Poll questions: do you use our Facebook group? If not, would you consider it?

[stevent]

Hi all

I hope everyone is well, despite these challenging times.


I'm posting up with a members' poll question:

1. As a forum user, do you also use our Facebook members' Group?

2. If not, would you consider it, in order to stay in touch with the group?


It'd be good to get a response from everyone who reads the above: you can post simple yes/no responses; and you can add comments as well if you wish.

A bit of background

- We currently have both the Forum and FB as platforms for members to use and chat to each other.

- Going back about 12 months this forum was really, really quiet and members were saying "its dead". We were also making more use of our Facebook Group to organise first Saturday runs. We had loads of take up on the FB page and much less on the Forum.

- In June we restricted access on our Facebook Group to paid up TRF members only. This to create a safe space for all members on it. We now have 450 paid up members and I think its fair to say its pretty busy, with daily posts and a good mix of group-organised stuff and informal member led input. We have had regular first Saturday runs, training events led by Carl Venter, ViewRanger training sessions, newbie member Zoom sessions, as well as members organising stuff for themselves - like inviting fellow members on a trip to explore South England's TET. Which has been really great to see.

- There is a tool which gives statistics on use, I could pull of a raft of statistics, but headlines are in the last 28 days there have been 90 members actively engaged, making 800 contributions including posts, comments and reactions. So there is definitely lots of activity.

- Most of us who have organised runs and cross-posted, have found that majority of takers are from the FB page, sometimes its 100% from FB. Given there is hardly any traffic on the forum, and sometime zero replies, most members have gravitated to FB, myself and others included.

- I am conscious though that there remain members who are not on Facebook and are therefore missing out. As group chair, I will hold my hands up that I ought to have done more to stay in touch with those of you on here. I've always sought to make the group as inclusive as possible. At the same time I know that it is impossible to ever please everyone!

- Along with traffic being so slow on the forum, there are really significant administrative overheads to keep the forum running. We have had a great support for the forum from Dave Wilson, Tony Rowlands and Chris Edwards. They have put huge amounts of effort to keep the forum ticking over. My sense is however, that the admin overhead to run the forum properly (to the standards members expect) is not worth the benefits, if the mass of member prefer another platform.

- Hence my question: would those who are forum only consider joining the Facebook group in order to stay in touch?

- Finally, I very much welcome members getting involved, we are reliant on a quite small team of group officers and other members who "do stuff". If there are specific things people would be keen to help with, do get in touch as many small contributions can really add up. And especially in these covid time, working will fellow trail bike riders to get stuff done can be really rewarding and for some, could be a positive way to deal with the challenges we are facing (as well as going out for a ride of course!)

Thanks all,
Steven (Group Chair)

[ScruffyDroid]

Steven

I'm not interested in having a Facebook presence. They have data usage policies which do not match my personal security profile.

If you need admin assistance on the forum, I'm happy to step in.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[HuskyAndy]

Hi Barrie, not really interested in IT, can you tell me about your concerns about fb if possible without getting yourself in trouble?. Would be very interested in your opinions, hear so many things I cannot work out fact from fiction.

[itchychin]

Hi Steven,
1. No, I haven’t joined the FB group.
2. Yes, I would consider it now, it sounds like that’s where all the action is.
Thanks for the analysis, and all the good work!
Cheers, Ed.

[stevent]

Thanks you Barry, Andy and Ed. Any others on here?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ScruffyDroid]

Hi Barrie, not really interested in IT, can you tell me about your concerns about fb if possible without getting yourself in trouble?. Would be very interested in your opinions, hear so many things I cannot work out fact from fiction.

Andy

I've replied to you by private message.

Barry

[paulh]

Personally i want no part of FB , Instagram or any of the other socail media platforms ... BUT having said that i guess i would reluctantly consider signing up to FB if the Forum was discontinued if only to remain in contact with other members and events .

[HuskyAndy]

Hi Barrie not sure where my pm went, maybe it's in the 'cloud' somewhere, so not ignoring you, maybe it will turn up sometime.

[Bush Pig]

Not on FB, only ever gone on rides arranged through forum or via WhatsApp. No interest in joining FB.
John

[boredus]

I use both, but mainly because the world today has forced me to. All the clubs I like post everything about events on Facebook and if you are not in the group, you miss out.

I understand that Forums take up time and money to keep running, also something that forums dont do is keep up with technology trends.

A very simple thing today for example, take a picture of an item post straight to FB group asking what it is etc. Lots of people have visibility of it and you can get an answer within minutes sometimes.

On forums it's a faff, take a picture, uploaded it to a 3rd party, get the link, post link in forum thread and then hope that someone chances upon it.

Storage is expensive and limited etc so I get why we hit a limit so quickly adding photos and videos.

On the flip side, I detest trying to find something on Facebook that I posted or may have replied to when I need the info again as it goes in to the facebook black hole!

[silvergull]

Hi-
short answer- No, for reasons not dis-similar to those of Scruffy.
The forum is the place for the TRF, as I said continually when I was a long-term member and long-term club officer. The forum was mis-used by some and abuse was allowed to flourish, with no sanction against , or apology from, the perpetrators- I hope the facebook page deals with this more effectively, I do not know, but I cannot see how.
The rise and abuse ( in my view) of private messaging groups all play a large part in the diminishing of the forum, and diminishing the club. I hope the officers can address this.
If the facebook group is so successful, and with so many members now ,( over 400!) I am struggling to understand why the volunteer support needed to make the group worth while , ie engaging with the various official bodies, lane clearing, officers duties and volunteer run leaders, etc is in such short supply- the nature of Facebook itself is the root of this, I believe, ie its very easy to click and post, but even easier to leave others to do the real job. Only my view, but there it is.
cheers bc

[kris]

not really a fan of facebook but a bit old school and find forums easier (and more easily searchable)