Facebook and forums?

Smoke

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Has the bonsai forum gone the way of the dinosaur?

Has facebook become the destination of those serious to the art of bonsai?

Are only the losers left pissing their time away with useless threads barely pertaining to bonsai and the craft?

I say yes, yes and yes.

What say you?
 

treebeard55

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I, for one, don't find FaceBook a useful venue for discussion of bonsai. Great for social connection, and I use it for that. But for serious discussion of bonsai, I still find bonsai fora much more useful.

(BTW, anyone on B-Nut who is also on FaceBook is welcome to look me up there if you wish. I'm the Steve Moore in Warsaw, IN, USA. http://www.facebook.com/treebeard52#!/treebeard52?v=info )
 

greerhw

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Has the bonsai forum gone the way of the dinosaur?

Has facebook become the destination of those serious to the art of bonsai?

Are only the losers left pissing their time away with useless threads barely pertaining to bonsai and the craft?

I say yes, yes and yes.

What say you?

Only, if that is what you want, Face book has a limit on the amount of characters you can post. It is a great place to post pictures, but that is about it. If you want to discuse a tree, you are better off posting here.

Harry
 

milehigh_7

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Has the bonsai forum gone the way of the dinosaur?

Has facebook become the destination of those serious to the art of bonsai?

Are only the losers left pissing their time away with useless threads barely pertaining to bonsai and the craft?

I say yes, yes and yes.

What say you?

Not to blow "smoke" up your a$$ but when you post your progressions it makes the stupid stuff worth while. Brian did an awesome one on that zelkova and if more of you guys that know your crap would post it, the forums would be worth their weight in gold.

I spend a bunch of time on FB and it has its place to be sure. I have reconnected with friends from 30 years ago on there. I do pop in on the bonsai rooms from time to time but have not found anything to sink my teeth into.
 

milehigh_7

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I, for one, don't find FaceBook a useful venue for discussion of bonsai. Great for social connection, and I use it for that. But for serious discussion of bonsai, I still find bonsai fora much more useful.

(BTW, anyone on B-Nut who is also on FaceBook is welcome to look me up there if you wish. I'm the Steve Moore in Warsaw, IN, USA. http://www.facebook.com/treebeard52#!/treebeard52?v=info )


Sent you a friend request.
 

GerhardG

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Social networking will change the way we do everything.
There are toys on the market today that were sci-fi when I started working in the IT industry early 90's.

I'm reading articles now where they discuss the merrits of allowing Facebook access at work, while 2/3 years ago everybody was talking about how to block it for the sake of productivity.

The next generation entering the job market will deal with their personal & professional issues using mobile gadgets and social networking, the end of email is predicted....

Difficult to make the call on forums, remember the whole of BonsaiNut could just as easily be a Facebook page, afterall it's just a software interface to some stored data, could be anywhere and function is determined by the limitations of it's "home".

I'm just 35, sort of involved in all this, and I don't neccesarily like it.....
 

Bonsai Nut

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Personally, I think Facebook is a fad, of sorts. It has nothing unique or proprietary that I think makes it sustainable long term. If Classmates.com ever went to a free membership model, they'd eat a big portion of Facebook's pie overnight. Then there's LinkedIn and other sites that all do more or less the same thing, just in a slightly different way or with a slightly different audience. Not saying that Facebook doesn't have its uses, but it just doesn't feel that lastingly different to me.

I think social networking is here to stay, definitely. I just think we will end up with a more sophisticated and flexible interface than Facebook, which feels old tech and non-flexible to me (personally).

Remember - content is KING. People selling interfaces (like Facebook) don't actually own the content. Their entire business model is based on controlling access to the content. The benefit to the end-user (and content creator) is the interface and the size of audience. A cooler, cleaner interface comes along - and away rushes the content.
 

grouper52

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What's Facebook?

What's "social connection"?

I'd have been proud to be the last of the dinosaurs - all we've got now are slinky little lizards, slimy snakes, painfully slow turtles, gators and crocs and such.

BTW, for all you unconnected old-school reptiles out there, Paul Stokes at ofbonsai.org will be offering a review of Gnarley Branches, Ancient Trees in the next few days, I'm told. You won't find it on Facebook. :)
 

rockm

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I find facebook a bit empty as far as information goes. Lots of posting, very little of any significance. It's fine for getting a snapshot of what your old high school girlfriend's kids look like, but it you want to have a relatively substantive discussion about much of anything, I wouldn't count on Facebook.
 

jk_lewis

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Their entire business model is based on controlling access to the content.

Not quite true. Their business model is to generate advertising revenue in any way they can -- including selling the information they gain from everyone who joins. If you believe all their holier-than-thou disclaimers to the contrary, you're a naif.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Not quite true. Their business model is to generate advertising revenue in any way they can -- including selling the information they gain from everyone who joins. If you believe all their holier-than-thou disclaimers to the contrary, you're a naif.

I couldn't agree more. I assume that anything I put up on Facebook becomes public domain for all time. I flinch when I see some of the (what I consider very personal) content that gets posted up there by friends or family members.

Then again, you should overhear some of the personal conversations I get to hear when I sit by someone in the airport talking loudly on their cell phone. Sexual disfunction - physical abuse - credit card numbers; I've heard it all, discussed loudly.
 

ghues

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Not into facebook - not interested at all....too much time at work on the computer, would rather work on trees at home.
Al - maybe you are relating this to the lower traffic volume here at the NUThouse. It seems to me that volume has significantly dropped off............I thought it was that we were all too busy in the fall with our trees and that taffic and posts would come back in tne winter?
Cheers
G
 

bonsai barry

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I find facebook a bit empty as far as information goes. Lots of posting, very little of any significance. It's fine for getting a snapshot of what your old high school girlfriend's kids look like, but it you want to have a relatively substantive discussion about much of anything, I wouldn't count on Facebook.

I agree. However, the only thing worse than the shallow conversations, are the lofty mind-expanding ones with which a few of my "friends" try to impress each other.
 

rockm

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Ever hear of a social network aggregator?
http://www.spokeo.com/name?g=name_bs_spokeo01
They're sites that aggregate content from social media sites, including photos, videos, personal info. etc. and lists it for paying customers--think of it as an intrusive more obnoxious yellow pages. Ain't the Internet grand?:rolleyes:
 

Attila Soos

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Facebook is too much chatter, too much noise for my taste. But it satifies the most basic human need: if I want as much attention as I can get my hands on, Facebook is the best way to go.

To me the most important is: where do I get the best content, with the least clutter and distraction.

If I want a good conversation, I go to a quiet coffee-shop, with room and pleasant ambiance. I don't go to a crowded and noisy bar, where people are scrambling for attention.

But if I were a teenager, I know that I would spend most of my life on Facebook, except for the occasional booty calls, and then back to Facebook as soon as I can, to secure my next booty call....
 

treebeard55

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Several others have already mentioned the elements I find lacking in a FB discussion of bonsai: lack of focus, lack of depth, a definite presence of "noise." So, Nut, as far as I'm concerned, your forum will continue to have a function! ;)
 

garywood

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Facebook will never compete with a forum if substance is the criteria for judging but Blogs can have an effect. Google has a Blog reader that updates new post that are subscribed. Facebook is just a vehicle for passing info about Site's and Blog's. $.02
Wood
 
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