The Rover-Landers of BC

Has there been any talk of a "Rover-Landers" Facebook presence :idea: :?:

I'm sure it could happen

I'd be in.

I'm still trying to get my head around why facebook and not website. Wouldn't it just be a duplication of what we have here and in the photo galleries? I just don't know enough about it, and why it would be better there than here, or twitter, or wherever. I'm certainly open to discussion as this isn't MY website, its all of yours. :wink:

Dave

Well yes there certainly might be duplication, but access and posting pictures, chats/messaging, video files etc would be more member/user friendly.

I think "message boards" while tried and true are getting a little antiquated(I know I know look what most of us drive). :lol: :lol:

I think what we currently have is fine , why would Facebook be more user friendly?

You're right on the duplication, but FB does offer instant updates that all members would/could receive on their I-phones and Blackberrys.

You wouldn't need a computer to log in and watch or participate in conversations as you could respond remotely.

Image uploading would be "WAAAAAAAYYYY" more intuitive.

It would definitely give our club a much wider exposure. There are currently over 500 separate listings for Land Rover with groups ranging 1000+ members.

Could also attract some "younger" blood into the ranks :?

I'd visit it.

Dave_F

What we have now is very good, and the efforts by members maintaining the site and contributions by members is excellent. :D

But all you have to really consider are the dedicated apps for things like iPhone’s etc that give users fast and access anywhere to the anything on Facebook (or similar social networks) to the answer the question why it would be more use friendly. :idea:

I certainly spend more time on FB now than I have ever spent lurking around message boards. :shock:

And I find my mobile device replacing my laptop on short road trips, where I’ll check email and Face Book, I don’t spend anytime navigating message boards. :idea:

While I see advantages to FB and that different generations take to new technology (and can afford it) easier, I would see not only duplication to a point but different information appearing on each site as not everyone would download stuff to the club site if FB is easier and they not longer access it.
The other side is who controls FB , it definitely isn't the user or the club. I will vote for keeping as is and if things can be made easier perhaps that needs to be looked into.
Cheers
Ted

sailourboy wrote:While I see advantages to FB and that different generations take to new technology (and can afford it) easier, I would see not only duplication to a point but different information appearing on each site as not everyone would download stuff to the club site if FB is easier and they not longer access it.
The other side is who controls FB , it definitely isn't the user or the club. I will vote for keeping as is and if things can be made easier perhaps that needs to be looked into.
Cheers
Ted

Whoever sets up the FB group has complete control of who see's it, who can join etc... It would be the task of the administrator.

I'm not actively promoting us using Facebook, just making sure we have all the correct information regarding it's features and benefits.

Dave_F

Books have been around for a couple of thousand of years or more. It is a technology that works; we still use it in the form of the newsletter, one of the best features of our club. The web forum as well works and I like it. It has anonymity to it if so desired which Face Book can’t have. There is no instant messaging because that’s what a telephone is for, beside there is no business in this club that requires urgent messages . Some old technology works well; there is no need to duplicate it with the flavour of the day.

I assume the current method of uploading images (we email our pics to Bill and he uploads them) was put in place intentionally to prohibit people posting inappropriate images?

Ray

rayhyland wrote:I assume the current method of uploading images (we email our pics to Bill and he uploads them) was put in place intentionally to prohibit people posting inappropriate images?

Ray

Well yes, but I've also offered anyone who wants an album is welcome to one. All you have to do is ask, and having a place to post your photos may make it easier to use them in posts. I think, although the drag/drop style of facebook/twitter may be a little easier, once folks learn the two little codes for posting images, that's pretty easy as well.

Dave

One of the things I noticed with websites that are connected with facebook is that they tend to be overrun with people that may have a interest but no business on that forum. I see it all the time on Rangerovers.net/forum

However it would be good for events because we could keep track of who is coming with exclusivity or open invites and privacy controls. I seem to miss some events cause I just don't know about them. Is there a email list of some kind :) ? (I will get to paying the membership fee eventually, I already know)
There are positives and negatives.

There is a coming events Forum here on this Bulletin Board, which is very active and kept up to date, There is a calendar of events that simply lists the events, and beyond that there is a mailing list for members, primarily for monthly meeting reminders.

Dave

Don’t get me wrong here I don’t think this an either or kind of thing. I think it would be an addition to have a Facebook presence.

You don’t have to look too far to see a huge variety of organizations that have already done so.

While Face Book may not last forever it is far from a flavour of the month. :?:

In fact the social networking frameworks are becoming in trenched in higher learning, police and military training environments all over North America. Specifically for peer to peer communications.....good god sounds like I have shares in it or something. :shock:

Hey its just a thought, I would like to have access to the Rover Landers site everywhere I might travel....but if I don’t there is always Facebook. :D

This is a free world or should I say a free country and you can do what you want to or not.

So if someone wants to set up a group on face book, twitter or whatever one is free to do so.

Someone go ahead and take care of that,
Oh but not me, Let someone else do that, as I am too busy driving and talking on the cell checking my texts.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/create.p ... 401&ref=nf

Let me know of any changes, additions, photo uploads, suggestions, hate mail, cease and desist orders, notice of legal action, admin permission, what time beer-o-clock is today, etc.

Btw, for the most part, the facebook "forums" are next to useless. This one is far better as a means of leaving messages.
I just thought it would be better to give it a shot as there does not seem to be anyone overly adverse to the idea.

Great stuff, I started with a few pics

Very nice Paul!

Always a stickler for details "Rover-Landers" is hyphenated. Hmmm, looks like the message board could use some tweeking in this regard as well :wink:

Ill get right on that, sorry. :oops:

From the FB site

Yup like anything it’s only as successful if people participate. I’m sure the publishing of a newletter seemed outrageous at one point in club history as was a website.
:shock:
While the FB site tends to be less organized, its access is much more flexible than current message boards.

We could have chatted directly with the Canol crew if the had the proper laptop or perhaps an iPhone.

The thread referring to the Canadian Bowler Dakar entry could also have great interaction with any FB account.

We’ll see what happens or not.

I think we need to discuss the Facebook site further at a club meeting before proceeding to ensure we're all on the same page. How about we put it on the AGM agenda happening Founder's Day?

Dave

That sounds like an excellent idea since communication is always the best way to be successful. I'm already impressed by the club's web presence; I'm an Application Developer and Database Administrator in the day-time job, so respect a well run and clean looking site.

I'm hoping to be at the meeting so that I can participate and volunteer my time.

Founder's Day... good name for a meeting and AGM...

--Jon

Dave wrote:I think we need to discuss the Facebook site further at a club meeting before proceeding to ensure we're all on the same page. How about we put it on the AGM agenda happening Founder's Day?

Dave

I noticed it got very quiet around the Rover-Landers site after I started the facebook group. I hope I didn't step on any toes. Also, I can make the page disappear at the first official request. Just curious if there are any thoughts or suggestions. PM me confidentially if need be.

why not set up a poll as many that use the web board usually do not attend meetings as we are far away or not full members.

I personally do not like facebook and refuse to join facebook in general. I enjoy some privacy which facebook does not provide at all. and i can also surf the roverlanders board and not have to sign in everytime unless i have something to say. I dont see how anonimity can be kept with facebook and they own and can do what ever they want with every picture you post on their site.

rezdiver wrote:why not set up a poll as many that use the web board usually do not attend meetings as we are far away or not full members.

I personally do not like facebook and refuse to join facebook in general.

If you don't use it how can you comment on it's privacy issues??? :shock:

Any image that is posted on the world wide web is subject to misuse...including all of the images on the photo pages on the Roverlander site.

Quite frankly we should probably nuke the FB site. The discussions regarding it are embarrassing and really illustrates to anyone reading the thread what a bunch of misinformed old farts we are......

This thread should be in members only section.

Or take it to the face book site? :dontknow:

"If you don't use it how can you comment on it's privacy issues"

I know because my better half is on it all the time. by privacy issues i meant that decades of old aquaintances and others now knowing you are here and trying to contact you.

as for pictures, i understand the whole thing regarding the world wide web, but with facebook your pictures are actually distributed and sold by facebook. it is right there in the fine print. i doubt that roverlanders has a habit of selling and distributing our pictures.

I really enjoy this website as it stands.

I missed the first part of this discussion earlier, but have had an entertaining half an hour catching up!!

Unfortunately I can see both sides of the issue, but now that Pandora’s box has been opened.............

First, I am not a FB user, however I have a page. (that I never maintain, unlike my rover.....wink)

Having said that: I do see the (gulp) need for a website like that in today’s world. And I do believe that ultimately there might one day be a stronger FB rover Landers presence than website. (sniff) If we as a group choose to encourage the use of it.

Having said that: I do see a need for a completely independent, sovern web presence for our club. A site that is run by us (users, not members - yes I will pay at FD Dave ;') and one that is non reliant on a corporation that has no interest in us whatsoever as users let alone a group.

Having said THAT: FB offers some advantages over our wonderful but small (as far as websites go) website. As someone alluded to earlier FB offers sheer volume. A friend will tell a friend, Viral marketing at its prime. I’m sure usage of forums would increase ten fold in a very short span. Something a stand alone website cannot compete with.

BUT

Is that a good thing? Do we want a global presence? We are a BC based club after all.
And can a FB page/group/persona, do everything we require our web presence to do. Can it announce, support, inform, and congregate our group in such a way where we leave no one behind? And have access to the web tools to: sell badges, have a calendar, talk trucks, show pics, and be able to have advertisements that support our club, not the website?

If I am going to go online and see ad’s, I’d rather see ads for cool stuff like trucks and parts and toys, and….(drool). I don’t want to se ad’s for Sears and La Senza…………wait I meant Maytag. The La Senza ad’s are fine.

And if we end up deciding that the FB site cannot support all our needs, and we continue to keep this site up and running for many more wonderful years. What’s the point of having two sites? Now I’ll just get twice as confused………

I guess in the absence of the discussion at the AGM, we, for now have access to both sites. It will be a interesting discussion in January I’m sure.

So much for staying impartial……

Does Facebook Tread Lightly? LOL

After all that: I joined the stupid thing anyway. :lol: :lol:

kinda looked cool.


Man, I hate FaceCrack :)

OK, I edited Paul's original post to add a poll. I based the Poll options on the opinions that seem to be appearing in this thread. Let me know if you think you need additional or different options.

cheers, Dave

rezdiver wrote:
as for pictures, i understand the whole thing regarding the world wide web, but with facebook your pictures are actually distributed and sold by facebook :glasses5: :computer:. it is right there in the fine print. i doubt that roverlanders has a habit of selling and distributing our pictures.

:bs: As far as the whole image issue, a careful reading of the Terms and Conditions :book: makes it obvious that the license is meant for the purpose of running the site. Without it, it would be illegal for Facebook to create thumbnails and albums, take backups of the servers where the pictures reside or even displaying them. Have you ever heard of someones pictures being sold for a profit by Facebook? How long would people use it if this was the case? :dontknow:

Nobody is saying that we should change or eliminate our website! Our Web site is great (good job DB :thumbleft:)! Facebook would be just a complimentary site for those who wish to use it.

There is definitely some functions that could benefit our membership. Wouldn't it be nice to be notified about a last minute event or run automatically? :rev:

Also as the FB group is open you can lurk :lurk: all you want and Uncle Frank :glasses9: and Aunt Martha :glasses10: won't find you. Additionally they have just upgraded their Privacy Settings so you can filter out whomever you want to see you or not.

I really don't understand the hostility toward the site? :argue:

Let the commoners have their say....I've cast my vote. :wave:

Sorry 'bout all the emoticons...but they help me think before I click send... :pottytrain5:

Well, I'll be blunt (with no offense intended to the FB folks out there) - I have a facebook page, had it for about three years now and I rarely use it because of all the useless and annoying crap (IMHO) that seems to go along with it. My vote is no for a rover landers FB page, very much no - let's just jump ahead and say no to Twitter while were are at it

The commoners?

Doc Tari wrote:The commoners?

Democracy...the common man...like me :lol:

So what happens if we vote for the second option?

Are we going to ask them to take the FB page down? Or is the Rover Landers just not going to openly support that page on FB?

And if we arn't going to stop the page, then why are we asking this question at all? Why not just let whom ever wants to use that page go right ahead, and this site just continues on like it always has?

I guess, I understand the answers, I just don't get the question :?

This really sounds like something that needs to be decided by a vote of the members. I suggest we do so at the AGM and allow proxy voting for those that can't attend. In the meantime, people can express their points of view on this thread.

I'm not sure if this debate and the concerns brought up here should be members only or not but any votes that count should certainly be those of the membership only, not a poll on this forum. I also don't think that the opinions expressed imply anyone is out of touch, no matter how "old fartish" they may seem to some. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure our capable executive will do the right thing...

I know I should stay out of this, but there is this little devil on my shoulder egg'in me on... Who am I to argue with the pitchfork armed "mini-me".

My background, you ask? I'm a computer guy by trade, it is what I do and it paid my membership dues for the club! I've hosted web sites, forums, voice chat servers, and the like for many different groups over the ages; in fact, two or three groups still use my free services for their web presence and voice communications (VOIP). I mention this so that everyone understands that, even though I'm only flapping my lips-- fingers?-- here, there is a wee bit of experience behind it. :) (there is the obligatory smiley that must appear in my messages)

I have no issues with Facebook or Twitter, although I don't really use either much. In my daytime job, I've had to "police" the use of both from staff and guests using our network. I know that many people don't understand the freedom of information exchange that happens with that site. The new features are great but don't fully secure the information.

That isn't my point, however. I'd like to suggest that in my "customers" sites (can they really be customers if I'm not getting paid?) I've always noticed a breakdown in the communication levels when multiple locations are used to pass on information. We are about to dive into the same issues by having both a website and a facebook presence. Information found on one doesn't get placed on the other, so people are left out. Some people will talk about items from the member only area in the public area of the other site, and a whole mess of other issues arise from having two sources of information.

I know that it is possible to integrate both twitter and facebook directly into the website-- although I've never done it myself, it isn't hard to do-- but someone else asked a very valid question: "should we do that?" If we decide to have both, then the only way to ensure they remain syncronized is to link them and have information entered into one appear in the other. The decision to do this is really up to the club membership and executive, but my personal feeling is that we should focus on one communication format. This would ensure that information is provided complete and intact for all members instead of being fractured between two places.

Would I support Facebook, sure. Would I prefer the website, yep. Would I provide integration between the two for my hosted sites, probably not. ;) The volume of junk-mail style messages goes up if facebook and twitter are not carefully maintained. True it gets word out, but, is it to the right people?

I'll let the club decide that, because one person shouldn't...

Whatever the case, I'm sure we will do the right thing in the end and the club will benefit.

SIDE NOTE: I just got my membership package in the mail. Love the sticker, newsletters, and welcome letter. Going out to find a good place to stick the Rover-Landers to... Why do they have to tint the back windows sooooo much?

:)

Re-post of what I put up on facebook :
"Yea, understandably, I hope they know that this is supposed to be a bare bones link to the main site and a way of promoting the group. There is no reason to replace what is already far more effective. Nor is there any reason to use the discussion area here (facebook) thus no real reason why any "old-school" Rover-Lander would have to join if they didn't want to. The online activity should be exclusive to the main site.

Facebook just announced having 350 mil. members. I am sure some of them have or will find the Rover-Landers site through this link. Free advertising and image hosting, so why not."

No tangents, no side groups, no one being left out. The only intention is to have a presence to encourage new members. The "wall" and discussion boards on facebook have been disabled. Vote on it at the agm.

Just ordered some bfg a/t ko's from Don at Rover Tech, very excited! :D

I'm addicted to FB, love the updates to the phone as well as the ease of use for us to share our photos, and I'm sure I easily rival ANY member on this site in my FB usage...(have to do something during those long university lectures, or when I'm supposed to be writing papers). HOWEVER, I don't think it's any replacement for this site. Primarily for me, i don't think the FB forum set up adequately replaces this forum. I'm also not sure how it works (as I unfortunately have been stuck on the island, broke and busy, not able to attend meetings) but I imagine it's also good for us to be able to offer ad space to our sponsors on here...which we cannot do on facebook.
Anyways, just my 2 cents... I like the idea of a group on there for anyone who does have an FB account, but I think it should be secondary to this.

ALSO, for those of you who want updates to your blackberry/iphone, you can be notified of topic replies on here just as easily by e-mail, which your blackberry/iphone can just as easily tell you about

Lots of good and interesting comments.....as we continue to discuss, I get a sense there is some fear of duplication and people missing info cause they not sure where to look.....yes maybe, but ask yourself ? :?: :idea:

When you hit the web for any type of research, information or entertainment, do you just go to a single page/site and think you have seen it all. :!:

Probably not? :?: .....You probably go to many many sites in a short period of time to get the info you need and want at the time you want it. :)

Outstanding: I cast my no vote before I realized a running tally of votes is being kept and my first thrill of the day was to see that the nos are far outpacing anything else. Surely anyone who drives, maintains and enjoys a 30-year-old vehicle can survive with another piece of "old" technology.
Larry Emrick