Jeremy,

The computer I use and the browser I use don't track me, they record where I go until I clear the browsing history and the tiny number of cookies that get past ad-block and Ghostery - the only place I am tracked is my ISP and GCHG is Snowden is to be believed !

Facebook and all the rest of the companies providing a free service do so by tracking every website you use, building an accurate profile of you and then selling their product - i.e. you to advertisers.

I have no issue with you using Facebook and have no wish or desire to stop you, but as I stated, I know of two car clubs that moved on to Facebook and left their members with a simple choice - join Facebook to access the forum or remain a member but with no forum or leave - at least it saved me some money !

I know that I'm in minority, and I know that as each year goes by I will be in a ever smaller minority, but I am Google, Facebook and Twitter free, and will be staying so.

Malc

Hi Malc,

I am not particularly a fan of Facebook and have only reluctantly signed up this week. I don't feel I am promoting it but now people have more options for communication in the technology savvy world we live in.

Just a bit of background why the Facebook link has been added.

1) Effectively there are no more cars being built which would naturally create new members of the club.

2) The demographic of the club is what best can be described as 'mature'. This in itself is not a bad thing but, you can draw your own conclusions about what this means.

3) It was clear from the national rally that second and third generations of owners families are enjoying the atmosphere generated around the marque and will hopefully ensure the club will continue to exist.

4) The membership is quite small (less than 260 members) and geographically dispersed around the UK and the world.

We have of course the option to do nothing and wait and see what happens. Facebook is a communications tool that is easy to use and adopted by many of the younger technology able people that are more likely to take the club and feeling for the marque forward. It has in no way been included to eliminate the forum and we will have to monitor this over time.

We have personally had correspondence via the forum for quite a while now and this has been good. However, the use of the forum is sporadic at best and it seems like it is me that does most of the postings. This cannot be healthy going forward.

The fact that you have taken the trouble to post on the forum about this subject is a positive thing in my view. All views are valid and should be discussed. There are many people that read the posts but don't post anything. This is OK but as a club we need to engage more as a group.

There have been at least 1500 kits sold over the years and it is not clear what the rate of completion is and how many cars are actually built on the road. I have pictures of nearly 400 individual cars with registration numbers and the membership database shows a lot more members cars over the years. However only 30 cars showed up to the national rally.

The question is how do we engage more with members? Hence the reason for setting up a link from the webpage to an existing NG owners group on Facebook.

Sorry for the long rambling reply but this has not been done on a whim....

Regards

Paul

Paul,

I understand your reasons, I'm also in the Rover SD1 Club and they have a problem with getting people involved, the last National Rally of the 400+ SD1's in the club - I think 14 cars attended, if they get 40 this year it will be a modern record.

The problem is the same here as on the SD1 forum, or the MG BBS, in that most people post when they have a problem and you tend get a bunch of people who try and help, but for a lot of people, once they fixed their problem they stop posting, the irony is of course that should you get the forum full of people contributing you then seem to land up with trolling and arguments !

My reason for posting about Facebook is entirely selfish, if the NG OC forum moves to Facebook, I'll be leaving and I'd rather not !


I might even get my NG rebuilt this year, got four out five of my cars taxed and tested at the mo - just got to turn the NG from a shelf back into a car !!!

Cheers,

Malc

As a relative newcomer to the club, and as an "outsider" (i.e. I have no history with, no axe to grind and no friendships with etc.) I feel the club has an image problem which may account for part of the problem in getting folk involved. From the outside it appears very much as a group for older folk who already know each other and wish to meet up for a pleasant weekend once a year - the coverage of the National Rally tends to perpetuate this image... I may be wrong but it is how it appears to me personally so no point in arguing the facts and no offence meant.
Having no presence on Facebook or many other modern means of communication will only help reinforce that image.
The current forum is "clunky" in its operation and doesn't invite the casual dipping in and out that something like Facebook is particularly well set up for - especially for younger folk who are used to the medium.
I regularly visit this forum and rarely find anything engaging going on, I may try and answer a tech' question or similar but there is nowt in the way of news or amusing stories - I also regularly visit the Facebook page which in comparison is brighter, more colourful and more active (or at least feels that way).

Having said the above, despite using it regularly I am not a fan of Facebook generally and consider forums to be far better for various things. "Conversation" is easy on Facebook, archiving isn't... a quick query regarding a technical problem or a hastily organised social meet is probably easier on Facebook; a collection of pic's of all the various cars owned by members would be far better suited to the forum. Maybe the forum could be made more interesting with more regular contributions? Maybe more picture threads would entice folk in? However, I believe that the use of forums like this one is on the decline as newer forms of social media have taken over, much like the decline of compact disc in the wake of downloads... I don't know the answers - maybe, much like the club in general, the more effort you put in the more reward you get out... Let's give it a try then...