 |
ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people.”
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
orzel-w
Galactic Ambassador
Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1865
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 4:52 pm Post subject: Conventional Forums vs. Facebook |
 |
|
| Bud Brewster wrote: | Message boards are slowly dying out, and I work my ass off trying to encourage discussions on All Sci-Fi. In fact, many of our more active members are doing the same thing, and I'm grateful to them for that.  |
This prompts me to expound on my growing peevishness with Facebook special interest groups. (Everyone please be seated and have your NoDoz handy.)
I'm a member of three or four FB groups devoted to sci-fi. One of them I joined because it was started by a friend of mine. Let me tell you, I'm convinced that such groups are, in my opinion, only suitable for discussion-lite, and totally unsuited to archival purposes.
To begin with, there is no structure for categorizing posts. All topics get strung out in chronological order of posting.
Secondly, FB collapses posts, comments, and replies. Collapsed posts are indicated by flags such as "See More" and "View X more comments". Clicking on such a flag reveals the collapsed text. Some compacting is compound, which is to say the collapsed text and posts contain additional levels of compacting. Each level must be expanded separately in order to view all posts in their entirety. Furthermore, FB doesn't load the entire string of posts all at once. It loads earlier posts only as you scroll down, continuously.
Why is this an issue? A couple of reasons. First, there is no Search function provided. If you want to find something you had seen previously or want to check if somebody else has already posted on the subject, you must scroll down until you see it, or use your browser's text search feature to search. The drawback with the latter is that your browser's text search won't find anything contained in any collapsed text. Therefore, to conduct a thorough search, you must scroll to the very bottom (the beginning posts) of the group, expand all collapsed text in each posted topic, and expand all compound-collapsed text. Who's going to bother doing that. (And I have yet to discover a feature in FB that does this re-expanding all in a single mouse click.)
By the same token, I'm not sure that this deficiency matters to a good many FB users. In one FB group, within 23 hours after the posting of a floorplan for the Star Wars Mos Eisley cantina, there were seven independent comments to the effect that there was no bathroom. It may not matter to many users what others have to say.
This all adds up to discourage members from checking to see if somebody else has already posted something you have in mind, either as a new topic or as a comment on somebody else's topic. So members end up posting multiple duplicate topics and comments, further compounding the problem of searching.
Then there's the image-posting feature. Multiple images can be posted only in the initial post of a new topic. On top of that, all the images are lumped together separate from the text. If you want to refer to a particular image in the collection, you must describe the one you're referring to. And any subsequent comments or replies to that topic are allowed only one image per post.
Facebook is alluring for its ease of setting up a new group, but it is totally unsuited to the needs of special interest groups, unless your only interest lies in the latest thing somebody has posted on a given subject.
_________________
...or not...
WayneO
----------- |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 8:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
________________________________
The only thing I used FB for is to chat with Bulldogtrekker while we watch movies and TV series.
About a year ago I started the All Sci-Fi Discussion Group on a whim. I quickly realized it was about as useless as testicles on a turtle, and I haven't bothered with it since.
I don't know how to delete it, and I don't really care anyway, so screw it. 
For a few weeks I made frequent posts on a fine discussion group called The Sci Fi and Fantasy We Used to Watch, mostly just to encourage the nice folks there to join All Sci-Fi. I sent out dozens of FB messages that invited the more active folks to check us our here.
Lot's of them did, and they complimented the look of the board. But few of them joined. 
Everything Wayne said about FB is true . . . which is why I have little use for it. Give me a message board any day.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
orzel-w
Galactic Ambassador
Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1865
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
After a day dealing with Facebook's quirks, I find it refreshing to get back to a traditional forum such as this.
_________________
...or not...
WayneO
----------- |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador
Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 3001
Location: Buffalo, NY
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well, for whatever posting faults this forum may have I have found it easy to use--well constructed and magnificently moderated--and populated by intelligent thoughtful individuals!
Facebook is a PITA (Pain in the ---)! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 6:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Gord Green wrote: | | Well, for whatever posting faults this forum may have I have found it easy to use--well constructed and magnificently moderated--and populated by intelligent thoughtful individuals! |
Thanks, fellas. I appreciate the appreciation . . . so to speak. 
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
