Blogspot or FB?
- Thread starter Alaskan Sea-Duction
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
twistedtree
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That may say more about the folks that you choose to "friend" on FB than it does the platform itself.
I can't deny that
But it seems to come from the most unlikely people.....I did enjoy facebook for reconnecting with people who I hadn't seen or heard from in ages. But for me, the signal to noise ratio was all too far off
dhmeissner
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A few years ago I started a Wordsmith blog about my boat. I made 2 entry's and then stopped, I may get back to it, when I retire and have the time.
I have FB to keep up with my family and friends, logging in once a week or less. I have the privacy settings locked down as tight as they allow, so just my family and close friends see my posts. I don't think I'd want to have a "blog" there. Even with the tight privacy settings I still get a lot of FB "suggestions" and Ads, I don' like that very much.
I have FB to keep up with my family and friends, logging in once a week or less. I have the privacy settings locked down as tight as they allow, so just my family and close friends see my posts. I don't think I'd want to have a "blog" there. Even with the tight privacy settings I still get a lot of FB "suggestions" and Ads, I don' like that very much.
Donsan
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What turned me off about FB is the incessant obnoxious political messaging that some friends (unfortunately family) post sometimes to the tune of 20 posts a day. One person will post of liberal causes. Another will post of conservative causes. Another post on cats and dogs and animal rights. It was like some people think others are mindless and they have to help shape your thinking with their messages.
I de-friended a few of the volume posters and that caused hard feelings.
The things you mention are also an issue.
Found the best thing to do was just hang-up on FB as you did.
OP
OP
Alaskan Sea-Duction
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I agree with you and twisted tree, but I tend to just scroll over them. The fb page I have on ASD (you can look at it if you like "click on Alaskan") does not contain that stuff. I believe (I hope as I am not very computer savvy) I set it up to where you can "follow" me. But then again you may also have to have your own fb page. Just don't invite those who irritate you. Understand they are family members.....LOL
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twistedtree
Guru
For what it's worth... when I follow the link to the facebook page, I'm presented with one of those Captcha puzzles where you need to type in the indecipherable gibberish in the box. I don't know if everyone gets that, of just people like me who do not have facebook accounts. Normally that's as far as I would go, but continued on 'cause I'm interested. All I see is your current city and home town, About Alaskan, and Favorite Quotes. Is there more that you would expect a visitor to see at this point? Just curious.
twistedtree
Guru
I agree with BandB that blogs are better for telling a story than facebook. But that brings up one of my pet peeves, and Im curious if others find it annoying.
Blogger, and I think all the other popular blogging tools like wordsmith, present everything in reverse chronological order. That's fine if you are dropping in and just want to see the latest, but it's really annoying when you want to read some section of the blog's story. Typically you will get a page with multiple blog posts, but because they are in reverse chronological order, you need to scroll to the bottom and find the last entry, read it, then scroll back up past it's beginning to find the start of the next entry, read that, and keep repeating until you get to the top of the page. When reading a story, the natural progression in the english language had been top to bottom for thousands of years, not bottom to top.
In Blogger, the best way I've been able to find to work around this is to tell Blogger that you only want to display a single post on each page. That way, you can jump into the blog at any article, read it, then click the Next or Previous buttons to move to the next or previous post. The Next button takes you forward in time by one article, and seems like much more intuitive was to navigate.
Have others tried this? Does anyone care?
Blogger, and I think all the other popular blogging tools like wordsmith, present everything in reverse chronological order. That's fine if you are dropping in and just want to see the latest, but it's really annoying when you want to read some section of the blog's story. Typically you will get a page with multiple blog posts, but because they are in reverse chronological order, you need to scroll to the bottom and find the last entry, read it, then scroll back up past it's beginning to find the start of the next entry, read that, and keep repeating until you get to the top of the page. When reading a story, the natural progression in the english language had been top to bottom for thousands of years, not bottom to top.
In Blogger, the best way I've been able to find to work around this is to tell Blogger that you only want to display a single post on each page. That way, you can jump into the blog at any article, read it, then click the Next or Previous buttons to move to the next or previous post. The Next button takes you forward in time by one article, and seems like much more intuitive was to navigate.
Have others tried this? Does anyone care?
dhays
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Those Captcha puzzles are interesting. Not only do they determine if you are a "real" visitor vs a computer probe, some also serve a more useful purpose. If you ever see a captcha that has two components to it, one is the real verification, the other is a tiny section of a scanned document that the computer OCR readers were unable to decipher.
Humans do a much better job of deciphering scanned text than to computers. As part of an effort to digitize much of the worlds literature old texts are being scanned and computer read. Parts however are beyond the abilities of the computer OCR software. So tiny bits are included with the captcha. When enough humans agree on what that text is it is added to the document and another tiny bit of undecipherable text is sent out.
So as annoying as they can be, the captchas not only ensure that you are a "real" person, but you may be helping to save a tiny portion of English literature.
twistedtree
Guru
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I definitely appreciate the effect of filtering out non-human access, but it definitely has the side effect of deterring some number of real users. At least for me, it takes very little to make me abandon one path of inquiry and go seek another. Web sites that want you to register or provide contact info to get pricing or to download something are a good example. I just move on to another supplier. If basic info isn't readily available for a product or service then I lose interest very quickly. Learning about someone's product should be easy, not hard.
Yep. Much like television, some folks claim to be better than others if they don't use it.
Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with friends and fellow musicians from the good old days (the 1960s). It's also where I learn of their passing.
It's also how I keep in contact with my family and children. And my boating friends.
As far as "blogging", when cruising, I write about each day's events using MS Word, then paste to Facebook. At the end of the cruise I'll take the MS Word document, add photos, convert it to a PDF file and post it on the Internet where it can be accessed by anyone who has the URL. The advantage to the MS Word document is, it's linear from the first day to the last. I can also print it and keep a copy for folks to read.
That is a real possibility so I only publish my trips to a special group of "boat people".
You are out of touch. Without Facebook, you are unaware that:
1) Bill Clinton is a crossdresser
2) Hillary Clinton is a lesbian
2) Michelle Obama was born a man
Yes, you do have to take some of what you see on Facebook with a grain of salt, but read my post above about how it has enriched my life. I haven't seen some of the guys I worked with and traveled with six nights a week for fifty years.
There's an "unfollow" option.
BruceK
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TF is FB for boaters?
OP
OP
Alaskan Sea-Duction
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Interesting. I found the same. I may continue with BlogSpot as you don't need to go through all this crazy steps unless I don't have something set up correctly....Jeff?
drb1025
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I was able to find ASD on FB, without a captcha, perhaps because I was signed in to FB. I am now following you so am looking forward to posts from your trip.
OP
OP
Alaskan Sea-Duction
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So it seems you would have to sign up for fb?
twistedtree
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Yes, or jump through hoops which I personally find to be a real turn-off.
sunchaser
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I find walking the docks and talking to fellow boaters much more rewarding than sharing FB pictures of a whale with third cousins. Being the dinosaur I am I even enjoy talking to a Cat mechanic directly vs looking at pictures of a C18.
FB is a business pure and simple. My wife gets about 30 email pitches a day because of her FB involvement. Funny, they don't get rejected to Google's spam. Possibly this business model is supported by Google too? Shocking!
Peter's blog and website is first rate. Nice to have a few like his where actual knowledge and not gossip is available. BTW Peter, did you floss this morning?
FB is a business pure and simple. My wife gets about 30 email pitches a day because of her FB involvement. Funny, they don't get rejected to Google's spam. Possibly this business model is supported by Google too? Shocking!
Peter's blog and website is first rate. Nice to have a few like his where actual knowledge and not gossip is available. BTW Peter, did you floss this morning?
Facebook will provide you with some level of control over who can see your content. In order for that to happen, viewers need to be logged in. Your Facebook page worked fine for me. I would think about creating a group page instead of an identity like you did though.
That security is an advantage of Facebook. The reality is, people without Facebook accounts are, for the most part, not going to be readers of your content.
I'd also caution against listening to people rant on about Facebook and social media, especially when they aren't using it themselves.
(Please Lord, don't move me to be more closed minded as I approach my 60's but allow me to be open to new things, enjoy the changing world in which we live, and take part in all facets of life)
twistedtree
Guru
I used Facebook for a couple of years, so am not "afraid" of it or otherwise stuck in my ways, though my kids may disagree
The issue I have with Facebook is not about it's purported purpose of social interaction - that part is quite useful.
My gripe is with the fundamental media business model that Facebook and so many other things follow - namely anything to get in front of you so you can be assaulted by inane ads, political spew, and other drivel. The unfortunate reality is that the only way to "monetize" (god I hate business school speak) a service like facebook is via advertising, and considering how much revenue it generates, who can blame them. But it ends up being 20% useful content and 80% vomit. And just to be fair, I feel the same way about lots of other web sites, advertiser-sponsored TV, radio, magazines, and pretty much any media funded by advertisers. I've come to heavily discount, if not completely reject the editorial content from such sources since it's ultimate purpose is to draw viewers/readers, not to inform and educate.
For the subjects that I care about, I would MUCH rather pay an annual membership fee and have the forum, publication, or whatever be ad-free, than put up with the spew. In fact a few of the forums I frequent are just that - subscription based with little to no advertising.
The issue I have with Facebook is not about it's purported purpose of social interaction - that part is quite useful.
My gripe is with the fundamental media business model that Facebook and so many other things follow - namely anything to get in front of you so you can be assaulted by inane ads, political spew, and other drivel. The unfortunate reality is that the only way to "monetize" (god I hate business school speak) a service like facebook is via advertising, and considering how much revenue it generates, who can blame them. But it ends up being 20% useful content and 80% vomit. And just to be fair, I feel the same way about lots of other web sites, advertiser-sponsored TV, radio, magazines, and pretty much any media funded by advertisers. I've come to heavily discount, if not completely reject the editorial content from such sources since it's ultimate purpose is to draw viewers/readers, not to inform and educate.
For the subjects that I care about, I would MUCH rather pay an annual membership fee and have the forum, publication, or whatever be ad-free, than put up with the spew. In fact a few of the forums I frequent are just that - subscription based with little to no advertising.
Wxx3
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I pretty much agree with Twisted Tree,
But I have another take on it.
I was neutral about FB until I became an educator.
A site that started as a "hook-up" site for college kids, is a disaster for younger kids.
As Peter said, it's addictive and particularly so for hormone driven kids. Thus it was MAIN source of bullying and conflict in my schools!
It did not help that a few teachers, very few, also used it in an unprofessional way.
But I have another take on it.
I was neutral about FB until I became an educator.
A site that started as a "hook-up" site for college kids, is a disaster for younger kids.
As Peter said, it's addictive and particularly so for hormone driven kids. Thus it was MAIN source of bullying and conflict in my schools!
It did not help that a few teachers, very few, also used it in an unprofessional way.
Wifey B: Well, I have to tell you that unfortunately the educator issues with FB are now minor compared to Twitter and Instagram. There have been many hate messages aimed at teachers posted on twitter and many very cruel personal comments. Other's just vulgar references regarding teachers. While the internet has become a means of saying anything you want, anytime, about anyone, twitter has exemplified the worst extreme of that. I'm sure the comments were always made in small groups of kids but now that they're blasted into the world, it's very sad.
So, bullying of other students, of teachers, of others in general. One post, whether true or not about someone's sexual preference. One about a someone's appearance or their intelligence. Bullying is one thing to deal with face to face, but so much harder online and regardless of what you do the cat is already out of the bag. You can't undo the damage.
As to FB for younger children and all the other issues, it can be bothersome and dangerous, but the worst seems to have moved on. However, it's still a first contact point for much that moves into un-moderated chat and text.
And, yes, I've seen posts by teachers on FB about how awful their kids were today or how some were just bad kids or stressing them out. This is, in my opinion, even worse than posting hate toward your boss online. You say anything negative about the kids you teach online and you're on my s... list.
Now I think what we're talking about here are issues with social media in general and that's part of our lives now. Not a FB problem only. Not something that would stop me from using FB probably. Something though that just adds to my lack of love for it. You friend your colleagues and then learn things about them you wish you'd never learned. When you go to school the next day, do you confront or pretend you didn't read it? Rumor and innuendo do tremendous damage. At one time, they had to travel one person at a time. Now they can spread to hundreds in minutes.
It's part of the price we pay for the incredible world of the internet. I don't like paying it. If I had a compelling reason to be on FB I would be. And for any who think those of us not actively participating there don't know about it, you really underestimate us. We've viewed. We've thought about it. We've made informed choices.
Of course that's an exaggeration.
It would have more credibility too if it hadn't been typed onto a website that monitizes itself with the exact same mechanism. Or is TrawlerForum 80% vomit too?
I'm the first to agree with the dislike toward inline ads - I don't think adware, banner ads, or other mechanisms built to interrupt information are good. Every single study shows that they don't work. Anyone gotten a slip with Snag-a-Slip yet? Their ads seem to appear on every page of TF these days. It's likely that they'll generate some brand awareness because of it but the studies also show that only 1 out of a thousand will be moved to act from the ads - that's too low to pay for the ads. And some will walk away with a bad impression of the company even though they can't recognize where they've seen them before. The ads give a background feel of being annoying and cheapen the impression you remember about the company.
Has Snag-a-Slip helped themselves here?
And before someone jumps to the conclusion that S-a-S is a competitor of ours, don't. They're not. They approached me last summer to become partners with them. I looked at their plans and told them that we had no intention of getting into the reservation business and that I thought their business plan was ka-ka. All it will do is increase the price of slips for every boater while providing nothing extra of value. I suggested that they use their website building talents to find something that adds value. They appear to have ignored my suggestion.
fryedaze
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My simple take on the original question. We use BlogSpot to communicate our Great Loop trip to family and friends. You can get the benefit of FB by just sharing the blog to FB, its just on click. A side benefit of a blog is that there are companies that will turn the blog into a book when we are done.
I don't have a FB account. I just lurk on my wife's account. The content is 90% garbage from people sharing non-factual information.
Crap I went down the FB hater rabbit hole anyway.
Cheers
I don't have a FB account. I just lurk on my wife's account. The content is 90% garbage from people sharing non-factual information.
Crap I went down the FB hater rabbit hole anyway.
Cheers
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twistedtree
Guru
Not really, at least not in my view. The 80% vomit on FB was a combination of ads and silly posts by members. But what's 80% vomit to me may be valuable content to others. It's subjective.
As for TF, I actually think it's on a slipper slope. Right now the content and interaction with other cruisers out-weighs the annoyance of the ads. The other Social Knowledge LLC (owners of TF) site that I used to frequent was CruisersForum, but as it became more popular and had higher viewing rates, the ads really started ramping up too. I finally abandoned it because it was too annoying and the ads consumed precious bandwidth when cruising on a limited network plan. It reached the 80% vomit, 20% content point.
I have since installed AdBlock which is a prize product, and filters out lots of the ads. When I access a site from some other computer without AdBlock, I wonder for a while if I'm in the right place given all the ads.
I fully expect that as the traffic rates on TF climb, Social Knowledge will start to "monetize" TF the same way they are milking CruisersForum. If I were running a business like theirs, that's what I'd do. But as a result I think TF will become equally unappealing and eventually reach the 80% vomit, 20% content point as well.
What's frustrating is that I don't know an alternative to the ad-supported media business model, so don't really have a good alternative to offer. To me, subscription services is a better model, but probably not as profitable for "publishers", so unlikely to displace ad-sponsored content. Or maybe the human dynamics will change over time. Maybe people will stop frequenting ad-laced content, or vendors will decide they are wasting their marketing dollars on shot-gun ads. And maybe people will start to pay more willingly for content that has depth and is unbiased. And maybe, one day, pigs will fly....
dhays
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I had considered mentioning AdBlock when others were complaining about the ads but didn't want to offend our hosts here. They need ad revenue to be able to pay for this site. I have used AdBlock for years and it is extremely effective. I never see any adds here on TF.
I am not encouraging y'all to start using it, because then the revenue stream might dry up and the owners may abandon TF.
twistedtree
Guru
Yes, that's one of the advantages to the iPad app.
