Groups .. off subject
I've been on Internet Forums for .. what seems like decades. You pick the subject, and they exist. I think the first ones I ever got on were back in the early '90s. My first exposure was via Bulletin Boards , dialing up with a modem. Damned that was awhile back. I remember the 2400 baud rate standard ones, then the big upgrade was the 14400 ones.. and then.... the screaming 28k ones. After that, you were in ADSL territory.. screaming fast! Whoops, back on track. Well, back then I had thin skin, and figured out quickly what true Keyboard Warriors were.
I still remember fantasizing about ripping the first lil bastard through the screen and explaining life to him. Boggled my mind that someone would act that way, and not know who the person on the other end was. But, that's the beauty of the 'net. They hide there. But, I digress..
Forums. At least on a forum, they subcategory to some degree. Take motorcycle forums. Take a brand such as Indian. You can categorize by generation. Then by bike type. Then you can add areas for events. Even , areas for off topic discussions. I've never quite understood the off topic area, but some people want to discuss their dogs or their porn fetish, so you've got to give them an area to keep it out of the ones people care about.
FB's answer to forums are 'group's. There are thousands, maybe millions of them. On the subject of Indian Motorcycles, there is upwards of a hundred. And that's the public/closed ones that pop up on a search . This doesn't count the ones that may not have "Indian" in their name. Or are 'secret' and therefore unsearchable. The benefit of a group is you can bring together like minded individuals for a common purpose. A good example might be a Jeep Jamboree Annual Event. Folks that join it most likely have a Jeep and want to learn more about the upcoming jamboree , or archived info on past jamborees. Brilliant! That's why I joined that group. But, what happens when several of the members begin to post their 'lives' on it. Want to sell their Ford Bronco or Chevy Vega on it, so they can buy a Jeep. Or post their outing down by the creek last week. Nobody else is posting really, but these 3 or 4 hog it. I know, I know, here we go again. I'm getting cranky. But if the group is for the Jeep Jamboree.. and you have say 5,000 group members, but the only real posts are by the Admin pushing next years jamboree with a flurry of redundant BS , and a few folks putting their personal lives on the group, less than 5% of the discussions are actually about the Jamboree, what is the actual purpose of the group?
I recently purchased a new Jeep JKU to replace my last JKU I sold a couple of years ago to my nephew; found myself joining a few Jeep related groups. I've suddenly gotten reminded of some pain I went through last year. I was in a Motorcycle Association FB group page, and 99.9% of what was discussed there has zero to do with the Groups stated purpose. I brought it up to the Admin to no avail.. I left the group a few times only to find myself added back in! So, I kicked up my sarcasm and pushed a few buttons whenever I saw what I perceived were stupid posts. I questioned when people posted non-related subjects. I questioned when the group was used for business related functions. I gave advice to the admin on how to do it 'correctly.' All to no avail. So, I'm out of that group. Gone .. done... Of course, the groups name has since changed, now more pertinent to what it was used for. Guessing my ball busting had a lil' to do with that. Someone shows me the contents of the group once in a great while. It's still off track. Less than 1/2 the posts have anything to do with the subject matter. Even then, the vast majority is just the admin making weak attempts to keep things on track. I don't miss it.
So here I am in these Jeep groups. Damned these clowns wear me out. So, I'm stepping back and regrouping. First, I'm out of any of the Public ones I joined. Why? Because I don't want any of my posts rolling into non group members FB feeds. Then, I had to change all notifications in the groups to keep my news-feed from getting inundated. Now, I don't see all the craziness useless I actually visit the group. What I've also done historically is 'block' anyone that I perceive brings zero value to the group. You know the type I'm sure. They post.. and post.. and post.. about useless BS. The funny part though is months later you may realize there is a thread going on your not privy to, because the guy you blocked is in the mix?
Have to admit though, I prefer the FB Groups to the Internet Forums. They are more real time, more interactive. The forums though are awesome for retrieving archived off info. On the groups, you have to work a lil harder to find the data and sift through it. But, via the Search function, it's there. Now, I need to just need to be nice in them, cut 'em a lil slack. I am the 'new guy' in these groups..... aaaaaah.. makes me feel young again. Every once in awhile, they post some interesting stuff?
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| My first opponent? |
Forums. At least on a forum, they subcategory to some degree. Take motorcycle forums. Take a brand such as Indian. You can categorize by generation. Then by bike type. Then you can add areas for events. Even , areas for off topic discussions. I've never quite understood the off topic area, but some people want to discuss their dogs or their porn fetish, so you've got to give them an area to keep it out of the ones people care about.
FB's answer to forums are 'group's. There are thousands, maybe millions of them. On the subject of Indian Motorcycles, there is upwards of a hundred. And that's the public/closed ones that pop up on a search . This doesn't count the ones that may not have "Indian" in their name. Or are 'secret' and therefore unsearchable. The benefit of a group is you can bring together like minded individuals for a common purpose. A good example might be a Jeep Jamboree Annual Event. Folks that join it most likely have a Jeep and want to learn more about the upcoming jamboree , or archived info on past jamborees. Brilliant! That's why I joined that group. But, what happens when several of the members begin to post their 'lives' on it. Want to sell their Ford Bronco or Chevy Vega on it, so they can buy a Jeep. Or post their outing down by the creek last week. Nobody else is posting really, but these 3 or 4 hog it. I know, I know, here we go again. I'm getting cranky. But if the group is for the Jeep Jamboree.. and you have say 5,000 group members, but the only real posts are by the Admin pushing next years jamboree with a flurry of redundant BS , and a few folks putting their personal lives on the group, less than 5% of the discussions are actually about the Jamboree, what is the actual purpose of the group?
I recently purchased a new Jeep JKU to replace my last JKU I sold a couple of years ago to my nephew; found myself joining a few Jeep related groups. I've suddenly gotten reminded of some pain I went through last year. I was in a Motorcycle Association FB group page, and 99.9% of what was discussed there has zero to do with the Groups stated purpose. I brought it up to the Admin to no avail.. I left the group a few times only to find myself added back in! So, I kicked up my sarcasm and pushed a few buttons whenever I saw what I perceived were stupid posts. I questioned when people posted non-related subjects. I questioned when the group was used for business related functions. I gave advice to the admin on how to do it 'correctly.' All to no avail. So, I'm out of that group. Gone .. done... Of course, the groups name has since changed, now more pertinent to what it was used for. Guessing my ball busting had a lil' to do with that. Someone shows me the contents of the group once in a great while. It's still off track. Less than 1/2 the posts have anything to do with the subject matter. Even then, the vast majority is just the admin making weak attempts to keep things on track. I don't miss it.
So here I am in these Jeep groups. Damned these clowns wear me out. So, I'm stepping back and regrouping. First, I'm out of any of the Public ones I joined. Why? Because I don't want any of my posts rolling into non group members FB feeds. Then, I had to change all notifications in the groups to keep my news-feed from getting inundated. Now, I don't see all the craziness useless I actually visit the group. What I've also done historically is 'block' anyone that I perceive brings zero value to the group. You know the type I'm sure. They post.. and post.. and post.. about useless BS. The funny part though is months later you may realize there is a thread going on your not privy to, because the guy you blocked is in the mix?
Have to admit though, I prefer the FB Groups to the Internet Forums. They are more real time, more interactive. The forums though are awesome for retrieving archived off info. On the groups, you have to work a lil harder to find the data and sift through it. But, via the Search function, it's there. Now, I need to just need to be nice in them, cut 'em a lil slack. I am the 'new guy' in these groups..... aaaaaah.. makes me feel young again. Every once in awhile, they post some interesting stuff?
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| WTF? |
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