Forum v Facebook

[Nick Salmon]

I am not being Luddite about it as of course Facebook and all social media are embedded in many people's lives - but...

If you remember what happened with Photobucket holding people to ransom over the use of their own photos you will understand that using what are essentially faceless and unaccountable sites and online services is fine for so long as it's fine. When it goes bad then you are utterly powerless.

With this forum we have a searchable, ordered resource that can (and I hope is !) be backed up and is within the control of the administrators (though I have to say I still, after all these years, do not know exactly who they are).

I do think that using Facebook as a 'resource' for Austin Seven material is risky in the longer term and personally I will avoid it. I do wish that others would do likewise.

If you want a subset of postings to cater for a specific area of Sevening, just start a new thread.



(Dons tin hat and ducks below parapet).

[Ian Williams]

Personally I never use Facebook, it is not a good platform for discussion about our hobby in my view. I have however heard that many people use it because they believe the discussion there is more open minded!??

[Ivor Hawkins]

I’m with you on this Nick, I prefer the Friends site for Austin Seven stuff. I tend not to do face ache much as I don’t want to trawl through sweary, inane and often political drivel anyway...

[Ruairidh Dunford]

They both have their place.

I have harvested a huge quantity of very interesting photos (mostly GE) from Facebook and continue to enjoy seeing snaps that I might never have.

There appears to be a greater focus about how people "enjoy" their Austin Sevens on Facebook, which reflects perhaps the greater picture on ownership and interest in them. The ease at which photos and videos can be uploaded is an appeal.

The Forum generates more of a digest of information - they work well together and I see many people on Facebook being directed, and then appearing, on here when stuff starts to get technical.

It is important to remember that nobody is (or should be) having their arm held against to fire to use either.

[Tony Griffiths]

If you remember what happened with Photobucket holding people to ransom over the use of their own photos you will understand that using what are essentially faceless and unaccountable sites and online services is fine for so long as it's fine. When it goes bad then you are utterly powerless.

 

Yep, Photobucket - it closed down hundreds of millions of pictures from thousands of technical forums and then demanded an extortionate fee to view them.
When Larry Ellison the head of Oracle - the software company nobody's heard of, but the world's second-largest - was asked how digital photographs could be saved for posterity he said: "Print them out." Will your children and grandchildren be able to access your digital Austin 7 and family pictures in 50 or 100-years time? Don't bank on it - print out the important ones. This is a handy job - postcard size only though - or any of the less-expensive full-size ones by Canon work just fine - or even one of the many online bulk-printing servies.

[Chris KC]

While the forum is by no means faultless, it is head and shoulders above many, many similar sites in terms of know-how, literacy, diversity, tolerance and all the things that generally make it useful. I have a dream that one day it could somehow be expanded to include 'look-up' pages for some of those questions which come up time and again...the search function is useful but I often find myself struggling to find things with it. Of course how to agree the content of such pages would be another question altogether!

As for Facebook, I do use it, my main motivation being to keep in touch with acquaintances I have generally met during travels and so forth, people I might never have kept contact with otherwise. It is undoubtedly the devil's work, a bit vulnerable to hit and run 'contributions' from unhelpful and frivolous types, and an unashamed harvesting ground for your personal data. It has been handy in recent weeks for keeping up with people where I might not have found time for proper correspondence. Deffo a like - hate relationship!

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Good point Tony,

We produce a photo book each year, it is normally my Christmas present and I love them all!

The main Focus is the holidays but they also contain photos throughout the year, the main advantage being that we can alter the sizes printed - the double spreads are exceptional.

   

[Martin Prior]

I use both the Forum and Facebook. Regarding A7s, I tend to see this Forum as a channel for more serious discussion, while Facebook is very good - and much easier to use - for spontaneous chats. As an A7-related business we have a page on Facebook that generates quite a lot of work for us - excellent free advertising. I wouldn't presume to shamelessly plug our products and services in the same way here. Indeed, I've never managed to get my business added to the "Cherished Suppliers" list!

Outside A7-land, I've been a Facebook member for over ten years and have never had any problems. Through it, I've re-established contact with many long-lost friends, as well as making plenty of new acquaintances.

I've never really understood the extreme antipathy that many people have against Facebook - there's much that I don't like about it as an institution, but as a tool I should be sorry to be without it. Conversely, while I have a high regard for the Forum, I, like Nick, have very little idea of who is behind it, or how it is managed.

[JonE]

It's a darn site easier to post images on Facebook! I would never use it socially for friends,and have no friends on it or personal information - but there are excellent interest/technical closed groups and I dip into those, sometimes just while researching something and then leaving. Setting up a group for Speedex has been interesting on FB, as it is a potential new client group for finding those searching on Luton, say.... we may get people with social/locality interests who can inform/provide new material - like Ruairidh's experience - that can then be passed on to Dave's established Information Exchange. It must be a good means of discovering new cars, as people will trawl there when they have no ideas about Sevens, perhaps, on the strength of a badge or possible name?

I also feel I often ask more questions than yield answers, just from my stage of development-of-hobby... so spreading the load also feels a good idea :-)

[Tony Griffiths]

Good point Tony,

We produce a photo book each year, it is normally my Christmas present and I love them all!

The main Focus is the holidays but they also contain photos throughout the year, the main advantage being that we can alter the sizes printed -  the double spreads are exceptional.

A great idea - and the quality of the ones I've seen is excellent. Of course, you'll need three copies of each....