FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Question 11: Forum Creation/Deletion
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Old Nov 3, 2008, 2:08 pm
  #10  
PTravel
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newport Beach, California, USA
Posts: 36,062
This is another good question.

There seem to be two schools of thought represented on FT. One seems to favor consolidation of forums (and threads), elimination of "quiet" forums, elimination of redundant threads, and minimizing segmentation of forums. The other prefers macro-segmentation, establishment of forums focused on very narrow interests, etc.

I fall somewhere in-between. I don't believe a forum has to have high traffic to be valuable. As an example, I think Travel with Pets and the Senior Travel Forum are both valid, even important, despite not attracting large numbers of posts. These forums focus on special interests, and these interests are either perceived as being adverse to other groups, or of minimal importance to them. By establishing a Travel with Children forum, those interested in this subject are able to avoid all the "noise" of posters whose input consists of recommending duct tape or car travel (and, yes, I confess to being such a poster ). Such input is of little value, though, to those seeking helpful suggestions when they travel with their kids.

Similarly, many people don't want pets on board or in hotels at all. That view, though, is irrelevant to those who want to travel with their pets and, as long as the airlines and hotels permit it, they are entitled to receiving the benefits of informed and constructive suggestions, right along with the mileage runners.

My metric for approving new forums (or closing existing ones) is very straightforward: does the forum in question serve a useful function for members of the FlyerTalk community? As long as the answer is, "yes," then I don't see a downside to having the forum.
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