Hi all, I’m a relatively new OC member, and have found myself in the Peaks and Pennines group. However, I’m struggling to find a Facebook page for our area. Do we have one, or am I just being a spanner and navigating FB with my eyes closed?
Dunno about facebook - but your area events are available in two places - see Area Events on this forum, and you should get a mail-out with every STHT telling you what’s next. The forum is more up to date though, I expect Burton will answer your question.
So far as I know P+P haven’t dipped their toes in to the murky waters of Facebook, but contact your Area Coordinator, Burton Marsland, for the definitive answer to that…
…and therein lies the problem…it’s a forum, not a Farcebook page…use it or lose it…we have the very same problem in our area
Ps. Welcome to MX5 ownership
I totally agree, FaceAche has ruined our area forum.
How has it Ruined your local forum? I see other areas using it to complement the forum, with events being publicised to more prole than perhaps are active on the forum and it’s easier to read than the forum is on a phone (an ever-increasing method of accessing the Internet).
The forum definitely has its place, but I feel that it’s a slightly outdated method of communication. It’s certainly not as easy or quick as something like Messenger, which FB is tied into.
I’m struggling to see any downsides tbh…
Facebook is a great addition to the club structure, it is more interactive than the forum, but both systems have only a small number of regular visitors/members.
That seems down to the level of the individuals interest in the club and in being an active member. I don’t think Facebook has a negative effect, you just have to use it for the communication value it has and ignore all the other rubbish if possible.
Hi Tom
Its certainly something I could look at if the members want it and its going to be a benefit
But can I just say that it takes me over an hour to add an event to existing the three areas when information about p&p activities are to be found, currently they are, the P&P web site, the National Events page and forum and it really p***es me off when having spent a Saturday morning updating things some one texts me, emails me or asks at the monthly social meeting’ Whats happening this weekend?’
I share your pain
Hi Tom,
From what I can gather the club Facebook site is on the cards, but some time away, in the mean time watch the Peas and Pennines local forum for information
Facebook is better at event management, whereas threads (about events) on a forum get lost or missed very easily.
Facebook is also much better for mobile devices. Easy to upload images as well.
I am far from being a FB fan (don’t like the ads) but it is part of the fabric of being online these days, also helpful to attract a younger audience.
There are several MX5 groups on facebook already - some of them seem fairly busy.
There’s a fly in the ointment here - what about members who don’t use facebook, or any of the social media? If an event is cancelled, date brought forward or destination changed close to the date, then if the reliance is on FB and not by other means, how do members know about it?
One thing annoys me a lot these days, news reports on the box - where they say “There’s a lot more detail on our website” - Or - (BBC East Midlands) “There’s more detail on our facebook page”. Apparently the latter can’t be bothered to list that info on the Beeb website? Either way, it’s time consuming searching for that missing info, and I don’t bother - I just shrug - life’s too short.
In P & P’s case, I can well understand where Burton is coming from, but he’s still going to have to contact non participants on FB about changes, or drive organisers have to do this - and shared info about member details is banned - for good reason. Close friends may be aware of some contact details, but not of every member. The A/C knows, but that puts him up for bat - every time.
Really, none of this concerns me directly, as I don’t participate in Area meets these days, nor do I go on Area drives - you tend to get fed up chasing someone else’s back bumper, so scenery passes by unnoticed. I do however think about the role played by A/C’s and the unremitting hours they put into their area. Somebody should.
The problem is of course is it is but the work of a couple of minutes to create a Facebook Group.
MX-5 Owners Club Peaks and Pennines
Gerry, none of this is new. The same was said about forums when people relied more on newsletters for events. We all expect to get our information from different sources now and Facebook, to name one of many, works for millions of people as it is so easy to spread information, a lot easier than on a forum where you rely on people actually looking at it! But its of course down to ACs to ensure their members know where to go for definitive information so the sensible member can just check before leaving home. (not that as an Area mine has ever cancelled any events so not really a problem)
But an Area not having a Facebook presences is missing a trick. People do look for stuff via Facebook, and if they then can’t find the MX-5 Owners Club then they may well find another local MX-5 Club, and that’s the MX5OCs loss.
So, as an example I just spent a lot less time than it took to type this to create a P&P Facebook Area page. That will come up in a Facebook search now, and it directs people to this forum. Result; P&P is now visible via Facebook and anyone who find it will end up here where all the info is. No excuse why all Areas don’t do similar.
It is interesting to watch this thread as we have a Facebook page that I manage, it is a closed group to try and avoid some of the pitfalls that can plague unsupervised Facebook groups.
It certainly is not the answer to all communication. When I inherited it we had a significant number of people subscribing, of which only a small percentage are actually members of the MX5OC, most appear to be people who signed up but do not respond to or post messages.
The only sure way of communicating with owners club members is through the six newsletters that accompany STHT, obviously this is limited due to print dates and a fluid calendar of events, all other forms of communication are voluntary in that the member has to make an effort to view what is happening.
In addition to the newsletters, we have Facebook, we also have created our own website and post items to the owners club forum. I think I would not be far from the truth if I said only twenty percent of members actively look at any of these methods.
We also send emails to those in our region and those outside who have asked to be kept informed, that again takes some time but at least 95% of our members have email addresses, it has to be remembered that people can soon get fed up with continual emails dropping in the inbox.
Although I like having the Facebook group, creating and managing events is probably the best part, it still leaves an A/C with the 20% communication conundrum, the plus point is that quite a high percentage of our “active” members are the ones signed up to Facebook.
Facebook … I had an account for a year. I found it so intrusive in daily life that I eventually deleted my account entirely. I’m relieved that I did. At least with a forum like this you don’t get pestered every few minutes with stuff you have absolutely no interest in.
I for one won’t be going back there.
… It’s bad enough being on call for work 7/7…