You could argue that the site is a bit of a mess because the industry is also a bit of a mess. Any old useless twat (or young for that matter) can get a teaching job in China these days, meaning that you can't always expect a decent level of discussion on these boards or even those hosted by a competing site.

You have to bear in mind that most FT's don't go anywhere near ESL forums. So what is peculiar about those of us who do? For example, on this forum we only hear about those who don't like Chinese schools, et cetera; and to a slightly lesser degree those that feel grieved because their TC came under attack.

It's all a bit subjective, what's good or bad discussion, don't you think?