<They may be hard to get along with. If everyone is unhappy with the clerk, then that's saying something.>

Or if the same poster is treated poorly by every single hotel everywhere they go (then I figure the problem is them -lol).

<and nothing is that special about any of them>

DEs have to first be nominated, then approved by TA, their posting history and contributions are reviewed first. So I guess it depends what you mean by "special".

DEs can .. and have. LOST their designations cause they become contentious know it alls.. it can happen. Some people are asked to be DEs and WISELY decline the offer.. When a DE offers a suggestion they are often held to a higher standard or expectation by posters who do not realize that DEs are just other travellers.. they confuse them as being paid advisors almost..

As I said .. I have met some.. and by met I mean we are on friendly terms and visit together.. one lady is very nice.. but all her recommendations are colored by her OPINIONS and preferences.. she likes to travel with a lot of luggage, shop in high end stores, and stay in nice hotels. Her advice for a budget traveller is sometimes rather laughable .. she doesn't even realize it though.. but is well meant but misguided.

As I said.. most DEs do have a lot of time to post though.

As a business owner (tour operator company) I find the TA forums to be better. I had some defamatory comments posted there about my business, reached out to TA and they were removed promptly.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the Fodor's forums. There is a thread where someone posted defamatory, harmful info about my business (which shows up there on Google's first page when someone looks for a review on us). I contacted Fodor's repeatedly (both by email and the "report" button) and sent all documentation needed to prove those statements were simply false. Nothing was done, I was told to post on that thread and "tell my side" (as if truth has two sides to it). My emails were never replied to, by the way. And I sent probably five in total, over a period of 6 months.

Now, not only that this is bad for me and my business, but what does it say about Fodor's respect for their users? The quality of a forum is made up by the accuracy of the information presented - that is why people go there, to read and participate. A forum where posted information is proven false, and then the moderators outright refuse to remove it, is not a forum that cares for its users, in my opinion.

So sorry to say, I do believe TA is doing a better job at making sure the posted information is accurate.

Trip Advisor most definitely has more timely editing and tighter guidelines and monitoring than Fodor's. I don't think anyone could disagree with that!

This has been gone over again and again.

With TA, there is no consistency between forums. It's a big danger where there might be a single DE who might be promoting links to his own family business, giving advice intended to drive business there, and trying to drive off any competitors or those who suggest alternatives. We had a big problem on one forum with this and it took over a year to clamp down, we had to send the TA Editor links to posts where he was more open about the relationship (which he later tried to pretend wasn't there). As the country has become more popular and there are many more who have visited, as well as more lodging choices, his influence has waned.

On Fodors, they are much better at keeping the self-promotion and solicitation off of the forums, and don't play favorites the way the TA Editors have done in my experience.

YMMV.

I agree with you mlgb, there definitely can be some " funny business" on some forums on ta. Certain posters dominate a forum and basically hit the " report post " button when they simply don't agree with a poster. A newbie would be hard pressed to see it right away, but us long time posters know some favoritism goes on!

That's no different than Fodor's. When you're new you don't know who is who. When you've been around for awhile (especially on TA if you are on specific destinations forums) you know who to believe and who not to trust.

"They may be hard to get along with. If everyone is unhappy with the clerk, then that's saying something."

BTW, that's not a deterrent for me. If the desk clerk is a grump, why should I care? They've already ruined their own day, I'm not going to let them ruin mine.

Suze, yes that is true, it takes awhile to " know" a forum!.

I take any online review with a grain of salt. Many "reviews" are plants by employees of the entity being reviewed. Others are put up by persons with a grievance. Some of those may not have even stayed at the hotel they are reviewing but just want attention.

It is not just tripadvisor. It is every online site with reviews. Recently it was revealed that yelp hides adverse reviews if you advertise with them/pay them off. So you really cannot know what is truthful or not unless you personally know the person who put up the review.

What LancasterLad wrote resonates with me.
On the country destination forum I know best, one DE gets his info from the internet and repeatedly advises erroneously on destinations he has never personally visited, one DE has spent one short week total in his area of expertise, one DE's typically valuable advice is telling a woman with a medical problem to pee on a tree while visiting a major city, one contributor is a tour guide/ hotel owner who solicits his clients to sign up for single reviews, especially after any critical review, but anyone who points that out has their comments removed, and on and on. Advice from this forum could ruin a vacation, but new/naive posters eat it all up.

You could say exactly the same thing about Fodor's.

Or any other internet travel forum. The advice is only as good as the people posting it.

This is not unique to Trip Advisor.

There are no officially Designated Experts with a Fodor's seal of approval. That is the difference.

And the removal of flagged posts is reviewed by an editor first here. Not so on TA.

I don't give any more credence to what a DE posts than any other poster on TA forums.

I would have to agree with Suze on that.. I have seen bad advice from them too.. stuff I know is wrong,, or not the most helpful.
Being a DE means a lot of things.. it doesn't always mean they are an expert though.. more of a politician or diplomat sometimes.. lol

I am lucky to have been on the some forums long enough that I have learned who offers the advice or suggestions that are likely most reliable , or most suitable to my tastes. This might be harder for a newbie I admit, but if they read the forums they can soon see patterns and personalities emerge. Problem is some people literally come on a week before a big trip and ask some stuff they should have already researched.. like "where should I stay and what should I see" ( I always find that one the most bizarre,, why did a person choose to go to a place if they had no idea what there was to see there?)

I'm always surprised when people show up on Trip Advisor AFTER they've already booked the trip! Then start asking "what's to do there" and "is it safe?"

"DE" means "Destination Expert", in theory at least.
However I am inclined to think that it means "Destination Enthusiast".

Often it's neither. Just people who like to post a LOT :-)

One reason people might show up after they've booked airfare is that they've snagged a good airfare sale to a place they have never been to, and don't have time to do a lot of research, or even any at all.

Not everyone travels to the same destination year after year after year and stays at the same hotel.