Facebook

[Ed-Chenal]

I don't find Facebook a very good place to communicate on subjects with any depth.  It just seems to be a place to say Hi and post a quick picture from our smart phone.
That's all well and fine but if we don't move this and other forums to a more user friendly format that enables us to post pictures more easily, these forums are going to shrivel up and die.
Forgive me for being candid but it needs to be said.

[Old-Towd]

Ya Facebook is like a glorified e-mail group service it dose not hold a candle to our Buggy forums. It just about impossible to search for help topics on Facebook. I have my Facebook notify me on any posts from the Manx Facebook and for the life of me I can't understand or figure out the intent of most posts, like I said before there like drive-bys. Sad Jay

[Mike-Presley]

You guys are right, Facebook is for quick pictures and comments, nothing more. I've researched topics on the forum and have been helped many times. A great place for information. You're also correct about the forums needing an easier way to post pictures. Hope there is someone out there with the know how to make pictures easier. I've never figured out how to post a picture from an ipad, have to go to the wife's laptop. Either the forums update or we'll be seeing them on the "Things that aren't around any more" TV show

[1856]

Ed, Jay & Mike. all good points, “social media” is limited perhaps by intent if not by function. Are our life’s now limited to communicating by "drive bys" & "short takes" in the worlds “social media”? 
A perfect example, the recent MC C2C event where information was scrambled all over the web rather than having the continuity contained in an comprehensible and functional place. It doesn’t need to have its own web site that's just another place to surf through. 
Groups like MC or RBC the other site will always have a need for in-depth cultural exchange of thoughts and concepts across international lines.
With a forum “one stop” information sourcing for like minded folks, frees our brain's RAMs so it can be used for …
MnC

[Scott-Drolet]

Hi Guys!! 
Ed, I have to agree that Facebook is for the drive-bys that Jay speaks of.  Don't forget, the generation that brought social media to us doesn't believe in face-to-face interaction much. When they go out to dinner, they sit across from each other while engaging in text dialogue with people that aren't even with them. Odd!    The picture posting dilemma is not new . . .we moved this forum four years ago off of V-Bulletin for the very same reason. Personally, I don't have any issues posting pictures on YUKU because I have always used Photobucket to store my pics. That site seems to interface with our forum very well.  Also, the instructions Joe took from the RBC work well too. 
The goal is to move to another forum site, probably 2phpbb, which is all the rage right now. Please realize, however, moving to another forum site could bring more of the same. Picture posting will improve , but it could become tired and problematic as new technology is rolled out. In a couple of years, we'll need to migrate to another platform.   I guess that's what we need to realize, that we can't rest on the same technology for more than a few years.
The Club is experimenting with other websites and forums. The Manx Club Sea-to-Sea site is WordPress based, which means it's easy for the webmaster to update the look and the feel of the site quickly, because it mimics Microsoft Word so well that web building becomes easy and intuitive.   That's a blessing and a curse. When it's easy to update, people expect you to do so, RIGHT NOW!  Well, we all have personal lives and things that get in the way of being omnipresent on the internet. So, expectations of a public demanding instant gratification needs to be managed.
Mark complained that the C2C data was scrambled all over the place during the run. I somewhat agree . . .I was posting everything here: http://seatoseasafari.com/?page_id=468 . But, with ten hour driving days and other responsibilities, my posts weren't as detailed, fast or immediate enough for those that wanted to see how we were doing. While I was taking a couple days to get the first post up, everyone else was throwing immediate pics and text bites up on Facebook as the run was happening. That's kind of an issue too, it's tough to capture continuity when posting to a forum always takes longer that posting on social media.  It will be tough to find a forum platform that has the same immediacy as the social sites, so we need to instill the expectation that members need to develop the discipline to post on a forum.
In the meantime, embrace what we have and really try using it. Learn how to post pictures, it's not that hard. In fact, if you guys want to get together at the next run, or even sooner, like a weekend get together, I'll set you up to post pictures the way I do and I think you'll find it's not as bad as it seems. A lot of clubs are on Yuku, including the RBC and Burro sites, and it works fairly well. 
The club is working on improving the entire website (the www.seatoseasafari.com site was built as a pilot for the Manx Club site). The c2c site has many features that we'd love to offer the club, including the ability to one day register and pay for runs, dinners and t-shirts online. How much easier would that be?  
Stay tuned, It'll get better, I promise.

[1856]

Thanks Scott for your thoughts, I think we agree ... Face is not working except for drive by shots & short takes.

As all forums continue to develop and evolve there will always be elements that will make one pasture greener then the other. We have seen Yuku evolve through multiples of upgrades over the years.  
At times those have led to mass confusion, if not absolute mystification. However, after the smoke clears and we begin learn its idiosyncrasies, it begins to make since. The key issue I believe, for a lot of us, is when we bounce from this forum to that forum there is that learning curve "thing" to work though, some find it ez’er then others.  
How these programs evolve is up to the users, us. I have always been able to communicate directly with Yuku and they have made changes in their operating systems accordingly.  
All the Yuku changes over the years have practiced the concept  
” KISS” Keep It Simple Stupid, for the masses. That works for me.
 
As organizations are nurtured, grow and develop, new folks come in with new ideas, things will change. That’s accepted because the only permanence is change. Any change though, needs to based upon not just the overall social demographics, but also buy group dynamics’ of the club. Primarily buy those that participate and communicate via the forum, events and such. These folks are providing the impetus of the organization. Not buy caprice thoughts of a few. This Club is a very diverse union of folks coming from many genres. To balance the "here and now" with planning future goals, let’s keep in mind what "we want to be" and how we’re going to not just sustain but grow. That growth needs to be measurable and in a direction that will place the Manx Club as a premier organization, all the time watching our backs in the political realm in order to keep our place on the trails and roads.
Mark

[Scott-Drolet]

Amen, Mark, Amen!