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I have done nothing but research the past week. I was just curious if the points I have noticed are the similar to what others notice.

No one wants to be a "tourist." You're from another country, if not another continent. What exactly do you think you are? Heck, I'm a tourist when I go inside the perimeter to Atlanta.

Advice is given over and over, but that's because there is a constant flow onto this site of newcomers, who ask the same questions over and over.

I might add poor spelling and lack of proofreading.

" I was just curious if the points I have noticed are the similar to what others notice."

I think you need to zero in a bit, refine your question, and share a few of the key "points" that you have noticed. In that way we could confirm, deny, or add to.

You will find multiple uses of these words: magical, soak, local, authentic, quaint, back-door, wow moment
as well as these places: Cinque Terre, Paris, Roma, Rothenburg, London, Venice, and Frankfort (followed by a post from someone we won't mention with a spelling correction)

I might add sentence fragments. As in my post and at least one other post prior to mine.

But I won't because you are talking about rhetoric.

Does your research take into account forum rules and the degree to which forum rules are enforced? There's a lot of variation from one board to another. You cannot pull data from deleted posts. Are you accounting for member "status"?? Boards may have designated experts or "ranking" devices for members, which may be a factor in rhetorical style. How do you get a handle on the demographics behind this board or that board? That certainly will impact rhetoric.

But maybe your paper has a more specific focus than you have outlined. If so, our comments might be more helpful if you shared that.

I think the forum's Webmaster has a lot more insight on this than any individual person using parts of this forum, assuming he tracks some key analytics and is willing to share them with you (you can contact him directly). He's the only one who can possibly see and monitor "the big picture" more systematically than others. Some key data might include: distribution of participants based on the number of postings (that will tell you how many people likely fall into "newbies", "regulars", and "heavy duty" participants); top keywords used in postings; number of threads by country or topic (there are standardized drop-downs so this shouldn't be hard to sum up and measure historically). All of these will have all sorts of caveats due to repetition and similarity in questions, and inability to segregate truly unique, unduplicative threads and more definitional issues than I can count. If you're undertaking a research project on this, you have to know something about the group you're studying first and what their characteristics are between one travel forum and another. Probably the most relevant to you is how many and what kinds of threads are deleted by the Webmaster due to either rhetoric or failure to adhere to the community standards (these two things likely overlap, but it really depends on your exact definition of "rhetoric").

This is purely anecdotal (and hence limited) but the only trend I've noticed that differs from the typical is an uptick of posters either concerned and/or asking for validation to travel after news of a terrorist attack, whether in Turkey, France, Belgium, etc. There have been many animated discussions about perceptions of "safety" that receive more responses than other threads, mostly because someone will post a political slant which prompts other comments or rebuttals.

surely one of the reasons why the advice is given over and over is because as a new user there is no easy way to see all the 'like' questions in one place. if there was provision to place all the similar questions eg: rome , in one place it would make things easier and then 'perhaps' less questions. eg: a smart search function would be handy.

I wonder if the reason why people don't get too worried about spelling is 1. people don't have hours to spend getting every detail of their responses correct. they just try and give a reasonable amount of info in the shortest possible time. 2. When you reply to a question you don't get to see all the previous posts , so its difficult to check the spelling used in the previous posts.

one unfortunate aspect of the forums is the intolerance some people have towards questions and answers. they 'jump down peoples throats' at the smallest things, when often the person is only voicing their own view about travel. which they are entitled to and have found worked for them.

hope this helps

Tone changes as participants change. Advice changes as old participants sign off and new people join. Search in the archives for posts with "Ed" or even Nigel, who is here less these days and you'll see the tone and advice has changed.

It is in the English Department and the class is called Rhetoric of Style

Have you formulated a specific argument and hypothesis from what you have read so far? I would love to read what you finally write!
I am new to this site and have learned a lot. I don't mind questions being asked over and over. I don't mind the repeated advice that a previous poster just posted and then again by four more posters! I don't mind some spelling errors or typos but when it comes to spelling " a lot" as "alot" bothers me for some reason. I don't mind fragmented sentences either. People are busy and have a life outside of this forum so I don't care if people make a few mistakes here and there! I do mind the tone that some use in their replies. I think they are rude and condescending. I ignore all of them.

I find friendly travel forums helpful. There are many well traveled members in this forum and they give great advice!

I have noticed on some forums, when people have to ask a question on a topic that gets a lot of questions, like Oyster cards in London, the Eiffel Tower, or something that seems like it should be simple, they sometimes preface it apologetically. I don't know if it's because they have read snarky replies to similar questions or what, but it seems like they think they're being a bother by asking, and that defeats the purpose of a forum.

I notice a lot of questions could be easily answered if the poster read a Rick Steves guidebook.

I especially like reading the advice people from other countries write. They give good, practical, and valuable information and their English grammar and spelling errors should never be criticized. I have a few pet peeves but won't be calling anyone out. I make mistakes too.

I notice a lot of questions could be easily answered if the poster read a Rick Steves guidebook.

Hahaha Susan! When I find myself wanting to type "read the guidebook written by the guy who sponsors this site" I know it is time for me to take a break for a few days.

Itinerary advice is constantly requested. Some people are trying to do the impossible (too many places in a week or ten days) and some seem to want reassurance that (or recognition for?) they are doing it "right." This happens for every country forum I monitor. Example: I have 4 days in London and I want to see (these 40 sites). How can I do this?

Some people's first step of research is to ask others to do it for them, and others who read a book first. There are people who don't know the difference between opinion and fact; don't know how to ask a question; and just have poor communication skills. There are also many, many clever, witty, helpful and observant people who enjoy a good virtual conversation. Just a reflection of real life.

Your question: " if anyone has noticed any trends in what people post: the words they use "

That the forum has a very definite political slant.
That no matter what news comes out of Europe, the consensus is that the U.S. is more dangerous.
can I" is more important than "should I".

..."no matter how often or with how many causalities it is unanimous that the US is still more dangerous than any other imaginable place." You have not read the police blotter where I live....which is in the U.S.A.

My big rant is that people should post from experience. In other words, post what you know not what you think you know. It is so obvious (at least to me) when someone is giving information based on reading a guidebook (guidebooks have errors) or a newspaper account, or doing a quick web search and then posting big chunks of material copied from some other source. That can be very useful IF you have the experience to vet what you are postings. Not always the case. Everything on the web is not always accurate. Even some so called traveler writers/blogs have min experience.

Great point Frank! Itineraries listed by people who have never traveled that itinerary.