Couldn't have said it better myself Mendy! On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 8:00 AM, Mendy Ouzillou <ouzil...@yahoo.com> wrote: > 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
-- Rock On! Ruben Garcia http://www.MrMeteorite.com ______________________________________________ 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
