Facebook

[MalcW]

I've seen a number of references to Bongo Facebook groups in this forum. What sort of things/places do they cover? I'm not on Facebook (one of the few who aren't it seems) - should I be?

Cheers,

Malc

[mikeonb4c]

I'd been meaning to start a thread on this but you beat me to it. I have finally ended up being sucked in to facebook, after community action work and a facebook page we started put me on the fb radar. There's at least two groups on there (one of which uses a photo i took many years ago of a Bongo convoy and which BF never used - and i'd long forgotten that BF member Mister Munkey/Chris had asked if he might use it - how ironic!). Lots of chat and activity and i'm forced to conclude that a lot of those who used to chat on here (and many more besides) are all on FB now. They all pay homage though to BF as the place to go when you need help with something technical, though many on there have technical expertise. So i'd get on FB and get in the swing if i were you, though its cluttered, time consuming, and lacks the structured topic approach that some of us dinosaurs much prefer and that i think builds a better knowledge resource. Progress? Not sure about that hey ho. Wish everyone was still on BF (the literal opposite of FB ha ha).

[g8dhe]

There seem to be quite a few Groups setup, at least three national ones which keep adverts to a minimum, then a few dedicated to sales and wants and finally several covering local areas.
The three main ones are here;
Mazda Bongo Owners - 5308 members closed group ask for membership - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2529055732/
Mazda Bongo - 2885 members closed group ask for membership - https://www.facebook.com/groups/7571714956/
Mazda Bongo Friendee & Ford Freda Owners Club - 2693 members closed group ask for membership - https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendeefreda/members/

[Supersooty]

You will find that many people from specific groups tend to use FB as it is easy access. I am the Secretary of a large Association with an excellent website. However, there are more members use the two FB sites than we have log into our website; access on FB is instant and replies sometimes in real time. This type of forum/ 'official' websites have their place for up-to-date technical information and archiving of subjects. FB is good for a quick chat, bit of banter etc.
Yes you do get 'Trolls' and undesireables on FB but, they are easily switched off.

[MalcW]

So, it sounds like I need to bite the bullet then. Someone on here mentioned that there was a Bongo meet in Dawlish, Devon, last year that was organised via Facebook. Anyone know which group that might have been? I'm in Exmouth; about a mile across the water from Dawlish, but about 15 miles by road.

[g8dhe]

Looks like "Mazda Bongo Owners Devon" at least several reports of the meeting in that group.

[Bob]

All too complicated for a simple country boy like me.

[Bongolia]

All too complicated for a simple country boy like me.

I use it rarely, I dont understand how the damn thing works for one but its mainly because of the number of permissions FB wants when you download there phone app. So I limit my use of it to the desktop.
I am told it is easier to use on a cell phone it being designed primarily for that device.

[mikeonb4c]

Seems to be lots of lets meet up stuff on FB - there's also a lot messages/new post alerts popping up on my phone whichbi always feel obliged to investigate doh!

[Jillygumbo]

So, it sounds like I need to bite the bullet then. Someone on here mentioned that there was a Bongo meet in Dawlish, Devon, last year that was organised via Facebook. Anyone know which group that might have been? I'm in Exmouth; about a mile across the water from Dawlish, but about 15 miles by road.

But it was cancelled at the last minute!

[Bongoplod]

Strange this thread has popped up now,and i agree with Mike,as last week I was thinking that FB is becoming more popular than ever.
I was on the forum last week and as usual went to "last posts"....Its usual now to get 1/2 a dozen or so for the previous 24 hrs.
5 yrs ago there wouldve been probably 40 or a lot more.
Look at the facebook groups and ther are dozens and dozens........Facebook is taking over
Come on Ian.......start giving away free all inclusive holidays to the carribean , to keep us going

Brian

[mikeonb4c]

Sadly, i don't think BF can begin to compete with FB with the latters expertise at (and resources for) getting under the skin (of your smartfone, tablet etc) unless there is similar software it can deploy. Maybe it should start an FB page called Bongo Fury and see if people in other groups start to recentre around it, because the Bongo Fury brand is certainly well respected, especially when it comes to techie stuff and Bongo knowledge generally. Good stuff can still be harvested into fact sheets for the members area, though Facebooks ownership rights may need checking out.

[Bongolia]

Sadly, i don't think BF can begin to compete with FB with the latters expertise at (and resources for) getting under the skin (of your smartfone, tablet etc) unless there is similar software it can deploy. Maybe it should start an FB page called Bongo Fury and see if people in other groups start to recentre around it, because the Bongo Fury brand is certainly well respected, especially when it comes to techie stuff and Bongo knowledge generally. Good stuff can still be harvested into fact sheets for the members area, though Facebooks ownership rights may need checking out.

I agree with much of what is said here.
Personally I find FB chaotic, I much prefer the structure of an old school forum but having said that I do think there is a strong case for a BF FB group running synergisticaly.
Fact sheet info could be gained by simple referral to the main site thereby circumventing any FB rights issues.
I have recently been using BF from my cell phone and find that it works very well so access from cell phones is already there.

[Ian]

Maybe it should start an FB page called Bongo Fury and see if people in other groups start to recentre around it, because the Bongo Fury brand is certainly well respected, especially when it comes to techie stuff and Bongo knowledge generally.

I considered doing this but rejected it because of four main reasons.

1) In the beginning (it's different now) Facebook was free of corporate branding and advertising. It was a way for individuals to interact, share stuff, and "like" what they saw. There's a commercial side to Bongo Fury and I didn't want to be seen as pushing people towards paid-up membership or to products in the Bongo Shop.

2) Like Bongolia, I don't like the structure of Facebook. Nor do I like the way that specific topics on Facebook do not appear on search engines. Facebook is a closed world.

3) In any case the 2 main and 1 subsidiary Bongo groups seem to get along fine without interference from Mission Control. There's even a website (www.bongobuddy.co.uk) that tries to pull together useful information from FB.

4) Although it would in some ways be nice to have a branded BF presence in the Social Media world, it would be very time consuming. We are busy enough as it is!

[g8dhe]

I have to agree, for information myself I come here and then link answers out to FB.
Yes FB gets immediate results, but it gets very tedious repeating and repeating the advice time and time again.
Getting the balance right between ease of use and the need to be able to search for valid results, is difficult but FB have it wrong
My only search frustration on here is the limit of greater than 3 characters needed for a search, when we have so many 3 letter acronyms, but yes the problems of maintaining the indexes when you include 3 letter words is a difficult one!