Social Networking

Would you participate in a forum that covered Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and related things?

Yes - I have lots of questions that I would like to get answers to
0
No votes
Yes - I could contribute answers to questions that other people ask
4
14%
Yes - I would both ask questions and answer other people's posts
11
38%
No - I am not interested in social networking
12
41%
No - I go to other places for this kind of help
2
7%
 
Total votes: 29

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Bigaldoc
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Social Networking

Post by Bigaldoc »

I don't know how many of our Loungers do so, but I use Facebook and occasionally Google+ for chit-chatting with friends and family around the country and the world.

Do you suppose we could create a new forum here for Social Networking, just in case there are Loungers who just might be able to help one another with the vagaries of those "networking" facilities? I do know that it's impossible to contact "staff" at one of the two I frequent, so we users have to depend on one another for help when needed.

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StuartR
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Re: Social Networking

Post by StuartR »

Al,

I wouldn't have a problem with this, depending on the level of demand. I have created a poll to try and judge how many people would find this useful.
StuartR


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Bigaldoc
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Bigaldoc »

Thanks, Stuart. So far, I'm the lone responder... :innocent:

Edited: Oops, my mistake... There are two of us.

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viking33
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Re: Social Networking

Post by viking33 »

Bigaldoc wrote:I don't know how many of our Loungers do so, but I use Facebook and occasionally Google+ for chit-chatting with friends and family around the country and the world.

Do you suppose we could create a new forum here for Social Networking, just in case there are Loungers who just might be able to help one another with the vagaries of those "networking" facilities? I do know that it's impossible to contact "staff" at one of the two I frequent, so we users have to depend on one another for help when needed.
PLEASE.....Let's keep the Lounge as is and do any "social networking" in the Scuttlebutt Forum.
Facebook is "in your face" enough right now without it barging into the Lounge. JMHO.
BOB
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HansV
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Re: Social Networking

Post by HansV »

Bob,

Social media have indisputably become a force to be reckoned with in our society. If a reasonable number of Loungers is interested, we can offer a platform where people can exchange information about how to deal with them.

Nobody will force you to participate in a Social Networking forum, and you'd be able to read Scuttlebutt without encountering posts about Facebook etc... :grin:
Best wishes,
Hans

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viking33
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Re: Social Networking

Post by viking33 »

HansV wrote:Bob,

Social media have indisputably become a force to be reckoned with in our society. If a reasonable number of Loungers is interested, we can offer a platform where people can exchange information about how to deal with them.

Nobody will force you to participate in a Social Networking forum, and you'd be able to read Scuttlebutt without encountering posts about Facebook etc... :grin:
I know that no one will force me to participate, etc., but I feel enough is enough and there are PLENTY of SN sites around without us caving in by feeling that we have to join the pack.
I hope enough Loungers will agree with this and make their feelings known/heard.
Is nothing sacred anymore? :evilgrin: :groan: :sad:
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TonyE
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Re: Social Networking

Post by TonyE »

I have no problem with there being a social networking forum. There are plenty of SN sites around, as there are plenty of Windows/Office support sites around. In an ever evolving computing environment I believe that the lounge should evolve as well.

For another example of how the lounge is keeping pace with computing developments. The "Other operating systems" forum when it was originally created was mainly intended for questions about OS X and Linux, but it now features questions about Android and iPad/iPhone. That forum has expanded to cover more than originally intended, but SN questions do not fit into any current category, so I think a new forum is a good idea.
Tony

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Skitterbug
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Skitterbug »

I don't have a problem with a separate spot for answering and asking questions about SN. I bypass any of the forums now that I don't have an interest in. I would suppose that if anyone doesn't want to read or participate in the SN forum, the bypass option is always available to them. I see that 15 people answered the poll question so far. I hope that more do, so there is a better representation of how loungers feel about it. That's my :2cents: :grin:
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stuck
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Re: Social Networking

Post by stuck »

I have tried Google+ and found that, within my little world at least, there is no one there so that accounts sits there dormant at the moment. I have also tried Facebook but that too has had nothing to offer me as yet so that account also sits idle.

Which brings me to my poll submission:
Can't select, "Yes - I have lots of questions that I would like to get answers to", since at the moment I don't have lots of questions.
Nor can I select, "Yes - I could contribute answers to questions that other people ask", since as yet I don't think I know enough about SN.
The next option is a possibility, "Yes - I would both ask questions and answer other people's posts", but since I'm not using SN sites at the moment 'would' is too strong a word.
The penultimate option doesn't quite fit either, I am curious about SN but as yet I've not found a use for it.
The last option is also a possibility, since both my sons use FB so I have help on tap. Equally though, when I first dabbled with G+ & FB a few weeks ago, I did come here and asked questions, albeit via PM direct to other Loungers.

Which is a long way of saying, none of the above but I wouldn't object if a SN board was set up. I'd probably read it and in the unlikely event I could answer a question I'd chip in. Similarly if such a board existed I'd have somewhere to ask questions - if I ever find a use for SN.

Ken

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Argus
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Argus »

Well I guess there must be a place where people can ask every now and then how to circumvent the latest changes to site A, B, or C, to, again, gain some privacy protection. :evilgrin:

I'm a bit curious what kind of questions or discussions there might be about SN; and if people have questions, why not ask those in the different SNs. But I guess every forum needs a place for those questions as well nowadays; for the same reason as police departments are using Facebook and Ministers are tweeting, to be part of whatever people do. With that logic, ehm, a lot of people are becoming parents over here, every day, where are those questions to be asked? :grin: Ah, they don't involve computers, phones or gadgets, well just wait. :smile:

(Given that, if true, half of the populations in many countries are using Facebook, to mention one example, there would be quite a large user base with questions, still I do not know what kind of questions. However, as we know, and as with many things, there is a smaller user base which is very active, then another group using it every now and then, and then a group that might have used it once or twice, invited to join by the other groups. So as Ken mentioned, I think there are quite many accounts sitting idle.)
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Doc Watson
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Doc Watson »

I'd rather have cancer than be involved in social networking. Another technology set loose on the public before it was ready. Can we all say cell phones ??? Have a forum if it's what the consensus is. But I like my privacy and will not even enter it.
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Rebel
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Rebel »

stuck wrote:Which is a long way of saying, none of the above but I wouldn't object if a SN board was set up. I'd probably read it and in the unlikely event I could answer a question I'd chip in. Similarly if such a board existed I'd have somewhere to ask questions - if I ever find a use for SN.

Ken
Ken sums up my thoughts exactly. As of now, I don't participate in SN, but I certainly don't object to a forum where others (and at some point maybe even me) can discuss the topic. As has been stated, having such a forum does not force anyone to adopt SN, or to even read the posts.

I have no interest in the "Windows Server" or the "Other Operating Systems" forums, but I'm certainly not going to suggest that because I have no interest in them, these forums should not exist.
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Bigaldoc
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Bigaldoc »

After "about" a day of this thread and the pretty obvious disdain for the topic, I'm not averse to cancellation of my original request. Some of the responses so far (barging, caving, cancer) make it pretty plain that chit-chat is not a topic that very many want to talk about. Safety, security and privacy are concerns EVERYWHERE on the web these days as well as our "real" lives.

I would like to say that in my four years experience on Facebook, very few of the folks who use it know much (if anything) about computers. Even those of us who DO have a little experience are hard pressed to answer some questions. MY current question, now posted at two different forums, is whether it is possible to "export" a list of my Facebook friends. Facebook's Help is of little or no value and it's impossible to communicate with anyone in that organization.

For the past 12 months I've enrolled in two separate forums, one of which has already gone belly-up for some reason. I have yet to have a question answered in either of those forums. The third forum happens to be WSL at which I have asked my current question (yesterday). At the present time, my post has had 20 "views" only. So it's pretty obvious that I'm chasing a hopeless cause here.

In spite of what so many people seem to think, Facebook is not the 21st century's "plague." And it's the only social network that I have any experience with. So, I won't try to sway any of the negative opinions - that was not my intention, ever. As the now worn out saying goes, different strokes for different folks! For the Admins, your call fellas: let it ride or cancel, at your pleasure.

And thanks everyone for listening...

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John Gray
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Re: Social Networking

Post by John Gray »

Doc Watson wrote:I'd rather have cancer than be involved in social networking.
Possibly one of the most tasteless and insensitive comments I've seen for a long time, and probably not one you'd make if you knew anyone who was having chemotherapy or radiotherapy in the hope that their life might be prolonged somewhat. Or someone who had recently died of cancer.
John Gray

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StuartR
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Re: Social Networking

Post by StuartR »

I do a fair bit of blogging and tweeting in connection with my work - and NO, I have no intention of providing pointers to these here! Here's an example of a question that I would have asked on a Social Networking forum if we had one.

When I "retweet" something, twitter automatically adds RT in front of the forwarded tweet. It wasn't too hard to work out that RT stands for ReTweet. I had also noticed a number of different formats people use to comment on the forwarded tweet, such as putting "< my comment here" at the end.

I recently saw one of my tweets forwarded with MT at the front, instead of RT. I had no idea what this stood for and it took a bit of searching to discover what it meant. (In case you are interested, MT stood for Modified Tweet, meaning that they had edited my tweet before forwarding - this is often done to cut down the number of characters so there is more room for them to add a comment).
StuartR


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StuartR
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Re: Social Networking

Post by StuartR »

Bigaldoc wrote:After "about" a day of this thread and the pretty obvious disdain for the topic, I'm not averse to cancellation of my original request...
We are currently running on more than 50% saying they would contribute to this forum, so I think we are likely to go forward with this. Let's wait a while to see what other comments come in though.
StuartR


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stuck
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Re: Social Networking

Post by stuck »

I may be misreading the comments from some of you who have not been in favour of SN but it seems you have missed the point of Al's request. He is not asking for The Lounge to host/provide SN. He is only asking for a place where intelligent questions about SN can be posed and discussed.

Ken

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Argus
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Argus »

I think I've understood that, Ken; a sub forum for those discussions might even put my curiosity at rest. :smile:
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Argus
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Argus »

Bigaldoc wrote:After "about" a day of this thread and the pretty obvious disdain for the topic, I'm not averse to cancellation of my original request.
Al,
I know it was the admins that put up the poll, and that was of course a good response, one way to find out the interest; however, in my opinion it would be quite odd to retract a question, request, if the answer isn't what one wished; as if having a referendum and then if the answer isn't the desired one, the whole thing is retracted and never considered to have taken place.

That said, I definitely understand that there might be reactions to comments made by Loungers.

As Stuart mentioned, it seems like there are coming votes, every now and then.
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Bigaldoc
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Re: Social Networking

Post by Bigaldoc »

Argus wrote:... if the answer isn't the desired one, the whole thing is retracted and never considered to have taken place.
No Argus I was not looking for the thing to have "never taken place," not at all. I was reacting to the apparent negative opinions about social networking, not my request for a forum.

I think Ken's comment just before your two posts reflects my sentiments. It's not the result that concerns me - if the answer is NO, that's OK. I just don't want to be the purveyor of negativism here in The Lounge.