasting' my time in here in the first place.

I did actually start a thread once on what sort pants you wear on holidays - Y fronts or boxers? Quite amusing but not something for every week!

luci HT Mod

2011-07-29 17:26:40

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

Regarding a mod posting information after a member has posted something similar. We always wait until there is something official to link to or quote, usually from Travelmole. We will not post speculation or rumour unless it can be verified.

We have had off topic sections in the past in a number of forms. It took longer to moderate that section than the rest of the forums put together, not because it was busier, but because of all the petty squabbling that went on. We are first and foremost a holiday website, not a chat forum, and that is how it will remain. There are plenty of other sites to accommodate those who want to chat.

We are very lenient in the GHE forum and allow topics which are vaguely disguised as holiday related.

We try to ensure that members can easily find the information they are looking for and that sometimes means merging or moving topics. If we left every topic asking about the weather or currency, then the first page of each forum could have a dozen topics all asking the same thing with other topics that some members might be more interested in pushed onto page 2 or even further back.

luci :wave

phildo74

2011-07-29 18:51:09

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

luci HT Mod wrote:
Regarding a mod posting information after a member has posted something similar. We always wait until there is something official to link to or quote, usually from Travelmole. We will not post speculation or rumour unless it can be verified.

The info I posted was a link to the RNS (Regulatory News Service) announcement on the Thomas Cook Group PLC website. This is a filing they make in accordance with their membership of the London Stock Exchange and is a damn site more 'official' than travelmole.

SMa

2011-07-29 19:54:54

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

In which case it might have been better to have posted the link to the RNS site itself:

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=10922866

Though it does contain the following disclaimer:

London Stock Exchange plc is not responsible for and does not check content on this Website. Website users are responsible for checking content. Any news item (including any prospectus) which is addressed solely to the persons and countries specified therein should not be relied upon other than by such persons and/or outside the specified countries. Terms and conditions, including restrictions on use and distribution apply.

which suggests that such notices aren't part of a regulatory filing - or am I being naive in thinking that if it was there would be no need for such a disclaimer?

SM

phildo74

2011-07-30 07:26:45

Re: Why do not as many people use HT anymore?

SMa wrote:
In which case it might have been better to have posted the link to the RNS site itself:

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=10922866

Though it does contain the following disclaimer:

London Stock Exchange plc is not responsible for and does not check content on this Website. Website users are responsible for checking content. Any news item (including any prospectus) which is addressed solely to the persons and countries specified therein should not be relied upon other than by such persons and/or outside the specified countries. Terms and conditions, including restrictions on use and distribution apply.

which suggests that such notices aren't part of a regulatory filing - or am I being naive in thinking that if it was there would be no need for such a disclaimer?

SM

A RNS annoucement is required when a Company is aware of material news that could impact the shareprice (amongst other reasons for RNS's such as finals, IMS's, notification of major interests, change of director, notice of agm etc etc).
London Stock Exchange regulations govern when the announcements must be made not what is in them, hence the disclaimer. The content is the responsibility of the Company. London Stock Exchange also provides the communication channel, they distribute the RNS's but the primary announcement is always on the Companies own website. (hence my linking to that one).

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