In Washington DC last October after attending a keynote conference by Steve Kaufer I felt uplifted. Here I was, sharing a room with Steve (and 500 other people). Elegant, gentle and soft-spoken he fitted the image I had foreseen. All of us need idols, well, Steve is one of them for me! When he started tripadvisor our website was already a young adult yet I couldn't but look upon the baby genius growing dramatically and way above our head. I was still fiddling with an html booking form when he had invented user generated content and envisioned web 2.0.
Now I wonder, does he know what's become of his website's forums? Namely Rome, but I'm sure it's no different for other destinations. It's a closed club for gossiping with a couple of destination experts (or wanna-be's) bossing around and using the tripadvisor terms as a tool to ban posts or even users they don't like. Going into the forums feels just like entering a Temple now. You go in hesitantly, take off your shoes, feel spied, unwelcome and if you talk the wrong time or the wrong way you immediately get kicked out of the place without explanation. I don't think this is what you wanted, Steve.
Go in unnoticed, if you manage, listen and feel the atmosphere. It reeks theocracy. You're the deus ex machina, so go check yourself the mess your guardians are making of your temple and, please, fix it!
16 Dec 2009
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Exactly... TA has lost it's charm. Where once it was a discussion between travelers with personalized tips and advice, often reaching a consensus from many ideas, it has now become a place where a few obsessive people dominate the forums with their opinions dressed as absolute truths (some are Destination Experts, many are not). TA moderators are quick to delete your posts and ban your profile and as a result they have lost valuable input from locals who much to offer. You should talk to my friend Ivano... his B&B was moved from the #1 B&B for Rome (Zagarolo actually) and his posts were deleted after people felt he was "self promoting"... also, my friend Ron, who leads tours, was drummed off the site because the information he provided was so helpful that people became resentful and suspicious.
ReplyDeleteTA is NOT what it used to be!
Mike Simmons/EternalCity1
Destination Expert/Rome TA Forums
Thank you very much for your feedback on TripAdvisor forums. With 98% of questions posted receiving at least one response within 24 hours, TripAdvisor’s forums are a vibrant part of our site, and one that we’re committed to continually improving.
ReplyDeleteEach forum has its own distinctive community and often incites strong and passionate opinions. However, no member -- destination expert or otherwise -- has the ability to ban posts or users. We do have a moderation staff that works hard to maintain a friendly atmosphere within the forums, while still allowing members the ability to express their opinions. We expect some disagreement but as long as conversations remain within our guidelines (http://www.tripadvisor.com/help/what_are_the_guidelines_for_posting_in_the_forums), we welcome a healthy debate! Our moderators pride themselves on remaining impartial and when a post or account does need to be removed, we refrain from sharing the details in order to protect member privacy.
We hope that you will continue to participate in the TripAdvisor forums, and that if you have concerns, you'll contact us so that we can work together to keep the forums an invaluable resource for travelers.
Thank you,
Mandy Poling
TripAdvisor
Hi Mandy, I really appreciate your taking the time to post, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI think you may have misanderstood my point though. I've really looked at this seriously and asked feedback from destination experts on this matter. This post has been made public for the good of the forum community, I'm voicing a common complaint, I'm not just trying to waste anybody's time.
When I write 'using the tripadvisor terms as a tool to ban posts' I imply a different question from the one you reply to.
In years of use of the forum we've learned your guidelines, the problem is that they're increasingly used as power tool.
I just tested your system on a post recently. It is a post which containes a lot of promotion, albeit not 'self promotion', and precious little useful information. I posted identifying myself with the company I represent and giving valuable information on how to defend yourself legally in Rome with little expense (in reply to one of the previous comments) and a link to my website related to the forum's title. The article has been immediately banned. The result is a posting with a lot of promotion and no useful information at all (I'd be eager to point you to the post if you're interested).
This is becoming the rule in Rome forum postings. The reason for this is a misuse of your guidelines. If your moderators don't take active part to the forum they will never spot the problem and you end up being a tool of users aggregating power in their hands.
Do you know how cheap it is to pay somebody in India or a student in the US to post promotion from a different IP address? I'm sure you do.
Self promotion should be regulated, not banned, otherwise you lose the local contributors in good faith and incentive circumvention of your rules by the clever ones, which you must beware is happening on a regular basis.
I would really care to receive an answer to my real point, the latter sounds like Reputation Management copy and paste. Thank you!
If the link below were an answer to my post I think that's a lot more to the point
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i12384-k3355850-FYI_new_forum_for_Owner_s-Destination_Expert.html