Discussing whether Facebook is a viable forum versus the MetList is not really the issue. Anyone who has spent time recently on the established meteorite pages on Facebook knows that they are not just viable but thriving. The Met-List is also important as a complementary source of information, discussion and, yes sales and exchanges. Anything that impedes any of these activities will lead to poor participation and flight to explore other more friendly venues.
So, what makes for a viable forum? The answer is good administration. The most successful pages on FB have clearly stated rules that are enforced. Being an admin on two pages, "Meteorites" and "Is it a meteorite?", and the creator of the rules I can tell you that both of these have grown dramatically over just one year. I've had to deal with all kinds of nasty issues because people are people, but we have learned from these issues and kept things fun for our members. Too much regulations drives people away and too little does too (for different reasons). Our community is very small and we can't afford to alienate people regardless of whether they are old curmudgeons or young neophytes especially when the learning curve is so steep. Having said this, being an admin is not a small investment in time, so if Art needs to be compensated, I have no issue with a yearly fee or some other payment model. However, please do not penalize dealers with having to pay for ads. As stated previously, defining what is an ad will be hard enough, but these ads are really an important way for collectors to get material. I sit on both sides as a dealer and collector. Stating the obvious, you can't have dealers without collectors and vice-versa (unless all collectors start to hunt in the field). Regards, Mendy Ouzillou IMCA 8395 ----- Original Message ----- > From: Mark Ford <mark.f...@southernscientific.co.uk> > To: "Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com" > <Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com> > Cc: > Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2014 4:00 AM > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Facebook.... a viable forum? > > Problem is fragmentation. There are already many meteorite groups on > facebook, > twitter, et al. If everybody keeps creating new ones eventually they [will] > all > be more or less empty like so many other forums. > > The beauty of the Met-list is it's simplicity, and the fact that its > actually quite busy (compared to 99.9% of other forums inc some on FB), Not > sure > I agree with the concept of paying for Ads, that's just bound to drive away > people, but I can understand funds need to be raised. > > Fact is in the meteorite collecting world and 'ads' go hand in hand, for > most people dealers are the only source of rocks, I for one got much of my > collections over the years due to ads on the met list. > > I for one am staying put, even if I end up talking to myself ! :) > > Mark > > > ______________________________________________ > > Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
