I’ve just found out that a local games convention I quite enjoyed, which has been on hiatus for a while because it lost its venue, is having a one-day charity event. This is not mentioned anywhere on their web site, but only in a Facebook post, which a friend told me about.
I find myself surprisingly offended by this, and feel that if Facebook users are all they want, that’s what they can have.
I don’t think you’re being unreasonable, however it’s probably because they assumed that everyone is on facebook.
Did they not have a mailing list to notify?
Surely marketing 101 is tell everyone one every platform possible.
Pretty much everyone I know is in the process of getting off Facebook if they were on it in the first place. And yeah, they have a mailing list, as well as a news feed on the web site.
We don’t have Facebook. (I admit to an “anymore”–it was fun while it lasted in the very late 00s)
I, too, become unreasonable when someone asks me if they can whatsapp me something. I tend to become incredibly boring trying to educate people about Cambridge Analytica.
My dad regularly complains about certain TV shows he watches allowing comments on facebook only. And this is from public broadcasters (analog BBC) who should know better than to hide in a walled garden.
I’m with you.
I don’t do any social social media besides forums (like here and BGG), so using platforms like Facebook or Twitter or whatever will completely miss me. I like email lists. If I’ve been to your convention, you have my info, so send me an email. If I don’t want your emails, I’ll unsubscribe. If you have an RSS feed, I might do that as well. These are reliable, proven technologies (and I’m still irked at Google for getting rid of Google Reader). Use them.
I’m with you as well. I do have Facebook but it’s for the marketplace and so that I can proactively find things when I’m looking for them, view specific links from friends, etc. I hate the thing.
The worst was when a good friend of mine came out via Facebook. It was about a year until I saw him again by which time “everyone knew.” He introduced this little dude as his boyfriend and I confused said dude with another friend’s little brother and thoroughly embarrassed myself.
They were gracious, it’s all sorted, but the root is the same universal facebook fallacy.
Feeling that way is totally reasonable. Acting on that feeling by not going even though you would have enjoyed doing so would be unreasonable.
I do maintain a Facebook account just for event information, for pretty much this reason. Seems to be less necessary these days though.
Yes, reaching your audience with as many channels as possible is marketing 101. But I’d bet the work is done by a volunteer, who may not know that, or they don’t have permission to change the website or post to Twitter. It’s also a pain to do all these things, so someone might reasonably concentrate their effort on where it reaches the most people. that might be facebook, it might not.
On the other hand, Roger did find out about it. So the getting the word out worked. I’m pretty sure Roger is old enough that he remembers these events being advertised on cork boards in shops and university common spaces. I wonder if he’d be as upset if he’d heard it about it from a friend in those days, instead of seeing a flyer?
Because the one person I know who still uses Facebook happened to mention it to me.
If they maintained a dedicated poster case in which they had said they would post news about future events, and it only had a poster from three years ago in it? Yeah, probably.
These particular convention runners are bouncy extroverted teachers who apply that style to all their relations with other people. So I expect them to grate on me anyway, because they always do.
Yes, I hate that everything is on Facebook. I’ve never had a Facebook account.
I particularly resent that events choose to have the variety of FB account where you have to log in to FB to see anything. At least in Ye Olden Days there were FB accounts where I could see “homepage” stuff saying the date, the time, the venue even if I couldn’t see the chat. Now everything is hidden from view.
I saw official stats a while back saying that slightly less than half the UK population are on Facebook. So I’m not exactly in some tiny minority.
During the pandemic lockdown one of the local community cafes was doing “click and collect” takeaway to try and keep in business. But they would only take payment through Facebook. Sorry, but that means I’m not using you.
I think these days Facebook is largely bait for non-technical people. Look, your organisation can have a web site, discussions, a calendar, sell tickets, and it’s all free(ish)!
I resent anything that requires me to make an account before I can see anything. At least show me something before I decide that giving you some details is something I want to do.
On Facebook in particular, if I knew a better way to engage with some online communities I’d do it and move off Facebook. It’s the only social media account I have. I deleted twitter, LinkedIn (Facebook for ‘professionals’) and never had TokTik or Instagram.
Make me sign up to see how much postage is going to cost? Can bet I won’t shop with you.
I feel ya, Roger. Thing is that FB has become the new normal, and the thing about ‘normal’ is that it’s not about reason, but what the majority goes along with.
Sure, except it really isn’t among people I know. (And, I gather, being actively rejected by many under-thirties.)
Sure, but that’s a self selected group. Neither of us is normal in the statistical definition of normal.
Yes, this!
There’s a local pub that won’t show you their food menu online unless you register with them. WTF?
I went there to meet some folk and their food turns out to be all the usual pub stuff… burgers, lasagne, chilli, baked potatoes.
When I was doing business travel a lot, this was a major issue. If a restaurant only has Facebook as a website I tended to avoid it because it was a lot harder to trust posted hours and menus.
In the UK at least, there are several search-bait sites that purport to list local businesses. They often have contact numbers, opening hours, etc. Even ten years after the business has closed.
the US has these, too. Often with a phone number that’s not really the restraunt’s but is forwarded to it. Then they charge (or try) the restraunt for the service of delivering customers. The legitimate delivery websites do this, too.