Usage of the forum

[Graham C]

I have noticed that the number of people being shown on the forum seem low, however the TSSC seem to promote their Facebook presence more with daily comments or promotions. Recently I have looked at the Facebook page and seen register members providing comments on Facebook but not on this forum.

In the recent AGM notes Chris Gundy says "Attracting new members is always on top of our agenda....... Bigger benefit of being a member  along with the TSSC website and the TSSC forum we really do reach out to a worldwide audience."

Really Chris - the forum an important aspect, do you really follow the forum?

So why does the club ignore the forum and promote themselves on facebook, promote the shop and ignore the forum.

I have said twice on Facebook pages to people - why not use the forum, answers where " not a member", "it's an electrical fault - no spark at the spark plug".

So where does the forum sit with the TSSC?

It does not promote the forum but claim it is a king pin of the clubs strategy for linking the club to the world.

Some comments/ advice on Facebook I have seen have been concerning, considering the newer generation who have limited experience of our cars and maintenance of cars generally. Really we have good experience people on the forum, and you can create threads of a single theme. Lots of previous good stories/threads.

Look forward to hearing from the COM.

Graham

 

[mishmosh]

I admin both.  
The advantage of The Facebook page is easy to use and is instant . Requires no logging in and has lots of reach.  The forum is better for retaining topics and referencing issues.  However it is “ old Skool”.  

[68vitesse]

9 hours ago, mishmosh said:

I admin both.  
The advantage of The Facebook page is easy to use and is instant . Requires no logging in and has lots of reach.  The forum is better for retaining topics and referencing issues.  However it is “ old Skool”.  

You still have to login and navigate your way to the relevant section on Facebook and you have to put in more personal data to register. I have an older account with Facebook which I don't use much when joining was a lot less regulated, you could lie.

Regards

Paul.

[trigolf]

9 hours ago, mishmosh said:

I admin both.  
The advantage of The Facebook page is easy to use and is instant . Requires no logging in and has lots of reach.  The forum is better for retaining topics and referencing issues.  However it is “ old Skool”.  

Granted maybe. But I don't use Facebook, for various reasons. I suspect that there are a lot of other older knowledgeable members also don't..

 

[mishmosh]

3 minutes ago, trigolf said:

Granted maybe. But I don't use Facebook, for various reasons. I suspect that there are a lot of other older knowledgeable members also don't..

 

Facebook is probably the most accessible and well used social media site in the world. We need to accept that and not fight it. Most people access it via a smart phone app which adds to its accessibility. The forum and webpage requires a different approach to access and most people find it “ clunky”     It’s not the fault of the Tssc  but is simply how people prefer to access information 

[thescrapman]

The biggest problem with Facebook is it decides what it wants you to see, filtering out large amounts of information, annoyingly usually showing the patently wrong, and filtering out the more relevant answers. 
 

it is also very transient, try finding something even a day later, usually gone without a trace.

what is needed is all the Facebook stuff to be replicated into the Forum, or similar so it can be referenced and correctly peer reviewed to highlight the crap that spews forth from some peoples phones.

[dannyb]

I don't use Facebook or any other forms like x etc. I do use the forum and save it to my home screen on my phone. Once first logged in I don't have to keep logging in.

If you ask youngsters the don't use Facebook either, they say its for oldies, they use Tiktok.

Danny

[dougbgt6]

1 hour ago, mishmosh said:

Facebook is probably the most accessible and well used social media site in the world. We need to accept that and not fight it

Oh dear.  

No.6

[Colin Lindsay]

I mentioned this more than a few times in the past; the FB page was full of info on events and promotions, but this forum... no. There always seems to be little or no 'official' input (unless someone criticises some practice or other, when a response is almost immediate) so it does appear to be monitored, but not supported. It's a pity as a goodly number of our users come here for discussions that the layout of FB does not permit to be as easily read or understood, and although I have a sort of basic FB account I don't use it for anything 'serious' nor am I a member of the TSSC FB group. FB exists... ok. It's not THE next big thing and certainly not something I'll abandon this forum for.

[Paul H]

The TSSC should use Facebook to find new members keep them entertained with the benefits of owning classic cars and regularly refer them to the forum for specialist advice . 
Paul

[DVD3500]

My very long and likely boring response that Paul put together 1000 times more succinctly:

I was a web master and admin for many years and I have lead a few social media projects.

When I see comments like something being "old fashioned" or "old school" I always wince a little.

The internet, like most spaces is complex and there are tools for a purpose that are better than others.

Can you use a butter knife to turn a screw? Of course you can.

Is that the best thing for the screw or the knife? Not likely.

Social media, in nearly all its forms is basically a cocktail party. You come in, hang around for a while, walk around picking up snippets of info and possible engaging in conversation. It's warm and fuzzy.

Just like a cocktail party you don't always know who will be there and you will likely not know the people well who are there.

Again, like a cocktail party, the group admin is like the host, mostly likely the only person you know well and whose opinion you can trust.

Social media is great for light banter, showing pictures, reaching a lot of people quickly and for one-way communication e.g. announcing events. This is because by its very nature it cross pollinates and will likely reach more people than anything posted on a forum or a webpage that, unless someone is looking for it, will likely not be seen.

This is mostly down to the fact that notifications are actively sent to people (I sometimes say shoved down their throats,.,) and requires little to no effort for them to receive said information.

When it comes to problem solving something more complicated than folding paper in half social media breaks down.

Let's take the example of boiling a pot of water.

Person A posts they are trying to boil a pot of water.

Person B for whom we have no proof they know how to boil water (This is problem No.1: We often have no clue or a way to easily find out if the advice being given is from a person who is qualified in anyway) tells them to just put it on the stove and turn up the heat. Sounds plausible, doesn't it?

Person A says they tried that and it doesn't work.

At this point Person B has flitted off to look at cat pictures and probably never sees the response from Person A. Here is problem No. 2: Lack of persistence. People run off or the thread gets pushed down and the search function of most social media is mediocre at best. This is technically more than one problem but I prefer to lump them together because the results are the same, regardless of the cause.

Person C then posts to put a lid on it (the pot, not the conversation).

Person A responds that that seemed to help, i.e. the water is warm but not boiling.

If you are lucky at this point someone twigs and looks at the person's profile and if you are lucky you see the person lives in Colorado and THEN you figure out it is the lower air pressure that means you have to increase the temperature to get it to work.

One other minor problem I have is often people post question in the form of a graphic that cannot be searched at all or the grammar is so poor (I often winder if the question mark even exists) you have to think hard what they are asking.

The last issue is ubiquitous with any online  presence and has been a problem since the InterWeb started up for Joe Q Public in the 90's.

Forums largely solve these problems. Most forums require a profile where location is on display without additional checking.

You automatically can see if anyone responded how long they have been in the forum and how many replies they have given.  While this is no guarantee they know their stuff it is a pretty good indicator and much easier than Person B above.

Persistence of the information and a decent search engine are very important IMHO. We are talking about people doing work on what is essentially a rolling missile that if you get something wrong can cause seveer personal and material damage. I for one want to check and double check the validity of the information before use it as a basis for doing anything on my car. Unless I know the person personally I simply do not feel that social media can provide that.

So for those of you who are still awake: We need both. They are all tools and they have their better uses and interactions. You really can`t beat social media for drumming up interest, announcing things. By virtue of the "others who have looked at this were also interested in..." type algorithms social media helps keep things alive and moving.

When solving problems though it is about as effective as talking to my dog sometimes. It may make me feel good but it is really not helping others in any significant way.

Things can be more nuanced of course but for the majority of the time this is all applicable.

I actually ran some experiments on this front but even my dog has fallen asleep so I won't bore with them but they basically proved my case.

 

[Pete Lewis]

thank heavens  I'm  OLD SCHOOL  !!!!

you cannot replace experience with Myths 

Pete

[Stratton Jimmer]

For Triumph matters I only use the forum. Facebook is far too universal, saturated with adverts and open to abuse to be useful to me for issues relating to my cars.

[Chris A]

4 hours ago, thescrapman said:

The biggest problem with Facebook is it decides what it wants you to see, filtering out large amounts of information, annoyingly usually showing the patently wrong, and filtering out the more relevant answers. 
 

it is also very transient, try finding something even a day later, usually gone without a trace.

That is exactly what I would have said if you hadn't beaten me to it.

[DVD3500]

3 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

thank heavens  I'm  OLD SCHOOL  !!!!

you cannot replace experience with Myths 

Pete

`wince`:-D

 

[Eric Smith]

Hi Guys

I can freely admit, if it were not for the help, support and knowledge of the this forums membership - my car would not be as close to the finishing line as it is.

The knowledge here is first class and I for one think it is brilliant. I sincerely hope it continues to help people like me with all of the helpful experience, when we need advice and friendly banter.

Social media works for some, for others it’s a monster, this forum to me is a safe place to spend some of my time , social media outlets are not for me, people have told me I miss out on information, that is probably true, but I am happy to be free of social media.

Eric

 

[Pete Lewis]

you mean you dont want a pic of what we had for breakfast or im enjoying doing something know one is interested. in 

from what i see its more anti social   than social 

i am pleased to  avoid all these platforms .

Pete

[Wagger]

I hate social media anyway, that includes face ache. Too buch false stuff that travels in seconds and blots out truth.

Personally, limiting sections of the forum to members only made it far less attractive for me, although I am a member and understand the reasoning at the time. We have lost advice and comments from some very knowledgeable people as a result. I won't name them as that demonstrates 'Favouritism'.

Edited September 5 by Wagger

[Colin Lindsay]

I'm of an age where I can eat a meal without having to photograph it first. It was also commented on, this morning in a local cafe, that I also read a full-sized newspaper.

Whilst some may see my habits, and indeed my hobby (and this is taken from a FB article I read this morning) as an attempt to cling on to a largely white, cis-gendered male view of a long-gone era, it's more because I can't mask off areas requiring painting with a tablet, and can't read the mobile screen as easily as the full-sized computer screen or a full-sized page.

I find FB shallow, many times inaccurate, and more liable to suffer inane comment than even our thread drift does.

[Gully]

6 hours ago, Paul H said:

The TSSC should use Facebook to find new members keep them entertained with the benefits of owning classic cars and regularly refer them to the forum for specialist advice . 
Paul

^^^^^^ Absolutely!

Facebook is a marketing tool these days - one only has to look at the dross in the general feeds until one refines to Friends or Favourites. The Club uses it reasonably effectively, with re-posts to maintain stories and features over a few days. However, it would be good to see them recommending this forum to people via FB more regularly. I can only recall that happening once, and then as a perk of membership. There's a load of useful stuff in the public areas. It ideally needs the FB Admin to have a standard post into technical query topics referring the posters to the forum.

Gully 

[Graham C]

DVD3500, I stayed awake reading your point of view and fully agree and very well put.  It seems to me that people feel the forum is clunky mainly due to the filing system. Which is like a basic system on a computer - headed folders with named files held within the folder. So why is this problem when everyone has PC and just follow this system.

The point about the TSSC using Facebook as a marketing tool is very valid as I seem to come across businesses promoting themselve.

I wonder if the TSSC should not re- brand and the forum as a technical/ help centre, promote it on facebook. The club could take monthly forum thread and publish it under a separate section in the Courier, adds more copy to the magazine. Helping to fill the pages rather than the numerous picture we seem now have.

I feel we need more traffic on the forum it is excellent tool for long technical queries, we have help novices rebuild engines, gearboxes. Can this be done on facebook.

So the long and short of the comments from all who have replied, we need both but the TSSC needs to do more to attract people to this forum. Above were some of my ideas from the feed back, but we need the COM to open discussion and move it forward.

We member can't instruct the club to do this.

How do we get this talked about the AGM and have the COM take action?

Graham

[AndyTV8]

I’ll try and be short : all forms of online presence are a little different from each other, the consumers of those resources (forums, common social media sites, regular websites) will decide which (any, all, some) they want to use. This drives the content-providers (clubs, companies, individuals etc.) to cover as many bases as they can to hook up with new and existing consumers.

None of these sites is right or wrong - they are just a way of spreading the net wide and having many doorways to their worlds.

choose whichever route works for you and has the content you want.

…….. Andy 

[thescrapman]

12 hours ago, Graham C said:

 

So the long and short of the comments from all who have replied, we need both but the TSSC needs to do more to attract people to this forum. Above were some of my ideas from the feed back, but we need the COM to open discussion and move it forward.

We member can't instruct the club to do this.

How do we get this talked about the AGM and have the COM take action?

Graham

I remember the bad old days of the discussions as to wether the club even needed an online presence, as The Courier was the primary method of communicating with the membership.

There was a busy AGM that year. Changes to club policy were made, so yes, the membership can ask the COM to follow a certain path.

[DerekS]

Yes, I have read and can see all the arguments on the go here. But.

For quite a number times over the years I have asked for help and advice and been very grateful to the members who have piled in to guide using their knowledge and  experiences to comment and guide. I have trusted and acted on this advice and valued it highly. My brief experiences of facebook made me believe that yes, there are a lot of good users but there are also the bored trawlers and mischief makers on the go; I cannot see myself using a facebook based facility. 

Derek.

[Wagger]

The Courier is excellent for those who want 'Hard copy'. I miss Colin Lindsay's articles in it. I also had some of my info published which was nice.

The forum is also excellent for all sors of info both ways.

If you like facebook then use it by all means.

Let us try to be helpful and avoid critisism. Maintain a sense of humour at all times.