John Cutler
Let me say from the outset that I have no experience of social media. Some years ago, my old professional institute advised (i.e. instructed per their compliance team) us not to use Facebook for professional purposes due to privacy and data protection concerns. I have been wary of such enterprises ever since. I am afraid I do not believe they make their money just from advertising. So I do not use the EM group on Facebook.
As one who posts regularly (?) I find the forum relatively easy to use but then I have no comparison to make. It took me a while to learn how to use it properly so I think an Idiot’s Guide For Posters might be useful for newbies. I struggled with getting pictures to fit until someone on here told me they configured automatically at the default setting.
As one who tends to post long articles, it would save time to be able to copy and paste text and inserted photos simultaneously e.g. from a Word document. There seems to be an issue with lengthy posts; two of mine apparently disappeared into the ethernet! If this happens to you, contact the webmaster who will retrieve it for you from the Suspense/Pending folder. This problem is being investigated as to cause. An oddity, by the way, is that you cannot paste onto a blank page; I have to type a character, then paste below it and then delete the unwanted character.
Maybe the topic categories need better organisation? This is something I think every forum I have visited could do with.
I do find the current log-in awkward and time-consuming. I hate the American verification pictures. There must be an easier way?
I am not enthusiastic about some of the “improvements” suggested by others. I dislike the concept of “Likes” (visions of nasty RMWeb-like posts) although I would welcome knowing how many people view topics. See my comments (and other users’) elsewhere on this forum.
I shudder at the thought of changing software. The cost is one thing but unless you have been through such, you have no idea of the human resource required in doing so. Just getting people to agree is a major exercise. Yes, been there, done that, but am far too ancient to do that again! (My long-term girlfriend at the time threatened to dump me.) Remember, please, that we rely on volunteers for all this. No doubt some on here will advocate contracting out such an exercise; at considerable cost. Sorry, someone still has to specify for and instruct them. And worse, make sure the IT contractor keeps on track and the system works; in my experience most do not. Just look at the current Post Office fiasco.
If we do decide to change, please ensure the existing forum posts are transferred across. As RMWeb users discovered there is nothing quite as upsetting as data disappearing that took time to compile (in RMWeb’s case, pictures). I for one would be disinclined to post again; why bother if some IT techie will just wipe it all on an “upgrade”? Also my strong belief is that little or no content =little or no users.
Despite rambling on (yes, I make lengthy posts!), I think all the above misses the crux of the EMGS’s problem. We have an ageing membership. 20% of members do not even have an email address. It is not surprising, therefore, that forum use was limited after its early introduction. It is only recently that posts have reached the level to arouse interest with casual browsers. We need to gently encourage that 80% of the membership to participate more. No amount of IT upgrades can magically produce more topics and posts; only members can do that.