SOA facebook page

[andypat]

http://www.facebook.com/scottish.orienteering

needs 3 more likes to get 100....

[andypat]

Scottish Orienteering have a stand here http://www.scotlandsbestoutdoors.com/ this weekend and as a wee incentive we are offering a hamper of SOA type goodies as a prize. All you have to do is "like" the SOA facebook page before 31 March. Winner will be drawn from all "likes" on 1 April. Dont worry if you already like us - you will still be in the draw!
If you are in the Aberdeen area come and say hello.

[Sunlit Forres]

Likes have rocketed to 131. All we need now is some inane light-hearted irreverent Facebook banter on the page to show the world that we're just everyday folk who don't take life too seriously.

[graeme]

Good idea SF - I think BOF should set up a committee to look into it.

[Paul Frost]

...All we need now is some inane light-hearted irreverent Facebook banter on the page to show the world that we're just everyday folk who don't take life too seriously.

The interesting question is how many people are turned off by "inane light-hearted irreverent..."?
I know I am. The problem I find with most social media is that you can't filter it adequately.
I follow a number of people on Twitter and Facebook, mainly for their involvement in web development, orienteering or triathlon, and I really want to know about that stuff, but I don't want to know (or care) about their families, friends or other work related stuff. I have stopped following people when the volume of good stuff is outweighed by the trivia. Life is too short to waste time scrolling through a rubbish tip looking for gold.

So is there a risk of loosing interested people if you flood them with inane light-hearted irreverent...?
Or am I alone in thinking that we are wasting a really useful resource by flooding it with pictures of cats and pointless drivel?

Time to get back to that serious real life that I live & enjoy.

[Clive Coles]

Certainly with you on this one Paul ~ I am amazed at the sad empty lives some of my FB contacts have.

Some seem to be video game adicts and want everyone to know when they have reached their next level of decline. They then let me know " i'm sad this morning". Not surprised ~ get a life.

FB is a great way of quickly informing folk who share a common interest what is going on and for a sporting organisation this can be a very effective way of remaining in contact. Any page will however only be as good as the relevence of the content for the people who access it.

I too unfriend those folk, and organisations, who deluge me with trivia.

[andypat]

I suspect the truth is that when we use social media, you two old fogies probably arent the target audience. I think you are both getting the wrong idea of what social media is good for. The groups are OK for keeping people up to date with new stuff, but pages work best when people share the info/videos/pictures you put on them so exposing new people to your product or message. The sort of person who shares pictures of cats with you might also be sharing our Orienteering chat with 100s of his/her "friends". You might not like it, but that actually doesnt really matter.

[Paul Frost]

You might not like it, but that actually doesnt really matter.

But it does matter.
If I am following an orienteering club or association and they start posting inane light-hearted irreverent... stuff that isn't orienteering related I will stop following them and they then loose the ability to engage me.

There are a lot of people on Facebook that don't want to share the trivia of other peoples lives but just want to find out what is going on with their particular club or interest group.

So just posting good useful interesting content is not going to loose you followers but posting pointless trivia could. The trick is to post stuff that people want to read.

[Clive Coles]

Just for Andypat ~ meet my friend Mbhurri who I visit on my trips to South Africa.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=417494664984945&set=vb.110141245720290&type=2&theater

"The sort of person who shares pictures of cats with you might also be sharing our Orienteering chat with 100s of his/her "friends".

[andypat]

But it does matter.
If I am following an orienteering club or association and they start posting inane light-hearted irreverent... stuff that isn't orienteering related I will stop following them and they then loose the ability to engage me.

Is it possible you have confused the word irreverent with the word irrelevant Paul? I cant see any reference above to clubs posting stuff that wasnt orienteering related. Irreverent just means not having airs and graces or being pompous about things. I'm all for that!

[Paul Frost]

Irreverent is in effect irrelevant to me.
So, I don't want to see inane light-hearted irreverent stuff even if it's orienteering related. I want useful interesting stuff.

But I'm just an old fogey who obviously doesn't understand the web, perhaps I'll give up building websites and take up train spotting.

[andypat]

But I'm just an old fogey who obviously doesn't understand the web, perhaps I'll give up building websites and take up train spotting.

Paul - we're all old fogeys when it comes to social media - that shouldnt stop us using it to our advantage. I think if you look back on this thread you'll have some difficulty finding any negative comment about your ability with the web or websites. I also suspect you understand facebook better than you let on, but its clear you have no love for it. I see a use for it as part of a package of getting orienteering stuff out to the wider population, which is different to what I think you perceive as a fairly narrow functionality.

So I go back to my original point. Since banter to and fro is what gets things spread on facebook, if you dont like it, ignore it, you arent the target audience.

[Sunlit Forres]

I think the point Andy's trying to make is that Facebook is part of social media. The 'social' is the important bit - somewhere (in my opinion) that orienteering has fallen short in the past.
Your local pub welcomes of all types - the boys that stand at the bar and the bloke in the corner with his pint and Daily Telegraph. They've all got a right to be there and enjoy it in their own way. All part of life's rich tapestry.

[andypat]

http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/soa/page/scotlands-best-outdoors-9-10-march

A short amateur video of the recent outdoors show at Aberdeen Exhibition Centre where the Scottish Orienteering had a stand to promote Orienteering, the 6 day event and WOC 2015.

[Gross]

I was immediately put off the video by the presenters inability to pronounce the name of our sport correctly [and the typical Brit thing of standing outside in the snow wearing a T shirt.... not exactly passing on a message that the guys know anything about the outdoors.