Nobody is advocating that existing Rypn users should be moving to facebook, and the excellent way Rick set this up reflects that.

There are two different ways an organization can exist on facebook, either through a "Likeable page" (Used to promote and represent causes or organizations) or though a facebook "group" (Used for discussions among people with common interests and nobody is posting ). Facebook pages that you like are used by all kinds of organizations to promote what they are doing. The people running those pages are posting as the organization.

Facebook likeable pages DO NOT facilitate discussions the way online forums do, I often have a hard time on facebook trying to figure out of someone responded to a comment I made on a page.

This is a terrific way of bringing more people to Rypn. Rick has already posted information on recent Rypn topics so they can be seen by more people. That brings more traffic to topics from people that either don't check rypn or do not check it daily, like many do.

I know a musician that has advocated that traditional websites are going to be less useful in the future because of facebook, I don't agree with that. Facebook pages allow organizations to update the public about what events are coming up or recent happenings without people seeking out your group. It is easy for your volunteers to use facebook to share what you post on facebook with other people (either to all facebook friends to to individual friends) that use facebook. This effectively takes free advertising by "word of mouth" to a whole new level.

You should still link back to your own website for more information and ticket sales when applicable.

You would probably be amazed at the quantity of stories that never make it to "Flimsies."

"Sharing" a "story" to a FB page like RyPN's or the Baltimore Chapter NRHS's on Facebook involves three to seven mouse-clicks or screen touches (I just counted).

Adding an item to "Flimsies" involves numerous form entries and clicks, with a separate copy/paste operation for three of them. Even if you have auto-form-entry enabled, it takes about 2-4 minutes to add an item, as opposed to the 5-10 seconds for the FB post. If you're a slow typist or not computer savvy, stretch that to maybe 5-10 minutes. Even I can only be bothered to post such stories occasionally.

As the young folks say with the somewhat offensive meme, "Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!"

The easier you make it for the "attention deficit disorder" generation to engage with you, the more engagement--and interest--you will garner. Ignore that basic fact at your peril, and potential vanishing.

Then you're not using it right.
On the Baltimore Chapter page "we" often post photos where we're looking for some identification, some explanation to a mystery, ideas from the readership, etc. We occasionally post "brain teaser" photos to get reactions from the crowd. Other times, we post news stories or articles about controversial subjects, such as PTC, the potential of unmanned trains, Amtrak's latest political travails, high-speed rail proposals, etc.

If you want comments, reactions, or "engagement" online, simply post about subjects that arouse passionate emotions, like politics, religion, the management of the local pro sports team, or locomotive paint schemes. (Of course, of that commentary, 98% of it will be people shouting past one another, as seen at any major newspaper's online article comments.........)

Now, if your definition of "discussion" means other people posting their sightings, photos, or random ideas, there are enough other places online for that--including the "Railfanning" forum here.......



One word: MySpace.
Musicians of any age or popularity went through all of that over a decade ago with their MySpace pages.

Shouldn't the RyPN FaceBook page have a related pages link to this forum? Otherwise there's no connection between them.

-Mark

The link to RYPN is in the "About" section on the right, above the "Related Links" section.

Between the time I got out of railroading and machine work, and when my RRB pension kicked in, I had a pretty good racket going as a strolling violinist. It was dependent largely on my website: strollingviolinist.com. In summer 2007, just before the economy ran off the cliff, I was so busy that I did not even have time to talk to people that wanted to hire me. I averaged $100/hr.

As they got more data mines, spam generators, and cyber sewage plants online, my website got harder and harder to find, as the waters online got muddier and muddier. Not only that, but 10 or 15 years ago, people understood what a contract was, and how to write a business letter. As the number of valid job inquiries went down, so too did the quality of the people inquiring about my services.

Three years ago I pulled the plug on both the website and private email (I now use RyPN that way). My computer works a lot better without being hooked up to the internet. I don't miss all the BS, and I would rather spend the money I save on fixing up my orphan saddletanker. Oh yea, my domain name was for sale last time I googled it, they wanted $2K for it. Just my experience, that's all, and sorry if it's off topic.

As for RyPN, I believe I'll just keep doing what I've been doing and see how it goes. We've got some capable, smart guys running things, maybe I won't get sitonmyfacebook cooties....