Scarlett
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- Jun 27, 2011
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Grab a drink: this might be a long one!
I read AFF regularly and I read FT occasionally, but over breakfast coffee this morning was one of those occasions and it has got me thinking. Maybe because there has been a longer gap than usual between FT visits, but I found the difference between the respective sites starker than usual.
A lot of what I like about AFF is that people post interesting tidbits about their travels, their observations and sometimes about their lives. As a fellow traveller I file away the fact there was something about a place I’ll visit in the future or some transit trick to make life easier, next time I use it. Or even where the good credit card deals can be found. People give opinions, but overwhelmingly they are couched in language of ‘I did this, for this reason and it may work for you for these reasons’. It is informational, but it’s also what I’m going to call ‘community centric’ focussed info, this is, info given for the benefit of the community. Sure there are the big-noting posts (we all also read this stuff because we’re aspirational) and the opinion delivered as fact, but I find those quite rare and easy to skip over.
On FT however, I find too many threads become argumentative and too many posts are what a person did and why it is THE way things should be done. More, ‘self centric’ if you will. Those arguments often develop because posters spend half a thread continually justifying why their way is ‘right’ and attempting to show that other ways are ‘wrong’. I usually only read the first few pages and the last few pages of an FT thread, because there is little useful to be gained from ‘oneupmanship’. I find the comments sections of many US-based travel blogs tend the same way, so it’s not just an FT thing.
I know I’m generalising here and there remains a treasure trove of useful info in FT, but long may it continue that AFF remains an informative and community centric site. My New Year’s resolution is to (mostly) frame my posts and responses to add information or observations that may be of use to others. And some occasional snark for JQ and those poor deluded souls who think that Farmers Union make a decent iced coffee.
I read AFF regularly and I read FT occasionally, but over breakfast coffee this morning was one of those occasions and it has got me thinking. Maybe because there has been a longer gap than usual between FT visits, but I found the difference between the respective sites starker than usual.
A lot of what I like about AFF is that people post interesting tidbits about their travels, their observations and sometimes about their lives. As a fellow traveller I file away the fact there was something about a place I’ll visit in the future or some transit trick to make life easier, next time I use it. Or even where the good credit card deals can be found. People give opinions, but overwhelmingly they are couched in language of ‘I did this, for this reason and it may work for you for these reasons’. It is informational, but it’s also what I’m going to call ‘community centric’ focussed info, this is, info given for the benefit of the community. Sure there are the big-noting posts (we all also read this stuff because we’re aspirational) and the opinion delivered as fact, but I find those quite rare and easy to skip over.
On FT however, I find too many threads become argumentative and too many posts are what a person did and why it is THE way things should be done. More, ‘self centric’ if you will. Those arguments often develop because posters spend half a thread continually justifying why their way is ‘right’ and attempting to show that other ways are ‘wrong’. I usually only read the first few pages and the last few pages of an FT thread, because there is little useful to be gained from ‘oneupmanship’. I find the comments sections of many US-based travel blogs tend the same way, so it’s not just an FT thing.
I know I’m generalising here and there remains a treasure trove of useful info in FT, but long may it continue that AFF remains an informative and community centric site. My New Year’s resolution is to (mostly) frame my posts and responses to add information or observations that may be of use to others. And some occasional snark for JQ and those poor deluded souls who think that Farmers Union make a decent iced coffee.
