Making better use of Facebook

[Hated Moron]

There is a BBC BASIC Facebook Page which is quite active, and is where I post promotional messages and announcements of new versions etc. However there is also a BBC BASIC Facebook Group which has existed for over five years but has never been made use of at all! It currently has 32 members but none of them has ever posted.

I wonder if it could perform some more useful function than it does now. I know that some (particularly older!) members here dislike Facebook, so it could never replace this forum (and anyway it's far from ideally structured to support a programming language, particularly from the point of view of listing code). I'm also keenly aware of the dangers of diluting the relatively small user base between even more support forums.

But it does seem a waste to have a Facebook Group and not to use it at all (I could delete it, of course). Does anybody have any suggestions for how it might be used? Might it be a way to attract younger members who prefer Social Media platforms to old-fashioned forums like this one? Could the ease of posting embedded media like pictures and videos (which can be done here, but not so straightforwardly) be of value?

Let me know (here, or on the BBC BASIC Facebook Page, or join the Facebook Group yourself!).

[jgharston]

I find the Facebook website harder and harder to use, it seems to actively get in the way of being useful. It stalls, it crashes, it makes it very difficult to track down something you saw a few moments ago or days ago, things pop in the way of what you're trying to do. Very occassionally I've had to actually push the Reset button on my PC to liberate it. If my nephew in HK and my local history group used a non-Facebook messaging service instead I'd never log on.

I find forums such as this much more useful and useable for the things I'm interested in. My morning routine is usually: kettle on, skim email and forums, drink tea.

[Hated Moron]

I find the Facebook website harder and harder to use, it seems to actively get in the way of being useful. It stalls, it crashes...

I strongly suspect the problem is your end. I find Facebook completely stable, both the website and the app (although the differences between them are sometimes irritating, especially when unnecessary).

Facebook, and Social Media generally, aren't going away and we need to embrace them if BBC BASIC is to have a future. I typically get a much bigger reaction when I post to Facebook than I ever do at the 'traditional' forums.

I prefer the enthusiasm and 'vibe' of Social Media to the near moribund state of this forum and the Discussion Group