Getting Back In: I was on facebook and I was wrong. (Recommendations Wanted)

[arloid]

Both a blessing and a curse, getting more to the curse side though...I gladly accept the day Facebook goes out of the air...though knowing things that probably means it gets replaced with something else...alright nuke the internet, were going back to snail mail.

[Storm Wolf]

Yay for tbe LAF, boo for Facearse and all other such frippery

[Mammoth miniatures]

One thing I've found using facebook as a "youngster" is that more and more I'm using it like a forum.
I no longer use facebook to talk to friends - other services have made that easier and facebooks changes over the years have made it more and more difficult as it pursues a more retail focused model.

Instead i use facebook as a sort of community hub, where i can long in and see what's happening with the INQ28, pirate modelling, napoleonic and Ma.K communities as a glance. In many ways I think the facebook group model has replaced the old model of smaller specialized forums. I know I couldn't sustain a community for planet 28 on a forum of my own, and on a more general forum it might get drowned out, But the facebook group has almost 500 members now and is growing because people can join and engage passively whilst scrolling through other hobby stuff.they can post their blogs and crosspost to other groups, which helps disseminate interest across multiple groups.  I think facebooks group model has alot of potential for allowing niche communities to thrive in the same way they did during the early days of the web. it's a shame it has to be through facebook, but as the web becomes more and more homogeneous we have to carve our niche somewhere. 


BUT forums win out in an important and specific way for wargaming, and that's long form projects. Facebooks group system doesn't really work for little updates on bigger projects, cus it makes them impossible to follow - that's where forums and blogs are excellent.

[arloid]

Main problem with Facebook is talking....and everyone is gone.

Generally it is better for smaller communities like you said, traffic don’t tend to smother less popular posts. Like for the several local playing groups it is okay. The 3d printing groups related to wargaming I’m in...well I left in spirit, not much that wants me to stay in those glorified advertisement groups.

[robh]

........ The 3d printing groups related to wargaming I’m in...well I left in spirit, not much that wants me to stay in those glorified advertisement groups.

That is not just a Facebook problem.
People dealing in 3d files and those running undeclared "3D printing service" businesses are swamping Kickstarter, and even more so Etsy, as well. Trying to find any traditional handcrafted scenery or pieces for games like Inq 28 and Mordheim is nigh impossible due to the hundreds of traders flogging HeroForge prints or selling home prints of other people's Thingiverse designs.

[FramFramson]

imgur is still fine

[vodkafan]

. Forums? What are they? They are looking more and more like non-transactional websites. That’s where old people hang out. The same people who still send emails to each other. Oh how they laugh at our funny ways.

I like forums and emails. An email is like a letter. But I am almost 60 so I guess that proves your point. 

[Garanhir]

This is really quite strange. In the last month or so I've seen a number of posts in the various FB groups that I frequent asking about alternative media, including forums. Increasing numbers of people seem to be falling out of love with FB at the mo.

For me, visiting a forum is like visiting one's club (Reform, Diogenes, Drones, Hellfire, take your pick!  ). Visiting a Facebook group feels more like trying to run a club meeting in a busy pub with the telly on too loud, a couple ten feet away having a screaming match, the damn fruit machine going "Diddle-dee dit de-DEE!" every forty seconds on the dot, and various patrons wandering over to hover over your shoulder looking like they're about to vomit. Then, after you finally wrap up, the landlord following you home and taking a note of your address.

Not quite such a restful experience, even if there is an element of convenience.

As to images, I too was hit by the 'bucket. At the moment I'm using the direct upload function, and I rather like it.

[Simlasa]

I like forums and FB for different purposes.
Like, I can casually pop onto a FB group and ask a quick question that I'd not see worthy of starting a forum thread about.
But if I'm interested in a more substantial discussion, I'd generally always prefer a forum. People on FB don't tend to be willing to write as much or read as much as folks on a forum.
Also, I can search a forum for a topic... I don't think FB groups have that function... and I agree that forums feel a bit more intimate, like I get a better notion of the posters than on FB and feel like they are pals of a sort.

[mc_deli]

Ancients fan here... the usability of LAF (this forum) is unfortunately not up to standard (compared to other special interest fora that I use) and the main competition is even worse (sorry to mention the epic car crash that is TMP). 

I really really do not want to spend my ancients time on Facebook - and even the face of silly newb repeated questions and duplicate posts across near identical groups - Facebook is easily winning at the moment.

This LAF should be the one but it’s just so painful to use, especially on mobile.

Take me automatically to the latest unread post
Give me a notifications count/icon of my active posts with replies
Give me a count/icon of direct replies
Give me the option of new or latest posts in my topic area
Give me likes
Give me a big button for the next page - not the next thread (mobile!)

This is the basic stuff I am used to that is missing and sends me scurrying back to Facebook. I think this is the basic stuff ”you” need to make LAF stickier and get the right combination of auto-my-blog-posts and discussions.

Cheers!

[Gibby]

Each to their own, but frankly “Likes” are too often used as alternatives to any actual engagement and they’re completely empty. It boggles me that people dislike the simplicity of this forum’s layout, it isn’t exactly much work to navigate to where you want to be, and I like its clean look rather than notifications, whistles and bells and other stuff that serves only to clutter the screen for no other reason than saving a couple of clicks.

I say all this whilst using the forum on my mobile. Easy as pie.

[Captain Blood]

Each to their own, but frankly “Likes” are too often used as alternatives to any actual engagement and they’re completely empty. It boggles me that people dislike the simplicity of this forum’s layout, it isn’t exactly much work to navigate to where you want to be, and I like its clean look rather than notifications, whistles and bells and other stuff that serves only to clutter the screen for no other reason than saving a couple of clicks.

I say all this whilst using the forum on my mobile. Easy as pie.

If I could, I would like your post, David.

LAF is indeed a terrible free site

[Plynkes]

Personally I like forums that use likes (though dislikes are more trouble than they are worth!). Sometimes I genuinely like something somebody has done, but don't really have anything to say, so often as not there will be no response from me, and for that person it is the same as if I had ignored it or not seen it. At least a like would let the person know someone had engaged with their work on some level.

I suppose I could just post "I like this!", but that would get pretty tiresome after I while, perhaps. 

[scatterbrains]

Personally I like forums that use likes (though dislikes are more trouble than they are worth!). Sometimes I genuinely like something somebody has done, but don't really have anything to say, so often as not there will be no response from me, and for that person it is the same as if I had ignored it or not seen it. At least a like would let the person know someone had engaged with their work on some level.

I suppose I could just post "I like this!", but that would get pretty tiresome after I while, perhaps. 

I like to post a simple +1 in that case after using the “quote” option.

Like this=

If I could, I would like your post, David.

LAF is indeed a terrible free site

+1

I would however agree that a bigger next page button would be cool and I'm not sure about what oldest newest post in the topic area means exactly but I probably want that too.

That being said I find the forums excellent and it's easy enough to use the “show replies” button to follow threads I've commented in and the “recent” sidebar to find the occasional new topic to follow outside of my usual interests.

[Silent Invader]

I only ever use LAF on a mobile: I don’t find it difficult to interact with (TBH, if it was, I probably wouldn’t bother as I prefer my hobbies to be an enjoyable experience). I don’t think there’s a comparable free resource: it even hosts my images and my ramblings (though hopefully they help draw some traffic to the site). There’s minimal advertising here and what there is, is hobby relevant.

I don’t use Facebook for wargaming, as I use it for my other hobby. My experience of Facebook places it’s functionality way behind LAF, it being unsuited to long-running project threads while it’s inaccessible history encourages the same questions to be asked over and over again. Facebook is fine for a self-contained news post, that is all.

I don’t see the need for like or dislike buttons. If something is worth saying, people will likely say it, from which some use might come. A thumbs up doesn’t really tell me anything. [Shrugs and gives thumbs up]