Getting Old Pharts on Social Media!

[ownyourfuture]

Oh goodness, whatever will become of these poor folks?

AAA+++

 

[Midpack]

From OP - "If I could condense it all to webpage, Facebook and email - it would be so much more productive."

I think that should be enough. At least it's enough for me.

I would like to think so. But once again, despite a higher tech savvy IQ here, you can see in this thread that we'll miss some folks if we don't reach out in other ways.

Hopefully I can wean some members off the other old communication channels, but I know we'll probably lose some too. But we're gaining a new audience on FB, a younger demographic that we need. I refuse to resort to postal mail - sorry.

Oh well, some things [-]may never[/-] change very, very slowly...

 

[Christine]

I like foras like this one to keep in touch with others sharing my interests.

I am a techie and relatively young (59). Here are some of my experiences.

I tried FaceBook for a year (between 2013 and 2014). I was concerned about them abusing their knowledge of me through my posts. Soon after that we found out their R&D was trying psychological experiments on their users by rearranging the order of likes and dislikes to see how people would react. That ended FB for me.

I'm not even 50 yet but don't like facebook for the same reasons and more. To me it feels like I have to suck up to the school bully or I won't be allowed to play.

If a group insist on using facebook atleast keep it open for all so I can look without having to create an account. Pretty please.

If you find me to be an old phart it's all right! I'll just go back to arranging my empty wine bottles into another pretty pattern.

 

[Options]

Have you thought of using Meetup.com? You can post any type of meetup and have the location, information, etc. visible only to members. If this is a private membership organization (i.e., you don't want members of the public to join as other meetups do), you can have anyone applying go through an screening process that you can create yourself. IIRC, you can even create a private meetup open to members only. All members have to do is look at the website and sign in.

Worth looking into if you're looking to streameline the communication process.

 

[scrabbler1]

A few years ago, I tried Facebook for about a week. I thought it was stupid and closed the account. I am always reminded of Betty White's remarks about FB in her monologue when she appeared on Saturday Night Live back in 2010:


https://search.yahoo.com/search;_yl..."&"SNL"&fr=altavista&fr2=sb-top-search&iscqry=


Betty White Blasts Facebook, Thanks Fans In SNL Monologue | Mediaite


Then she turned her attention to the new media movement. “I really have to thank Facebook,” she said, but admitted she wasn’t aware of its existence until the campaign began. And once she learned about what it was: “It sounds like a huge waste of time.”


Comparing her youth to the youth of today (who spend hours on Facebook), she said, “Facebook just sounds like a drag. In my day seeing pictures of people’s vacation was considered a punishment.”

 

[HFWR]

Many of my, ahem, older family members, friends, and acquaintances now use email, Facebook, etc. The problem is that many of us techno-nerds have been on the "internet" since usenet newsgroup, etc., and are aware of spam, viruses, bots, chain letters, and all the other pitfalls. My poor dad's computer was eaten up with viruses from opening shady attachments and such.

Plus, as an eight-year veteran of FB, I've seen all the memes a thousand times, but all the "newer" users post them over and over and over...

And apparently many, if not most, FB users do not know how to use that other marvel of the internet age, the search engine...

 

[harley]

Many of my. ahem. older family members, friends, and acquaintances now use email, Facebook, etc. The problem is that many of us techno-nerds have been on the "internet" since usenet newsgroup, etc., and are aware of spam, viruses, bots, chain letters, and all the other pitfalls. My poor dad's computer was eaten up with viruses from opening shady attachments and such.

Plus, as an eight-year veteran of FB, I've seen all the memes a thousand times, but all the "newer" users post them over and over and over...

And apparently many, if not most, FB users do not know how to use that other marvel of the internet age, the search engine...

Or even more importantly, that other marvel of the internet age, Snopes.com

 

[Midpack]

FWIW I agree there are pros and cons to FB for personal use outside immediate family & friends.

But I am using it to publicize an organization, not personal. There are many businesses/organizations that use FB, some exclusively (no website) - and I find that to be very useful.

 

[Lisa99]

I'm the secretary of a club and had the same problem with communicating to members when I first took over. We've settled on email as our standard means of communicating and I use MailChimp to spice up the format.

We also have a web page and private FaceBook group but there was an outcry when I tried to make one of those the primary source so email is our main source.

We've never used snail mail but one thing you might consider is a 'phase out' period. Let the club know that on XX date you'll be using "XYZ" exclusively for club communications. That way people can prepare for the change and get trained on how it will work.

 

[Philliefan33]

I'm facing a similar challenge as the OP. I'm on the BOD for our vacation home community and have been tasked with improving our electronic communications. I'm working with a web designer to update the web page, and also am trying to build an email list to use with MailChimp. My biggest obstacle is the disparate comfort levels with electronic communication-- both within the BOD and in the community. The community has residents of all ages, some full-timers, some vacationers, and some who started as part-timers but have made this home their retirement home. For the most part, the resistance comes from the old pharts but not always.

One of the first suggestions I made to the BOD is that we try to reduce the paper we use at our monthly meetings. We get a paper copy of the approved minutes from two months prior, the draft minutes of the previous month, and the treasurer's report. All told, about 20 pieces of paper per director. This is after the recording secretary has already emailed the minutes to us. Why do we need a paper copy of something we've already had electronic access to? And why print the treasurer's report? Just email it before the meeting or put it on a shared drive. But my suggestions were met with staunch objections from over half of the board members, so our printer keeps chugging away.

My mail list for community members has less about 5% of our members after a month of attempting to get subscribers. Some people have told me that they are afraid to give out their email. Others are worried they won't get paper copies of the 2x/ year newsletter if they are on the email list. I'm almost hoping for some important community news that I can disseminate via MailChimp, making those on the list "in the know" before all others. That may drive up the subscriptions....people here hate to be out of the loop.

In the meantime, I've resigned myself to slow growth of my digital agenda. Unfortunately, some changes may not be possible until the older residents move on (one way or another).

 

[Midpack]

I'm the secretary of a club and had the same problem with communicating to members when I first took over. We've settled on email as our standard means of communicating and I use MailChimp to spice up the format.

We also have a web page and private FaceBook group but there was an outcry when I tried to make one of those the primary source so email is our main source.

We've never used snail mail but one thing you might consider is a 'phase out' period. Let the club know that on XX date you'll be using "XYZ" exclusively for club communications. That way people can prepare for the change and get trained on how it will work.

I have no problem with email and we use it often. But we want to reach potential new members, email doesn't do that for us. The website reaches members and potential new members, but Facebook is probably better to reach younger and middle aged generations we also want to target. And FB is way more interactive than our webpage.

 

[Midpack]

One of the first suggestions I made to the BOD is that we try to reduce the paper we use at our monthly meetings. We get a paper copy of the approved minutes from two months prior, the draft minutes of the previous month, and the treasurer's report. All told, about 20 pieces of paper per director. This is after the recording secretary has already emailed the minutes to us. Why do we need a paper copy of something we've already had electronic access to? And why print the treasurer's report? Just email it before the meeting or put it on a shared drive. But my suggestions were met with staunch objections from over half of the board members, so our printer keeps chugging away.

+1. Other Board members never email minutes/financials in advance, and rarely email agendas (an issue in itself, board members are forced to wing it without any thoughts in advance) or discussion pre-reads. Board meetings are often a series of blindsides...and the chairman wonders why people don't volunteer

I've made it a practice to send out my thoughts via email in advance - to save paper, but more so they can at least devote a little thought in advance, or even research heaven forbid. Despite that, the first thing I hear when I come up on the 'surprise agenda' is "do you have copies of what you sent?" And if I don't have them, they all mumble/grouse. I am sure some of them don't even open/read what I send. I have a meeting tomorrow, so I plan to print about half the number of copies of my topic so they have to share - oh bother...