The Infinite Flight Community is not what it once was (repost)

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This is a moderator approved repost. Avoid off-topic chat and try to suggest ideas for change.

Before I begin, let me clear up a few things. These are in no particular order.

I don’t hate anyone here. I’m not calling anyone out.

You may not agree with me but frankly that’s not really my problem.

If this gets unlisted and my voice is suffocated, I will consider leaving. Censorship on this platform is not against the law but it is morally wrong.

Keep it civilized for the time this post is up.

I’m aware this will change nothing.

It’s my turn to speak in the never-ending cycle of long posts on #meta. Grab your popcorn because I already know y’all love to do that.

The Infinite Flight Community simply isn’t what it once was. I’ve only been here since October 2018 but I’ve been here long enough to notice a drastic decline. Back in my day things were alright around here. Let me explain how it isn’t anymore.

Fun topics are gone.
With the recent purge of fun IFC topics that people enjoyed, a fair percentage of this community is frankly left bored. Let’s not lie to ourselves, there isn’t much to talk about related to Infinite Flight or “your personal flight experiences.” 80% of us aren’t even 18 yet. Some, if not a lot, of these users under 18 haven’t had a “personal flight experience.” This is a community the size of a small town. Some people come here to get into aviation because this is the only community of its size that allows newcomers to learn. These fun topics that were once up are now closed. How would that attract new users? Speaking of new users, onto my next point.

Mistreatment of new users.
Some of us try to be kind to new users that have an issue with Infinite Flight, or that post a topic that doesn’t belong in a certain category, whatever. The problem is some of us aren’t nice. You know who you are. How dare you look down on another user on this forum, another human on this planet. There’s absolutely no room for you here. Nobody asked for you to come in trying to “help” because your condescending, rude attitude proves you are not trying to help. So don’t bother.

Loss of connection between members, regulars.
I’m a regular. You all know that. Back in the day, the regular was someone you’d look up to, someone who’d be happy to help, someone that connected to the rest of the community. Apart from some regulars, that’s gone. I now see that TL3’s can bully, disrespect, and condescend to lower-level users, and they get away with it because of their moderator-granted immunity. At this point, that’s the meaning of being a regular. You are immune. You are better than the rest. But you’re not, you’re just another user on this forum. Maybe you’re more active than most users but that doesn’t mean anything. You have no room to make fun of other users, whether it’s on this forum or it’s on another platform.

The return of immaturity and politics.
There’s no avoiding politics during these times, or so it seems around here. I don’t care what side you take because you shouldn’t be discussing politics here. I know you may be bursting at the seams with angry writing against someone who disagrees with your political views. Save it for Reddit or Twitter. It doesn’t belong here. The immaturity appears to be returning. It’s not like the tire fire it once was back in late 2015 (yes, I read through all that). The moderators do do their job. But the fact that they have to do their job by doing away with immaturity is sad. They’ve got lives to live, not children to babysit. Simple solution: act your age, or even older, I don’t mind.

Introduction of mini-modding.
We’ve arrived at a time where trying to help out users on the forum has shifted to trying to please the moderators to earn that shiny regular badge. There are regulars who earned their badge, rather than receiving it. They hate to see people try-harding their way to TL3. Don’t be the person trying to earn the love and pedigree of the moderators. Help out. Don’t be hitting your refresh button every 0.382 seconds trying to jump on a new topic the very nanosecond it appears to try and “help” but actually be trying to be the moderators’ pet.

Passive-aggressive posting is back.
I can’t stand passive aggressive posting on this forum. Putting a smiley face or a “just my two cents” at the end of your post doesn’t make everything fine and dandy, making you immune from a flag. This does NOT mean your post was in good faith. Your smiley face or “I’m innocent” equivalent phrase doesn’t mean you are innocent. I suggest stopping it now :).

See what I’m saying? Don’t be like that. Express one emotion at a time.

The IFC isn’t nearly what it once was. Ask any long-time user and they’ll say the same. The reasons I’ve provided above is my view on how it’s changed, and what we need to fix to bring back the good days. This community has the potential to be great again so let’s get there.

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I very much agree!

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I agree we need a change

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Chill, just have to type something down before you go bananas ;)

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Hello again!

We’ve allowed this topic to re-emerge.
The points that were given by @anon79257371 in his previous topic had good points and a healthy discussion about these issues are always good.

However, we will not under any circumstances allow this topic to become some sort of group chanting with loads of people saying “We want change” when you’re not willing to change or contribute yourselves.

That means, you can’t just say “We want a change” without specifying what that even means, or how it should be done.

You as users, are the ones who have the power to bring forth a change. So please, try to conduct a mature and healthy discussion here now from which we all can gain from.

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This is what i was going to post on the last topic before it was closed:

After reading these comments I feel ready to seize the means of production.

This is an internet forum, not Russia in 1917. Stop treating this as a revolution because it isn’t one.

This comments section is a good example of the overly serious attitudes of certain members and the general lack of joy which the OP is referring to.

Nowadays the IFC sadly feels about as fun as a glass of lukewarm tap water.

Everybody needs to stop politicizing things. It’s the first step to reversing the decline. Try searching the word “fun” in a dictionary.

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Thanks for letting this open back up again.
I recommend that we report those regulars who belittle other users and mistreat other users. Also, can we allow some leniency and allow some fun topics again especially aviation memes.

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For fun topics, I believe we could have an off-topic type of topic. I believe this could get more people involved.

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Fun topics (guessing in special) are basically the sole reason why I’m here

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Here’s how I see it:

  • Most of us agree on the points @anon79257371 has made. There has been a decline in the quality of this community.
  • We also agree on what is causing these things.
  • My advice is to be the change you want to see. The most effective way to create change is to do it yourself, instead of yelling at everyone.
  • Creating cults, blaming others, or complaining to the moderators with no solution is only hurting, not helping.

Change takes time, and doesn’t happen overnight. Many of us are stuck at home during a literal pandemic, and no one is perfect. The only person you can control is yourself, and if enough people do so, others will follow.

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I definitely agree, it’s not as dramatic as you make it seem to be though. It is mainly just the fact that power corrupts and many regulars use their power to act despotically and act rude towards new members, creating a community that doesn’t act positively!

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I appreciate this topic actually.

My main thing with the IFC is the regulars who are there only to think they’re better than everyone and mini-mods. I realize we can’t exactly control the people themselves, but here are a couple of ideas:

1). Make a stricter selection criteria when it comes to promoting people to Regular.

2). Have a staff member send a prospective Regular a PM making sure they understand their responsibilities, how they should be acting, and what to avoid.

3). Create a flagging option for posts that are only intended to act as mini-mods.

I think that these steps, especially the first two, can really help bring a positive change to the community.

As for the fun topics, I think that many of them could have stayed. What could be removed are the “Guess the” topics that use images and a ton of storage space. What to sustain? Topics like, “What was your first experience with aviation?” or “What was your most interesting experience on a plane?” These are no clutter to the forum, in my opinion.

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And, how about every other user that does the same? I can guarantee that it’s not all regulars. Please stop pointing fingers unless you have the facts straight, thanks. It’s abusive and offensive.

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Lets stop suppressing the voices of the users. Infinite Flight is a company based in the USA, lets allow freedom of speech but with limitations on the forum, that is what I really would like to see. The is a free world so let us voice our opinions.

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@anon79257371 thanks for this post. I honestly feel like you hit every note. Although I haven’t been here for long, and I don’t know what it was like in the past but what I can say is that I also have seen change.

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Here’s my ideas:

Fun topics can have their separate category that won’t be listed with your Latest topics.

Reform of current Regulars, including new rules of what to do.

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@schyllberg Thanks for reopening the topic, many community members would appreciate this. I’m glad a moderator like yourself understands that there are points to be made and I think that what you said should be taken into account - no chanting in the comments. I think this should be a safe and mature environment for people to express their opinions on why the change listed above should be taken into account, regarding that of the forums available to the community.

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I mean that isn’t entirely true, there are staff all around the world and it is a truly global community. It isn’t the IFC’s job to follow the American constitution and there is a fine line between freedom and hate speech/unneeded speech. I am sorry but you shouldn’t be so America-centric and think from a global perspective.

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The community is what you, I, and everyone else makes of it. If we want change, we have to propose change. I’m sure, in fact I know, none of the mods think they’re perfect. Everyone here is human and we all know that, but it’s the fact that we’re all human that also means we aren’t mind readers. Nobody can know what people want this community to be if nobody ever speaks up or proposes a change. OP you have made your points respectfully as I’m sure everyone appreciates, and I have seen several similar posts to this in the past, some respectful and some not, but all with the same general message of wanting change. The problem with a lot of these posts is they never propose a solution. Nobody ever comes up with a post of “I don’t like the way this is done, so here’s what I propose we do differently”. That would be a great way to stimulate discussion about change, rather than just going on a rant about stuff you don’t like. By proposing a solution, you can get a discussion going amongst members of the community about potential changes and solutions, and what everyone thinks of them. It would be much more productive that way.

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