JNS Facebook page

[Lawrence]

Hi All

 

have mentioned the possibility of a JNS face book page to Don (Capt Oblivious) and had very positive feedback, so I wanted to gauge opinions of all the folks on here.

 

I have offered to set the page up and keep an eye on it, I would appreciate assistance from a couple of you to help with the admin (preferably in different time zones from me).

 

The idea is to promote our hobby, promote this forum (which may lead to some advertising income to help with the running costs) and encourage new members to share their knowledge and expertise of not only Japanese Railways but also modelling techniques and the technology involved these days.

 

Whilst I am new to the Japanese scene I am not new to modelling or computing and I know from checking on face book there is no (English language ) Japanese Railway fan page, I am very much aware of the positive influence a social network site can have on a group such as us.  I am very much aware also of the occasional negative occurrences on such a site but with your kind assistance I believe it can be well moderated.

 

Many companies send out computer worms and monitor social networking sites to monitor trends and I think we would be doing our hobby a disservice by ignoring the opportunity.

 

So what information would you like to see - links to the forum, various JR sites and modelling sites - anything else? Can we make it a focal point for the hobby and those fluent in Japanese (and any other language) would be most welcome to ensure we meet the widest possible audience.

 

Let me know - is it worth a go or a waste of time?

 

and a question for the mods, could we use the forum header on the face book page if it were to go ahead and are you ready for the influx of new membership applications 

[ToniBabelony]

Awesome! I'd like to admin if possible!

 

Is it possible to have new topics on the FB page when a new one opens ? Maybe through an RSS-feed or something, I dunno.

 

I'm quite active on Facebook, so it's of great interest to me :) Maybe I could connect some of my friends who have a slumbering desire for Japanese trains.

[Mudkip Orange]

Worth a go.

[Bernard]

Lawrence - That seems like a huge undertaking but from what I'm reading, if it increases activity and membership I'm fine with it.

 

I myself don't do Facebook or Twitter, I basically keep it simple with a few forums and email. Having said that I am naive to the process you are describing, but I know it is a highly active means of communicating with people. 

[to2leo]

Go for it!  I know a bunch of us want to do it for quite sometimes. 

[spacecadet]

It's not really that big a deal... or I should say, it's as big of a deal as you make it.  I have a store and we have a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/tokyorebel) and we mainly use it as a repository for blog posts and other little status updates about sales or promotions.  It doesn't really take any time to admin and it took no time to set up.

 

Some companies and organizations go way nuts with their Facebook pages and almost make whole new web sites out of them... that would take a lot of work.  But you don't have to do that.

[traindork]

I think it's a great idea! Most of my facebook 'friends' are actually companies that I patronise, including some of the American model manufacturers.

[Mudkip Orange]

Also, add one vote for Toni Babelony being admin. In fact I think he should just go ahead and create it right the ---- now, before anyone tries to put this to a "committee vote" or something like that.

[CaptOblivious]

Also, add one vote for Toni Babelony being admin. In fact I think he should just go ahead and create it right the ---- now, before anyone tries to put this to a "committee vote" or something like that.

 

Alright, I think the time has come to put the proposal to a vote. All in favor?

 

 

( Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[grumbeast]

I think this would be a great thing, finally a good reason to use Facebook instead of simply reading about the mind boggling inanity of my (so-called) friends lives

 

Does it sound like I'm down on Facebook.  :)

 

Seriously. I think this would be good

 

Graham

[Guest ___]

I seem to recall we made this proposal last year had the discussed this before and had decided against it as most of the people who were on the forum were already on the yahoo groups, and it was deemed redundant to have it? So, what's changed in the past year (directed to the other mods)?

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,1551.0.html

[CaptOblivious]

I seem to recall we made this proposal last year had the discussed this before and had decided against it as most of the people who were on the forum were already on the yahoo groups, and it was deemed redundant to have it? So, what's changed in the past year (directed to the other mods)?

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,1551.0.html

 

Really? I had thought the consensus was that, among those responding, it wasn't seen as a valuable use of our individual time, as few of us used Facebook; and not that the consensus was that it was a bad idea generally. We now have members who see value in doing it, and are willing to put forth the effort, and I think we should encourage that.

[Lawrence]

Ok guys, just too clarify;  I am aware this has been discussed before with mixed results (generally positive though I believe) and I thought I would revisit the idea to see how opinions have changed, therefore my communication with Capt Oblivious.

 

Importantly though, I do not see the facebook page as any more than a way to promote the hobby and as a signpost to the forum.  It will not in any way be a replacement for the forum or the JNSWiki, it will be a tool to promote our interests.  It will be pretty basic as I neither have a huge amount of spare time nor probably the knowledge to create anything too complex, but people who join the page will be able to input material as they see fit either to teh [age or to the forum.

 

I guess the ultimate question is, are the members of the forum willing to take the chance of getting, potentially many, more members aboard or would they prefer to keep things as they are.

 

On the matter of admins (officers) on the page, the plan would be for me to contact those who volunteer to get their ideas on the details.  This would very much be our facebook page, not mine.

 

Keep your thoughts coming

[KenS]

I'm no fan of facebook (quite the opposite; their approach to privacy controls appalls me). But it is an effective communications medium, particularly with younger people who may be more open to Japanese model trains than many existing modellers due to exposure to anime and manga . This seems like a good way to promote our hobby, and maybe create some new modelers.

[ToniBabelony]

Me as well, I don't see it as a replacement in any way of the forums and the wiki (which I personally rarely use), but as a promotion for the forum. We could occasionally upload a few photos of layout progress and new models and redirect viewers on Facebook to our forum for more information. Just to give the FB visitors a taste of things here on the forum.

[to2leo]

Whether we like it or not Facebook is an effective tool to get one notice.  I am putting my support out once again.

[cteno4]

Lawrence,

 

worth putting up a page on facebook to wave our arms on facebook to let folks know about the hobby and jns. this was talked about a while back. the big problem with facebook is if you want to be 'active' there you then need to monitor the page and be interactive to really lock folks in. this can take a lot of time and effort.

 

i have several client that have done a lot of this on facebook with their causes. some have had large responses (friending, supporting, etc) in the tens of thousands. but these have not really provided any positive results when letter or donation campaigns have been done. the last one i actually had them link to a special facebook landing page so we could track some the web visits over from facebook and it was only a small fraction of the action that occurred in facebook. conclusion is that folks in that environment tend to stay more in the environment, but here we may have something attractive like the forum for them to get into, especially if they cannot get that interaction from facebook.

 

personally i find facebook pretty awful in almost all ways. really a shame it gets the attention it does. ill stop there.

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

my issue with FB as stated above is privacy. Personally, I also have major issues (despite having an account) with their right's grab of photos. While they claim to have rescinded this policy, my union, the NPPA still oppose us posting image to FB. For those of you who don't already know, FB claims any image posted to FB, they claim ownership and redistribution rights for promotion to which they are paid for. In other words, FB reserves the right to claim legal ownership of. they also reserve the right to sue any image for any cause they want, without credit, or without payment for use of an image. so, if you post an image of your cat, they claim ownership and the right to sell that image without notice. And if you delete images, they retain file back ups of every image every uploaded for rights. NPPA refers to this as a "Right's Grab" AP, and Getty have been in litigation over some one who reposted a breaking news imagefrom Getty, whp posted to FB. Well FB then tried to resell it to Getty, to which they claimed rights to. Well Getty was not too happy about it.

 

But I digress, My other issue is that unless, you grant posting permissions manually to anyone who joins a fan page, you are going to get slammed with spam. Right now, we're dealing with this on the "US Campaign for Burma" and the "Free Burma Alliance" Page with the work at home spammers. When originally proposed I was all for it, now I'm not so sure, but my last post was more of a Devil's Advocate post than anything else.

[cteno4]

Aaron,

 

all very good points to add to the mix. all reasons i have grown to loath facebook on top of the type of communication it promotes.

 

you are very correct about the interaction if you want interaction to try and personally connect with other facebookers you have to do it manually like this and it can be a huge amount of work. the few clients that i have had that have had the umph to do this are having a very hard time keeping up with it. both spamming and just off topic or perverse posts as well. only other option is just the page of general info with the link to the site, but as i said in my experience this least to few click thrus, but in our case connecting with even a few that are willing to pop out and get involved with jns would be worth a static page.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

I have FB, and I have to admit, I'm growing to loathe the amount of time I need to spend open it just to keep in touch with my family. I doesn't like having to use it to keep connected to friends, and coworkers, or for the fact that it is nearly impossible to keep all three groups from having access to each other, or not being able to keep things private. There's no sense of privacy anymore. 

[cteno4]

ill try to keep it short, but notice the type of communication that the fb world ends up making people do. i think you will notice they get fragmented and less communicative as humans and intelligence its usually taken out of the equation. there is also a subtle pressure towards a me perspective that gets made over time. really odd that its called social media as i its removing the real heart of real, human social communication, its the kind of society i would not want to live in. im totally sick of either just tiny personal messages that are really not anything valuable and as you say can take some personal thing and make it very public or they tend to be a generic self post to the world about what they are doing, no context to their individual friends and most of the time inappropriate information to some of the subsets of friends or public. it strips us of doing personal communications or group communications (like this forum) that have the proper context, detail and personal heart that is proper for each. ive seen way to many really neat, smart people turn into blathering idiots on fb--literally people i would not want to ever talk to if i did not know them before!

 

it feels like the popular crowd in high school. have to be cool, pose, me me me, shallow communications, very little of substance ever offered.

 

a few friends use it mainly for online sharing of photos, but there are lots of other, better options for this that dont require you to sign your life away to see some family photos!

 

just makes me sad if this is where the next generation is going in how they relate to each others as human.

 

thats probably more ranting than folks want to hear...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Krackel Hopper]

hey hey,

 

Glad to see I am not the only one who doesn't care to use facebook.  I used it a lot when I was in college, but that is when it was first getting started and you had to have a valid email from a participating college to get on.  I was glad to see facebook open to all college students.. but a year later they opened to high school (and shortly after - the world) it became something entirely different..

 

I haven't given up my account yet because I have a handful of old college buddies who really like to communicate through it.. but to be perfectly honest - the last time I signed in was probably Dec/Jan.. so almost a year since I've been there..

 

The thing that really gets me is all the businesses promoting "Follow us on Facebook!"  Why?  Why should I have to get on facebook to schedule a dentist appointment or an eye exam?  If I want to buy a new car (which I need to) why on earth would I trust going to a dealers facebook page?

 

It's about as annoying as professional athletes who wonder why they get suspended for posting on twitter.. "I swear, I didn't think any of those 4,323,876 people who get my posts would tell the coach.." but that is a whole different can of worms..

 

Jon

[Kamiyacho]

I used it a lot when I was in college

 

When I was in college we were using computer punch cards and FORTRAN IV.........wow, do I feel old.

[cteno4]

but that is a whole different can of worms..

 

Jon

 

same can of worms, just a different worm!

 

very good points. its amazing how knee jerk the reaction is to fb from marketing. any client that has gotten into fb i have yet to see any positive, tangible benefits after lots of effort going into it. only defense when i ask now is that if they didnt they would loose business, but thats not a tested hypothesis at all. the clients that have not gone the fb route have not felt and loss of interest in them, so go figure. i just cant understand putting your businesses into such a horrible interface, talk about a great equalizer, it makes everything look like crap!

 

im just too much of a scientist in heart and by training. i want someone to show me the data... only data i do see aint good.

 

jeff

[to2leo]

Wow this is certainly a lively discussion.  All are valid points, the privacy issue is a major matter for most people sharing information online whether it is Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, Google search, and even forum groups.

 

If you think about it, credit cards especially those that give you points also share information among its partners too.

 

Smart cards such as Octoplus, Oyster, Suica and soon Visa and Mastercard tracks you down by logging the time you use the transit from where to where and also what item you buy at which store.

 

Cell phones can locate where you are, especially those who use iPhone.  The cell phone provider can track the phone for security reason such as in stolen cell phone situations.  That information can be shared to police or maybe later to your favorite store(s) which you check off from some online registration that you would like offers from.

 

I just want to put these out there because the very moment that we use our free e-mail account, read our free newspaper, play our free online game, post our photos on free website, post our comments on free forum, we are already giving up some of our private information.  If you don't believe me, try Googling some of the question you asked here.  And who is to say that hobby shops from Japan or retailers or hobby manufacturers did not create an account here or at your favourite chat group and is now offering SAL shipping.  Nothing is free in this world, there is always a price or commitment or decision.

 

I think if you really want privacy, you can either unsubscribe yourself to any of the free online gadgets or online tools or you can work with the system but only provide limited information that you are willing to share.  For myself, I have 3 Facebook accounts to separate work, friends and family and games. I do the same for my e-mails, credit cards and many things online.

 

Personally, I don't really care whether we have Facebook or not.  I am happy that I am able to come to this forum to share, view or enjoy all trains Japan.  I think some of the members just want to let more people find out about how great this forum is.  And I don't think the intention is to make everyone here sign on and contribute for there is a group who is eager to volunteer.