Cyclotourists No 1 Fan
Guest
|
Post by Cyclotourists No 1 Fan on Jan 19, 2013 20:24:01 GMT -5
Gogo, out of interest what was the thread where it all went out of hand?
|
|
gogo
New Member
Posts: 25
|
Post by gogo on Jan 22, 2013 5:00:03 GMT -5
Oh my, oh my, Airhead. Do you really think I devote all my time to you? You're not that important, you know. And I have a (real) life outside of message boards.* Do you?
* Hint - it doesn't involve knitting needles. "The pen is mightier than the sword." etc.
Oh, haha - you're thinking of your friend Lindsay Sandiford, who's ten years younger than me!, Dahling. I look (and act at least 20 years younger than thsat old hasbeen.
|
|
gogo
New Member
Posts: 25
|
Post by gogo on Jan 22, 2013 5:04:45 GMT -5
Cyclotourist - it was one where 'Ubudian' (aka Airhead) went all ballistic. Sure, people were rubbishing him and it got a bit out of hand IMO, but this is usually sorted out by deleting the offending posts. Sadly, I defended him in those days. Wish I hadn't, now. It seems those posters were right after all. He turned out to be a right little sh*t. And when I did some research on the net, I found out what they were saying was absolutely correct. (BTW - depsite Airhead's assertion that I'm banned from TT, my recent postings there have gone straight through, on my (current/and former) handle without 'moderation'. Nice try, but no banana, Airhead. )
|
|
|
Post by pelican on Jan 22, 2013 18:27:22 GMT -5
And Gogo, since I can’t use the edit function here, let me just add that resorting to name calling, innuendo and vitriol is not the way an intelligent and mature person handles a discussion. There are plenty of ways to conduct a debate and offer opposing views without resorting to tactics and behavior that should have been left behind in junior high school. Although we have yet to see what sort of new LP forum emerges after house keeping, it’s likely a safe bet that it will be precisely the kind of conduct you insist upon engaging that will no longer be tolerated. In short, it is very likely that you, and quite a lot of others, will have to find a new venue to host your discussions. In other words, find a new playground, or learn to adapt to the standards that the BBC will clearly insist upon. It’s really rather simple. If you or anyone else has a problem with any of this, then write to the “powers that be” at the BBC or LP. There is no point in running amok with me to vent your frustration, as quite frankly, I could care less. Airbender, it isn't only those who posted on YC that are "frustrated", many regulars are not happy either. I didn't do YC, it wasn't my cup of tea, but the way this whole affair has been handled was a disaster from the start. The "powers that be" could have closed the YC branch as they did WoS. But no - they didn't do that. I find it rather strange that this well known writer living on Bali who was preparing an article for the New York Times Sunday travel section. acted solely in the interests of LPTT from the goodness of his heart. Methinks he acted out of self-interest. do you honestly think the BBC/LP would temporarily shut down the TT forum without doing their homework and checking the facts relayed in the report? Yes. As my final post on this worthless forum, I’ll gladly pass on some advice to both you, bystander, and your bonded at the hip twin, gogo. From where I sit, I don’t give a damn whatever you, or the old dried up hag on steroids and Prozac thinks about anyone involved in writing the article for the NY Times, the report to BBC/LP, or the link which reveals the truth on the home in Bali forum. When it re-immerges, I suspect that TT will no longer be a bastion for mindless twits and pit bull grandmums amongst a host of other useless trolls out for nothing aside from their own self gratification and their insatiable appetite to connect to other trolls. Airbender, you stated this was your final post, yet you made 6 more posts. It is curious that you have posted here as a guest but not a member. Having now read through this entire thread it does appear to have spiralled into an ignominious fiasco. A pity adults cannot behave in an adult manner instead of acting like a group of 10 year olds. In my opinion the complete shutdown of the LPTT forum was the wrong decision. The BBC could have closed YC and then taken a look at the other non-travel branches. Why the need to close (for example) On your bike and Older travellers? I didn't post on either of them, they didn't interest me, but there were plenty of other members who did. Same for most of the non-travel branches. Admittedly the loudest and angriest members are/were the YCers and the WTers, at least at the beginning when TT came back online, but let's not forget, there are many, many posters who did not post on either of those branches and are just as angry, just as frustrated and fed up with not just the way it was handled but the new heavy handed moderation - "You post will have to be approved by a moderator"!? I mean really, people are being treated like children and people do not like being treated like children. While you are now able to post on a travel branch and it goes through, any post made on the "Welcome back to Thorn Tree" started by Zabba and that other equally useless "Report bugs here" both of which currently have 731 and 217 posts respectively has to be "moderated". If your post is deemed to be "unsuitable" it will not get posted. And I am not talking about using offensive language, name calling or smut. I asked a question about post counts and why the count was suddenly changing rapidly, but that is deemed "unsuitable". There are those who believe that TT should not have any chat branches and should be solely travel related, but it was having all those other branches which defined the tree and made it what it was. Sadly because of some pedantic little travel writer with an axe to grind, the whole community is in jeopardy. I do not believe for one minute this writer person acted for the benefit of the LPTT forum - no; he/she acted out of self-interest and for their own selfishness.
|
|
|
Post by Airbender on Jan 22, 2013 19:37:36 GMT -5
Pelican, you can find most of what you might want to know concerning the reasons for closing the TT forum on this other forum, starting with page 5: forum.virtualtourist.com/discussion-606719-5-1-Miscellaneous-0-0-World-discussion.htmlAt this point, only Kevin May of Tnooz has seen all the e-mails that were exchanged regarding the problems discovered on the TT forum. Whether he wants to pursue a follow article to this one linked below is yet to be seen: www.tnooz.com/2013/01/05/news/lonely-planet-closure-of-thorn-tree-triggered-by-letter-to-acting-bbc-director-general/A wise person will simply ignore Gogo’s comments because she hasn’t a clue about what she’s talking about. At worst she regularly engages in out right lies and at best, deliberate distortions of the truth. Just one example of an outright lie from her, “depsite Airhead's assertion that I'm banned from TT, my recent postings there have gone straight through…” Ask her to provide the exact quote where I asserted she was banned from TT. She won’t because she can’t. If you prefer to associate yourself and believe borderline sociopaths like her, be my guest. I agree with you that the BBC and LP did not go about resolving their issues in the best possible manner. Obviously, they were the ones to make those decisions. Some of this is discussed in the VT link provided above. You write, “It is curious that you have posted here as a guest but not a member.” Quite simply, this forum seems to be to be temporary by its nature, and I haven’t any expectations of contributing to it for any length of time. If you’re less inclined to believe a post written by a guest as opposed to written by a member, again, be my guest. The motives behind the journalist’s decision to write to acting director Tim Davie of the BBC before submitting their article to the NY Times is moot. What isn’t moot, and what is salient is that the BBC obviously took the report and information provided by that journalist very seriously, and obviously, they checked into to accuracy of the facts provided in that report and e-mails.
|
|
Cyclotouristes No 1 fan
Guest
|
Post by Cyclotouristes No 1 fan on Feb 14, 2013 17:38:12 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Airbender on Feb 16, 2013 23:03:06 GMT -5
It is interesting, especially since Kevin knew before writing that update that the article for the NYT was prepared on a freelance basis and not under contract with the NYT.
Less interesting but rather more amusing is to read all the comments on the “stew” forum as well as TT FAQs. It’s heartening to know that the likes of “gogo” (and a host of others), won’t be finding their way back to her old home at YC.
Surely, TT will be far better off without the likes of them.
|
|
eti
New Member
Posts: 4
|
Post by eti on Mar 19, 2013 10:46:52 GMT -5
Jeez, I've only been away for six years or so and I already missed all the action.
|
|
eti
New Member
Posts: 4
|
Post by eti on Mar 19, 2013 10:51:52 GMT -5
Anyway, something I posted on TT as well (but I doubt if they accepted my post) - they definitely killed the whole community by not allowing PM's, no allowing people to contact the mods/admins and by not having an off topic branch. I think for a brand, it is vital to build a community to survive. Lonely Planet did everything it could to get rid of its community rather than build it.
If some discussions went out of hand, it would have been so easy to delete posts or entire topics, and maybe ban some members. Actually, they didn't do enough of that in the past. In the years when I was around, I have seen people do stuff that no web forum would tolerate.
Now they have done a 180 degree turn and changed the whole thing into something very much like Yahoo Answers - which nobody takes seriously. I don't think people will hang around long on a forum where you can't even contact other members - and an actual community that stays in touch, organizes meetups etcetera, is completely out of the question now. I don't think it's a very smart move at all.
|
|
|
Post by Airbender on Mar 28, 2013 17:37:25 GMT -5
No question, TT way over-reacted to their problems, and also no question that most TT travel boards are just a fleeting glimpse of what they used to be. It wasn’t the travel boards that were the main problematical issue with TT. I also agree that eliminating PM’s was totally unnecessary. The BBC should hope to find a new buyer for LP much sooner than later, because other travel forums like TA and VT have already overtaken TT. Once the dimbulbs and social misfits (like gogo here) and her band of merry gents and gals migrated over to PS (Political Stew), and YC was eliminated from TT, it should have been clear that 90% of the problems were already resolved. Speaking of PS…the discussion there is never ending: www.politicalstew.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=118385Pathetic or funny, you can decide.
|
|