LAXintl wrote:

db373 wrote:

I agree the general discussion threads have degraded this forum. I used to get all of my airline news by logging into this site every day and reading over the posted topics. Now that everything gets buried I usually learn airline news from CNN or MSNBC or Fox or even freaking Buzzfeed before I read about it here, and the only reason I find it on the forum half the time is by digging into the general discussion thread about that airline or airport. This used to be a great site for news.... Now? Not so much....

If you're looking for news, then look in the News feed section.

https://www.airliners.net/aviation-news

The Forum is for discussion.

And as db373 correctly noted, that discussion is hidden.

Nobody looks for "plane off runway in San Luis Obispo" in the "American Airlines Network 2023" thread.

D L X wrote:

LAXintl wrote:

db373 wrote:

I agree the general discussion threads have degraded this forum. I used to get all of my airline news by logging into this site every day and reading over the posted topics. Now that everything gets buried I usually learn airline news from CNN or MSNBC or Fox or even freaking Buzzfeed before I read about it here, and the only reason I find it on the forum half the time is by digging into the general discussion thread about that airline or airport. This used to be a great site for news.... Now? Not so much....

If you're looking for news, then look in the News feed section.

https://www.airliners.net/aviation-news

The Forum is for discussion.

And as db373 correctly noted, that discussion is hidden.

Nobody looks for "plane off runway in San Luis Obispo" in the "American Airlines Network 2023" thread.

We don't typically move topics into general threads, and that isn't something we've done with any regularity for several years now. These days, the only reason a topic doesn't exist for a current event is because someone didn't start it. That's not our job, that's on the community to take that initiative.

The general topic threads exist as sub communities for people with similar interests, and the levels of engagement within those threads indicates that they're popular. In any case, city/airline threads started popping up well over a decade ago, so they aren't a new phenomenon. We simply organize it better now than we used to, but we've never started a single one...they're all started by users, and we recycle them on varying intervals. They were never intended to be a replacement for threads with more focused discussion. We encourage people to start new topics when noteworthy events occur, but that's all we can do — encourage.

atcsundevil wrote:

The general topic threads exist as sub communities for people with similar interests, and the levels of engagement within those threads indicates that they're popular.

The level of engagement is almost certainly due to product placement.

For instance: instead of leaving this thread in the same forum where the threads it criticizes exists, this thread was quickly shuttled off to "site related." Most a.net users have no idea this thread exists, and may not be aware that others share their feelings pro- or anti- general threads. What kind of engagement do you think this thread would have if it were placed in the forum that gets the most engagement?

And as many have noted, people begrudgingly post in general threads because if we post a new thread that overlaps with a general thread, we will be berated by people saying "this is already being discussed in XXX general thread."

The engagement also has to do with lumping together a bunch of individual topics. Is it really fair to compare engagement for topics X, Y, and Z individually versus supertopic X+Y+Z? No.

atcsundevil wrote:

we've never started a single one...they're all started by users, and we recycle them on varying intervals.

That's not quite true, as the moderators, not the users, re-upped a whopping 192 general threads for 2023, regardless of whether the users had shown any recent interest in those threads. (See viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1480199 .) You have to agree on this point -- the moderators bear the largest share of the responsibility in the perpetuation of these threads.

D L X wrote:

You have to agree on this point -- the moderators bear the largest share of the responsibility in the perpetuation of these threads.

And why exactly do I have to agree with that statement? You say it as if it's a negative thing, and on that, I clearly do not agree.

Once again on this topic, your strong feelings are noted.

atcsundevil wrote:

D L X wrote:

You have to agree on this point -- the moderators bear the largest share of the responsibility in the perpetuation of these threads.

And why exactly do I have to agree with that statement? You say it as if it's a negative thing, and on that, I clearly do not agree.

Once again on this topic, your strong feelings are noted.

You have to agree that the moderators re-launched 192 general threads. Sorry for the dangling predicate.

I look at the arrangement as having two negatives:

1. It's analogous to a screwed up filing system resulting in making stuff difficult to locate. Let's see, did I file my November 2013 car repair bill under "Car Repairs", or "11/2013 Bills"?

2. It hides interesting stuff from people. Like what if there is something of general interest in the "Rest of North Eastern Northwest Territories Discussion Thread" that wasn't quite noteworthy enough for someone to point out that it needs its own topic?

I'm a 99.99% read only member and this arrangement has made the site largely unusable for me.

hardalphaTi22 wrote:

I look at the arrangement as having two negatives:

1. It's analogous to a screwed up filing system resulting in making stuff difficult to locate. Let's see, did I file my November 2013 car repair bill under "Car Repairs", or "11/2013 Bills"?

2. It hides interesting stuff from people. Like what if there is something of general interest in the "Rest of North Eastern Northwest Territories Discussion Thread" that wasn't quite noteworthy enough for someone to point out that it needs its own topic?

I'm a 99.99% read only member and this arrangement has made the site largely unusable for me.

It's not supposed to be a filing system. The threads are for people discussing mundane things that don't fit into cohesive topics. Newsworthy events are supposed to have their own topics. If they don't, then it's because people aren't creating them. We're just moderators, and creating topics isn't really why we're here. The only time we move topics into general threads are in the rare instances where a question would be best answered in the existing thread, but it doesn't happen often. 99% of the time that someone creates a topic outside of a general thread, we don't touch it.

atcsundevil wrote:

hardalphaTi22 wrote:

I look at the arrangement as having two negatives:

1. It's analogous to a screwed up filing system resulting in making stuff difficult to locate. Let's see, did I file my November 2013 car repair bill under "Car Repairs", or "11/2013 Bills"?

2. It hides interesting stuff from people. Like what if there is something of general interest in the "Rest of North Eastern Northwest Territories Discussion Thread" that wasn't quite noteworthy enough for someone to point out that it needs its own topic?

I'm a 99.99% read only member and this arrangement has made the site largely unusable for me.

It's not supposed to be a filing system. The threads are for people discussing mundane things that don't fit into cohesive topics. Newsworthy events are supposed to have their own topics. If they don't, then it's because people aren't creating them. We're just moderators, and creating topics isn't really why we're here. The only time we move topics into general threads are in the rare instances where a question would be best answered in the existing thread, but it doesn't happen often. 99% of the time that someone creates a topic outside of a general thread, we don't touch it.

You know, you make a good point. I do remember when there were tons of mundane threads exposed on their own which sometimes was pretty bad. Keeping them tucked out of the way from sight isn't such a bad thing. There are just so many of them that finding interesting stuff with page after page of these threads is tough. What would be nice is if there was a Civil Aviation subforum with just these group threads, or a flag on the thread where you could hide/unhide them (being mundane) and only display stand alone threads by date.

hardalphaTi22 wrote:

You know, you make a good point. I do remember when there were tons of mundane threads exposed on their own which sometimes was pretty bad. Keeping them tucked out of the way from sight isn't such a bad thing. There are just so many of them that finding interesting stuff with page after page of these threads is tough. What would be nice is if there was a Civil Aviation subforum with just these group threads, or a flag on the thread where you could hide/unhide them (being mundane) and only display stand alone threads by date.

Having a separate forum or forums for these topics could be a good idea. We're limited by how much we can request from the developers (it took two or three years to add the new Helicopter Forum), but it's at least worthy of consideration.

atcsundevil wrote:

hardalphaTi22 wrote:

You know, you make a good point. I do remember when there were tons of mundane threads exposed on their own which sometimes was pretty bad. Keeping them tucked out of the way from sight isn't such a bad thing. There are just so many of them that finding interesting stuff with page after page of these threads is tough. What would be nice is if there was a Civil Aviation subforum with just these group threads, or a flag on the thread where you could hide/unhide them (being mundane) and only display stand alone threads by date.

Having a separate forum or forums for these topics could be a good idea. We're limited by how much we can request from the developers (it took two or three years to add the new Helicopter Forum), but it's at least worthy of consideration.

Thanks for considering it. It might make a nice compromise, keeping both stakeholders happy, and satisfying both use cases of the forum.

General discussion threads are typically used for more casual conversation and allow members to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions on a variety of topics. These threads are usually broad in scope and may cover a wide range of subjects.

Dedicated new topic threads, on the other hand, are usually created when a member wants to start a discussion on a specific topic that they feel deserves its own thread. These threads are often more focused and can provide a platform for more in-depth conversations and debates.