Facebook vs Forums for Wargames

[shelldrake]

Mike wrote:

The follow feature of FB has been letting me down of late, with companies I follow posting news and me not being made aware. Not had a subscription to a forum topic ever fail me yet…

Yeah, I have noticed this too.

 

I use facebook as a news paper kind of thing to keep up to date with new releases, but I prefer forums.

[PatG]

I have everything turned to 11 in terms of seeing my wife’s FB posts and still about 25% never show up and I have to go hunt for them.  FB’s range may be massive but it’s coverage of it is less than ideal.

[Anonymous]

PatG wrote:

Facebook is primarily a social tool for connecting with family and friends. With my first FB account, I got sick of the bs deleted it and manged to ,stay off for about 4 months before family event planning forced me back on. Since then, I have been (relatively) selective in who and what I follow. It seems to work out…

 

this.  I use two FB accounts – one for family and friends (grief share, keeping up on adult children/grandkids, family activiitiess and keep the politics severely limited in frequency and to facts and be couteous or you’re gone forever, ask my cousin, the flaming end of the world apocalyptic Liberal fanatic,)  while my hobby contacts are active to varying degrees on my “hobby persona” account.  No one gets access to both accounts.

I blog as best I can.

Forums – excessively mixed bag of (ex-TMP) LAF, and TWW experiences none of which are satisfying 100% of the time.  Don’t start me on Yahoo groups because I have misplaced my soap box.

Pictures are cool but ephemeral IMO.  I paint as well as I can and advice is okay but will be politely ignored exactly 100% of the time.  I enjoy others work but have no interest in trying to “be” them.

Like all of life nothing quite meets our social sharing as well as face to face.

[Phil Dutré]

I also remember the good old usenet days (rec.games.miniatures.historical …), back in the day when there were perhaps 10K people worldwide active on internet/eunet/bitnet/… , half of them working in computer science departments.

The internet has changed. In the same manner that it makes no sense to have 1 million people in the same bar, there is fragmentation in online discussion forums as well.

As for FB, I deactivated my account several years ago. I read through the user agreements and concluded FB is an unethical company I no longer wanted to support.

Might I miss out on some things? Sure. But let’s play some games instead.

[Angel Barracks]

Facebook pee’d me off again.
Tried to set up a page for Crom’s Anvil and FB decided that my business e-mail is not good enough for them, and I should choose another??!

WTAF

[Ivan Sorensen]

It’s the universe trying to tell you that Facebook is evil 🙂

[Guy Farrish]

I think it’s Facebook telling you Facebook is evil.

[Mike]

Some guy on FB just added me to 9 different FB groups.
Not sending me a link to see if I want to join, but adding me to the group without asking.
I left the groups and blocked him, seems bad manners to put people into groups without asking.
It would be a bit like me subscribing members here to 9 random forums without checking with you first, bit rude…

(Rant ended)

[OB]

I’m not keen on Face Book for the reasons given above by others.  I do enjoy a good well run Wargames Forum.

OB
http://withob.blogspot.co.uk/

[zippyfusenet]

Some guy on FB just added me to 9 different FB groups…
I left the groups and blocked him,

Yeah, I wonder why that’s even allowed, it seems inherently abusive. It irritates me. I wonder if Zuck charges the perp a small fee for the privilege of conscripting followers? In any event, my FB experience has improved along with my willingness and ability to unfriend, unsubscribe and block sources of annoyance.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

[Mike]

I have just left the few remaining FB groups I was in.

I think of my online hobby reading as being like reading a magazine or book.
When I have some spare time and the inclination to indulge in some hobby reading, I will pick up a book or magazine.

Much hobby content can be found on social media sites, but they are very much not like books or magazines.
They demand attention, they crave likes, are addictive and try to control when you read and enjoy.
As sources of information they are pro-active, or maybe even aggressive.
I don’t want a website telling there is new content and that I must read it now and be the first to like it.

I want to dictate my own relaxation, I will read some hobby content when I want, at a time decided by me.

This is why I prefer forums over FB and Twitter etc.
They do not shove content in your face, they wait and let you read when it suits you best.

Anway, this topic was dead, long live the topic!

[Guy Farrish]

I think it was just ‘resting’!

I see I was considering Facebook at one time but my daughter advised me only old people use it, so it wouldn’t really help me reach new vibrant audiences!

I realise that by ‘old people’ she meant over 30s.

[ian pillay]

I ditched FB a few years back, best thing I ever did. I think forums are better and TTW even better 😉

Tally-Ho! Check out my blog at…..
http://steelcitywargaming.wordpress.com/

[Jim Webster]

I think it’s horses for courses.

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[Jim Webster]

I think it’s horses for courses.
Looking at hits on my blog, a majority come from facebook.

Facebook forums aren’t perhaps as good for in depth discussions as some forums, for example this one. But other forums I merely post to, stay polite and avoid the politics and trolls 🙂

But no threads and discussions seem to last as long as they did on usenet. There again we don’t have the trolls we had back then either.

I suspect that if you’re trying to sell anything, be it figures, terrain, rules or whatever, you probably have to have facebook.
If I set up a proper wargames company I’d have a facebook page dedicated to it. Somebody mentioned facebook trying to be a self contained internet and I think they’re right. So a business probably needs a facebook page, a ‘proper page’ (I make do with a wordpress blog) with the facebook page really being a signpost to the blog.

It’s also what you want to do with your time. I read a lot of stuff on writers’ forums saying that if you do all the social media stuff writers are supposed to do, you cannot find time to write.
It’s probably the same with wargaming or any other hobby. So I have systems that post to twitter because I cannot be bothered, I don’t do instagram (because I have a phone that doesn’t do data so I don’t have any apps) and tiktok, bobbet and muchwang are beyond me. (In case you wondered, yes I did make the last two up 🙂 )

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[Mike]

Oh yeah for a business a social media presence is required, TWW is on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

For my own personal hobby reading I am just using forums, the occasional glance at twitter and old magazines and books I am buying.
I find it less stressful, which is what you want from a hobby?!

😀

[Alex]

Deleting Facebook a few years back was incredibly helpful to my mental health and I would recommend that course of action to everyone.

 

I view Twitter almost as being like a chat room (remember those?) for some instant-ish social interaction and Forums being for longer conversations (as I’m sick of ‘discussion’ and ‘debate’).

instagram is the anti-social social media option.

Alex (Does Hobby Stuff)
practising hobby eclecticism

[deephorse]

FB is a mess, and if I could I would avoid it.  Unfortunately for me my hobby interests migrated to FB from ‘conventional’ fora, and I had to go with them.  I didn’t give Zuckerberg total victory over me though.  I hijacked my partner’s account (she knows), so my personal data is still withheld from the Great Satan.

One plus of FB is the ease with which you can post photos.  No forum I’ve ever been part of made it that easy – not even this one.  And some refused to host photos at all.

The negatives include posts not appearing in chronological order, people mistakenly replying to themselves so that you get no notification of it, topics disappearing somewhere, moderation apparently carried out by a 6-year old from Ohio, and the toxic misinformation that something like the current unpleasantness encourages.

All in all I guess that I’m stuck with it – or rather, my partner is!

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[MartinR]

FB is OK, if rather annoyingly disorganised. The bulk of my gaming content comes from blogger and FB these days, and almost all my re enactment stuff is organised via FB too. I still visit a couple wargaming forums, but they are very quiet these days. I’d miss out on a ton of stuff if I left FB, and where else would I back up my holiday photos?

Twitter, by contrast, is a screaming poisonous den of Internet hysteria, doubly fuelled by its recommendation algorithm which shunts people into echo Chambers. There some feeds I like to follow on there though.

Never got Instagram, still don’t. It just seems to be the same people and posts I see on FB and twitter, minus many of the features..

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Abwehrschlacht]

MartinR wrote:

Twitter, by contrast, is a screaming poisonous den of Internet hysteria, doubly fuelled by its recommendation algorithm which shunts people into echo Chambers.

A lot of people level this accusation at Twitter, but wargaming Twitter is a very friendly welcoming and encouraging place. All it requires is to follow a number of the more recognised ‘names’ in the hobby (the Too Fat Lardies chaps, for example) and then follow those that follow them or interact with them and you’ll find yourself amongst plenty of like minded people. Anything that you don’t like, simply block the account or mute certain words or hashtags. It takes a little effort, but Twitter, for me, has been by far the most rewarding place to hang out from a social media hobby perspective. If that makes it an echo chamber, than I’m happy to have my words bouncing around in there.

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/stormofsteelwargaming

Blog: http://www.stormofsteelwargaming.com

[willz]

Its all French to me?😁

[Jim Webster]

The problem with twitter, for me, is that I only do ‘on line’ on the desktop machine, my phone doesn’t do data.
So when you long on to twitter, there’s such a great heap of stuff that’s already flashed past you never catch up.
So I have my blog automatically post to twitter, but I might go on once a week to check any ‘notifications’

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[Stug]

I HATE FACEBOOK!

I have just deleted my account a few days ago. I have joined a few Facebook to learn about miniatures wargaming. Like someone said, you have to join several groups and that’s where the problem begin. You receive notifications every time someone replied with one word.

There are not really discussions and your posts disappear in a sea of other posts so, after a few hours it become impossible to found your post.

The only thing I would like this forum to have is an easy way to click on my profile and be able to find all my posts and threads all in one place. That would be a great improvement.

Other than that, this forum is very helpful for me because I am just a newbie. Everytime, I ask a question, I receive lots of useful advices.

So I am very happy to be here and I hope that way more people will leave Facebook and the other asocial networks.

[Guy Farrish]

Stug,

Click on your profile to the left of one of your posts to bring up your profile page, then on your profile page click on topics started (or replies created) below you profile pic and you have your list there.

Two clicks – quite easy :^)

[Mike]

Stug wrote:

The only thing I would like this forum to have is an easy way to click on my profile and be able to find all my posts and threads all in one place. That would be a great improvement.

Bookmark this page:

https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/users/stug/topics/

[Not Connard Sage]

How did I miss this? 🙂

I’m not such a Luddite that I refuse to use Facebook, but it’s absolutely bloody useless as a reference source.

It’s not searchable (not by the layers needed anyway), and there’s no way of bookmarking a post on any page – navigate away from Doris Miggins’s picture of cute kittens and the chances of finding it again are slim.

And, as it goes, anyone using FB as their store front ain’t getting my business. Build a proper website, you lazy git!

Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

[Jim Webster]

Not Connard Sage wrote:

 And, as it goes, anyone using FB as their store front ain’t getting my business. Build a proper website, you lazy git!

 

I’m not sure many do use FB as their store front. I don’t know anybody who tries to sell through facebook. But a lot use it as yet another signpost towards their website.
It’s interesting but with wordpress you get data on where people who arrive at your blog come from.
If I didn’t mention it on facebook I’d lose 50% of people. If I didn’t mention it on forums I’d lose nearly as many 🙂

I wouldn’t suggest to anybody that their life would be improved by joining facebook, but I suspect for a lot of businesses their sales would be. But if you’re just looking for somewhere good to read wargaming chat, pick what suits you and you’re happy with and that will be fine for you

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[Geof Downton]

Not Connard Sage wrote:

I’m not such a Luddite that I refuse to use Facebook,

I am!

One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.
Ahab, King of Israel; 1 Kings 20:11

[AdmiralHawke]

I avoid Facebook, and the other companies it owns, on principle. There’s enough misunderstanding and hatred in this world without a company that deliberately promotes extreme views and radicalizes people for profit.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-knew-radicalized-users-rcna3581

I wish Facebook was just fluffy kittens.

To be fair, Facebook is at least standing up to Putin.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/04/russia-completely-blocks-access-to-facebook-and-twitter

[Mike]

Please try to avoid current affairs and politics and what not, thank you.

🙂

[deephorse]

Jim Webster wrote:

It’s interesting but with wordpress you get data on where people who arrive at your blog come from.

It may be ‘interesting’, but it’s also somewhat disturbing.  Your blog software is tracking what site(s) I visited before I landed on your page?

I’m not an idiot, and I know that this goes on everywhere.  Witness the last commercial product I looked at appearing in ads on nearly every page I visit.  But I don’t have to like it, and this practice should be made unlawful.

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[Jim Webster]

deephorse wrote:

Jim Webster wrote:

It’s interesting but with wordpress you get data on where people who arrive at your blog come from.

It may be ‘interesting’, but it’s also somewhat disturbing. Your blog software is tracking what site(s) I visited before I landed on your page? I’m not an idiot, and I know that this goes on everywhere. Witness the last commercial product I looked at appearing in ads on nearly every page I visit. But I don’t have to like it, and this practice should be made unlawful.

No the blog tracks the site where there was a link you clicked on to come to the blog. It doesn’t do many, but it does do some forums and facebook. I don’t think this forum does show as a link

 

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[deephorse]

Jim Webster wrote:

deephorse wrote:

Jim Webster wrote:

It’s interesting but with wordpress you get data on where people who arrive at your blog come from.

It may be ‘interesting’, but it’s also somewhat disturbing. Your blog software is tracking what site(s) I visited before I landed on your page? I’m not an idiot, and I know that this goes on everywhere. Witness the last commercial product I looked at appearing in ads on nearly every page I visit. But I don’t have to like it, and this practice should be made unlawful.

No the blog tracks the site where there was a link you clicked on to come to the blog. It doesn’t do many, but it does do some forums and facebook. I don’t think this forum does show as a link

It’s still tracking, Jim, and really should be prohibited.  It might be of interest to the blogger, but how does it help me?

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[Jim Webster]

Frankly I suspect that it means blogs continue to exist. The whole thing is funded by targeted advertising (that i as a blogger never see on my blog)
Indeed this targeted advertising probably underpins much of the internet. It’s not a good model but after having it ‘free’ how many people would pay for access?

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[Mike]

Jim Webster wrote:

It’s not a good model but after having it ‘free’ how many people would pay for access?

TWW has 3426 registered users.
96 Trader members
84 sponsoring members.

180 out of 3426.

So in answer to your question, not many.

EDIT: My bad, you meant the internet in general rather than specific blogs or sites.

[Abwehrschlacht]

if you don’t like being tracked I suggest you don’t use your card to pay for anything, don’t visit the supermarket, don’t use your mobile phone or use the internet…

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/stormofsteelwargaming

Blog: http://www.stormofsteelwargaming.com

[Mike]

Anywho…   big thanks to those that use TWW !!

😀

[Jim Webster]

Mike wrote:

Anywho… big thanks to those that use TWW !!

 

And thanks for being here and putting up with us 🙂

https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/

[deephorse]

Jim Webster wrote:

Frankly I suspect that it means blogs continue to exist. The whole thing is funded by targeted advertising (that i as a blogger never see on my blog) Indeed this targeted advertising probably underpins much of the internet. It’s not a good model but after having it ‘free’ how many people would pay for access?

This is true.  Though, as far as I’m concerned, those advertisers are wasting their money.  I see that the adverts are there, but I don’t take any notice of them.

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[Author]

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