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 

[Toni Babelony]

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

[Shashinka]

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.

[Toni Babelony]

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

[Shashinka]

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

[Shashinka]

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.

[Shashinka]

Here's a great example of why I hate my current field of photojournalism, and social media. http://nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2010/09/morel.html Swap Twitter for Facebook, and swap AFP for Reuters, and you'll see my issue with FB and right's grabbing. It also touches on Jeff's feelings on right's grabbing and the internet which lead to the policy we adopted on here when ever we post an image that was not created by the OP as to give credits to the image creator. (Something we've gotten lax on here)  Same rules on FB will apply except that FB is a third party site to which JNS admins must play down to.

[Shashinka]

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.

I also turn off AL data and 3G modes when I don't want tracked or better yet, leave the phone in the Jeep or the house if I want to go "off-line" Frankly, I think that's part of the problem in today's society, especially the younger generation is that they really are all too willing to give away privacy in exchange for cool or staying connected. Essentially we're living in the 21st century version of Big Brother.

[Lawrence]

Ok, not going to get into semantics now, so I have created a facebook group.  For those who are interested please visit http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=152718551426681 and email me at the Yahoo email address.  Once accepted you will be able to post blogs, pictures and vodeos as you wish.  The page points prospective members to this forum so we will have to see how effective the www is!

I don't expect everyone to like this but no body is under any pressure to join whatsoever.

I will make Toni an officer once he contacts the page and would be grateful for one other volunteer.

The page is completely blank at the moment, hopefully that will change in the near future

[westfalen]

I notice you've got to sign up to view the page. I'm reluctant to sign up to FB. I did once a year or so ago just to see what it was all about. After a couple of days of realising how useless it was I canceled my account because I immediately started getting swamped with emails telling me I had won the Nigerian national lottery and the like, the Yahoo email account I gave FB was a new one I created just for the occasion and not used for anything else.

[westfalen]

Blank post. One day I'll figure out how to delete them.

[Toni Babelony]

Okay, joined. I'll spread the word to my contacts, 'friends' and real friends on FB. In the meantime, let's think about a logo to recognise us for people.

[Shashinka]

I notice you've got to sign up to view the page. I'm reluctant to sign up to FB. I did once a year or so ago just to see what it was all about. After a couple of days of realising how useless it was I canceled my account because I immediately started getting swamped with emails telling me I had won the Nigerian national lottery and the like, the Yahoo email account I gave FB was a new one I created just for the occasion and not used for anything else.

OMG, I get so many of those a day, and I am required by the Coast Guard to forward them to PE for Homeland Security, it's a real pain too since my POP3 is inbound only, (No outbound SMTP) becasue of Verizon.

[Lawrence]

I notice you've got to sign up to view the page. I'm reluctant to sign up to FB. I did once a year or so ago just to see what it was all about. After a couple of days of realising how useless it was I canceled my account because I immediately started getting swamped with emails telling me I had won the Nigerian national lottery and the like, the Yahoo email account I gave FB was a new one I created just for the occasion and not used for anything else.

One of the down sides of Facebook I'm afraid, which is why it is only there to compliment this forum and hopefully attract more members and more information.
There is now a link to the JNSwiki pages and also a facebook group all about JR signals

If it takes your fancy you could create an account with gmail or hushmail or one of the other smaller providers, just let us know it is you when you join the page.

I have had a question about why it is a closed forum and you have to email the admin for permission to join.  A couple of reasons, it should prevent the page getting hit by worms and spammers, also because there is a link to this forum, hopefully it will prevent crap getting on here too.  I realise that may be an inconvenience for some, having to wait until one of the admins let you join, but please realise it is purely a little bit of protection.

I would be grateful if there was someone from Asia or America who would consider becoming an admin, this would give better time zone coverage

[Shashinka]

I notice you've got to sign up to view the page. I'm reluctant to sign up to FB. I did once a year or so ago just to see what it was all about. After a couple of days of realising how useless it was I canceled my account because I immediately started getting swamped with emails telling me I had won the Nigerian national lottery and the like, the Yahoo email account I gave FB was a new one I created just for the occasion and not used for anything else.

One of the down sides of Facebook I'm afraid, which is why it is only there to compliment this forum and hopefully attract more members and more information.
There is now a link to the JNSwiki pages and also a facebook group all about JR signals

If it takes your fancy you could create an account with gmail or hushmail or one of the other smaller providers, just let us know it is you when you join the page.

I have had a question about why it is a closed forum and you have to email the admin for permission to join.  A couple of reasons, it should prevent the page getting hit by worms and spammers, also because there is a link to this forum, hopefully it will prevent crap getting on here too.  I realise that may be an inconvenience for some, having to wait until one of the admins let you join, but please realise it is purely a little bit of protection.

I would be grateful if there was someone from Asia or America who would consider becoming an admin, this would give better time zone coverage

I can tell ya right now, we get a fair\ share of spammers on here too, the leadership team has been pretty good on controlling it, but I recall there was a time about a year ago where we were getting hit pretty hard with them spammers. Also, note a lot of spammers request to join FB pages under pretense of being legit only to spam the moment they are granted access. We're having that problem right now on the Hipstamatic page. It made so little difference that they removed the "REQUEST TO JOIN" function off as they only lost more time manually approving everyone. I don't think that will be an issue here though. 

PS- I put in a join request two days ago and heard nothing back to the JNS page.

[cteno4]

never join fb with your main email account. it can be a total disaster. also if you want to stay under the radar on fb dont use your main email as well as fb asks folks if they want to search their email contacts for anyone that is on fb with that email. i have always used burner accounts for each client to manage their stuff. i had one that i used for personal stuff when friend insisted i look at photos and such there. it was using a burner account and somehow a couple of years back my main email account got linked to that fb account, have no idea how that happened, but then i got friended out the wazoo even though im on there as a total nondeplume and a joke one at that (wanted to see if i would get busted or not, but never have).

every burner account is only used for the fb stuff and all begin to get spam w/in a month. not sure how that happens as they are not public on fb and dont use it for contact w/ others, just to log in to review and edit things.

cheers

jeff

ps there was a great nyt article a few weeks ago on the social media erasure machine that you enter your user ids and pswds into and it one by one goes in and blows away every photo, message, contact, and account for you. tries to erase your tracks as best as possible and you get to see it as it does it.

[Lawrence]

PS- I put in a join request two days ago and heard nothing back to the JNS page.

PM sent

[traindork]

Lots of good discussion on facebook here. I'm on it, even though I'm pretty paranoid. I don't have much info or any good pictures of me on it. I'm one of those people that uses cash only so that nobody can trace my whereabouts or purchasing habits. I'd have a lot more shinkansen if I didn't have to buy them online. I have NO shopper rewards cards, and never give my phone number when I go to the store. I don't know how many times I've been at a store and the person in front of me is buying a pack of diapers or something and they give the clerk their phone number so they can enter it into the store's database. That said, I do see how fb can be annoying. I've got a couple of friends that seem to post every time they scratch their rear ends. I don't care!

Like some have mentioned, use a throwaway email address. I've had my 'friends and family' email addy for about 4 years now and I never get any spam on it. 

[Shashinka]

PS- I put in a join request two days ago and heard nothing back to the JNS page.

PM sent

I just got it. For some reason a lot of times, my PM notifications do not make it to my inbox on my pop3.

[CaptOblivious]

Me, I don't mind using my primary email address, and putting a lot of personal info up on FB. But I also don't mind reviewing the privacy settings very closely, ensuring that only those I want to have that information will have it. The result is no FB-generated spam, or account compromises (as has happened to many of my FB friends), but the advantages of FB for communicating with others.

Not that I think people should have to scrutinize the obscure privacy settings once a month like I do, but if you're willing to put in the effort, the payoff isn't so bad, really.

Just a different point of view on FB :D

[westfalen]

I've gone ahead and joined.

[Lawrence]

Well we already have 12 members signed up and there are some photos on there, I have added a couple more links today which folks may find interesting.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=152718551426681

[Martijn Meerts]

Just put in a request to join as well, even though I don't often use Facebook (read: practically never ;))

[Kumo]

I use facebook a lot, both personally and professionally and even if I think this is a great idea I have some comments:

You should let it open a lot more: this is not a club nor a personal page, this is a facebook page. Anyone should be able to see the pictures, the comments and the content without having to be a member. If I didn't knew it was the page of the forum, I would never have asked to be a member.
This take me to the second point: asking to be a member? This should be more open. The aim is to let people know the forum and on a larger side this specific hobby (no so common for US or European people to like japanese trains). So leave it open!

Last but not least: you should use a profile picture specific to the forum (for example the banner), it's not a JR fan page but a JNS Forum fan page.

That's it. This is just my opinion, take it or leave it. I asked to be a member anyway, but I just wanted to give some advices about the page. 

And pardon me if I?m wrong about the point of this FB page, I just took the link and not read all that was said about it. 

[Lawrence]

I use facebook a lot, both personally and professionally and even if I think this is a great idea I have some comments:

You should let it open a lot more: this is not a club nor a personal page, this is a facebook page. Anyone should be able to see the pictures, the comments and the content without having to be a member. If I didn't knew it was the page of the forum, I would never have asked to be a member.
This take me to the second point: asking to be a member? This should be more open. The aim is to let people know the forum and on a larger side this specific hobby (no so common for US or European people to like japanese trains). So leave it open!

Last but not least: you should use a profile picture specific to the forum (for example the banner), it's not a JR fan page but a JNS Forum fan page.

That's it. This is just my opinion, take it or leave it. I asked to be a member anyway, but I just wanted to give some advices about the page. 

And pardon me if I?m wrong about the point of this FB page, I just took the link and not read all that was said about it. 

Kumo, I am grateful for your comments and if you would allow I will try answer some of the points you raised.
You are correct it is not a club nor a personal page and whilst the idea was to encourage people to visit the jns forum and indeed acts as a portal to it, the title is Japanese Railways & Japanese Railway Modelling.  The reason for making it a closed group and people having to request to join is purely to prevent the page getting hit with a lot of spam and a level of protection for those already joined, I don't believe the 5 or 10 seconds it takes to make the request is too high a price to pay, also the group name will come up if anyone searches for Japanese Railways they will find us then they will be intrigued and ask to join too    open or closed makes no difference to the search results.

I should also say that if the , now 15, members wish to change anything about the group then as long as there is a clear majority wishing to do so then there will be no problems from me.  The page is meant only to be an eyecatcher for people browsing at hopefully it will catch a few of them in the jns forum net too.

[to2leo]

I joined a week ago and am happy there are more members joining.  I will post some pictures and links WHEN I get a chance.  I am in a crazy workload but fulfilling atmosphere for the past 2 months.

[Kumo]

Thanks for your answer.

The probelm of a closed group is not being found, is people to join. Personally, if I seem interested on this kind of pages but I cannot see what they do before clicking on "join", I don't join. It just annoy me, especially on something open like facebook.

Concerning the spam, I own 3 facebook pages and used to moderate pages I made for my clients and I saw spam maybe 1 time. So it's not a big deal.
Concerning the people protection: everyone has to take care of his own profile the best way facebook allows it to.

I've never has a single problem with facebook. My profile is almost totally closes to strangers, I only allow people I know and don't put all my holiday pictures on it.

That was just my advice because I hate closed facebook pages or the kind like "Click to see this picture of a monkey driving a plane".

 

[cteno4]

Kumo,

i think the first thought here was not to really make the fb page be much of a face book interaction, but more just an ad page for the forum w/in the fb world. having members and photos and comments starts to lead down to managing a whole almost sub forum over in fb world. point was not to re-invent a new japanese trains world inside fb but to advertise jns in the fb world.

i agree as soon as you start adding comments, photos and such it becomes some sort of closed club to ask to join and that gets odd quickly.

even if we dont get spammed or bad comments posted much someone would still need to monitor the page to keep it clean if we open posting up.

i was just hoping it would be an ad that folks could follow a link to jns or add to their face book pages as well to show their interest in japanese trains to others.

my experience with fb causes has been on environmental issues and those clients had some troubles with both spamming and just rude, off color, and even off topic posts when left open. took a lot of monitoring. the clients were joyful they had like 25K fb supporters, but when they tried to turn that into anything they got practically nothing out of those 25K people. the cost per action when totaled up was huge. also out of all those supporters very, very few ever linked out to the external site with most of the content on the cause (we used a custom landing page to try and track the fb link). most just read the few paragraphs joined up and then that was it. luckily most of the time we used volunteers that were really into fb to do monitoring so could at least cut that cost out, but the amount of time the clients spent working on content, meetings, talking was absurd for the return they got. boiled down to bragging rights, but im a show me guy...

worked much better when a client teamed up with a chap already doing a related fb cause that had been going for a couple of years and then they just fed him content then designed a small letter writing campaign. that one actually returned a good bit and was pretty cheap as the guy had already set it all up and gotten it running. he had a good following of folks that were actually ready to do something.

all that being said, i still think it cant hurt to at least have jns info page up there with a link to the forum to maybe catch a few fb folks that might be interested. although i think when most folks curiosity gets going these days with japanese model trains they just do a web search and jns pops up high there.

cheers

jeff

[Shashinka]

Then Jeff, you'll be pleased to know of the few things psoted on the FB page, there's a nice ink to JRM up there. (Not posted by me either, someone beat me to it)

[Lawrence]

Then Jeff, you'll be pleased to know of the few things psoted on the FB page, there's a nice ink to JRM up there. (Not posted by me either, someone beat me to it)

Guilty as charged 

[Shashinka]

Anyone want to kick start the FB page?