110 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

Does the forum have a proper financial value? Just curious:)

 

it is roomered volks zone (vw based forum slightly bigger than TMF) sold to a Canadian firm for 100000+ just last year

 

you won't get a number out of Brian Burrows but he did well out of it but regretted it very soon and set up a new forum

Edited by Bungle, 02 March 2014 - 01:57 PM.

[Ethel]

There are similar forums that monetise by selling advertising space, some of the marketing being pretty aggressive with pop-ups and cookies. I don't think we're likely to go that route anytime soon, TMF is really only a product of those that use it. We're all stakeholders in that sense.

[Tanya]

 

I guess another point is that the TMF forum will have a financial value should the owner/owners wish to sell it. Obviously, they don't own the Facebook group and if the Facebook group is being for technical questions at the expense of the forum, it will devalue the forum financially and it is not unreasonable for the owner/owners to wish to protect the financial value of TMF. Likewise for forum sponsors, it is seems reasonable and fair to their investment in the TMF forum to remove the Facebook group to protect their sponsorship. Personally I feel some of the reasons given to close the Facebook group are a bit weak, but I can't argue with the owner/owners right to protect the financial value of the forum and to me that does seem reasonable and make sense.
For those who are interested, here's what's being said on the TMF Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/132308628195/10152035407563196/?comment_id=10152036255198196¬if_t=group_comment_reply

Nice, at least you had the decency to apologise.

 

 

I really do not wish for any further comments that I make on this subject to be misconstrued, however, I do feel that I should qualify my apology.

 

I apologised for any offence that my comments had caused as that was absolutely not what I had intended.  However, what I was not apologising for was that my belief that the forum does have a financial value and that also my belief that the Facebook group has the capacity to distract from the forum and in turn reduce the value of the forum overtime.  Primary, I see this as technical posts that are on the forum and retained and add value in every sense.  On Facebook, they are momentarily useful and then very hard or impossible to find again.  

 

The above statement is not intended to imply, allude to, or in anyway insinuate that I believe that those involved in TMF see it as a money making venture (or ever have) or have any intent to sell it as this is not my belief and never has been.  I also not not wish to cause further offence, just to clarify.   

[Artful Dodger]

Hmm thats very interesting! Would you guys ever think to try to make it profitable? I'm sure
No one here would say no to a few mini related adverts, new products from the likes of mini spares, mini sport, KAD, MED, DSN classics etc. just a thought!

[Tamworthbay]

Hmm thats very interesting! Would you guys ever think to try to make it profitable? I'm sure
No one here would say no to a few mini related adverts, new products from the likes of mini spares, mini sport, KAD, MED, DSN classics etc. just a thought!

Please no! The ads kill the internet. Next there are annoying pop ups and high bandwidth ads that slow the hole thing down. Its hard enough to get away from it as it is without shed loads on here. Spawn of the devil is advertising.

[Black.Ghost]

I don't think the owners/admin would want to turn it into a business. If however they allowed advertising, it could be done without the use of pop ups and banners. 

 

I think most people on here probably keep a bit of an eye on their favourite suppliers anyway, but I don't see the harm of having an advertising sub-forum that people could choose to browse if they want. It would allow sellers to advertise sales, special offers and the like, and if they had to pay to do so could help generate more income for the maintenance of this site. Not profit, but it would all help keep the TMF community going a little better. 

 

The team do a great job looking after this site.

[HarrysMini]

You can put as many adverts as you like on TMF, I have Ad Block

 

It would ruin the forum though.

[sonikk4]

The last thing we want on here is for sale banners / adverts to appear, it takes away from what TMF is about. Then you would get into the whole "what and where does the money go to etc etc" and that then brings in multiple sets of problems.

 

Yes its probably done on other forums but then we would have to dedicate page space for these sort of ads. Then there is the running of them etc, no i don't think its going to happen any time soon.

 

And to reiterate what Mark and Matt has said on here and on the FB page. There is a LOT of things that you don't see for example trying to vet new members to prevent spam for example. We can on a bad day have over 40+ people to try and vet ( at one point we had in excess of 140,) now some of them make it very easy and you can see they have an interest in our cars. Others are chancers plain and simple.

 

Then there are the threads we have to go through to ensure there are no derogatory comments and so on. The for sale threads the non members and their comments and it goes on and on. Its our free time we give up to do these things as well as look after the main site. Some people will say "well you choose to do it" and yes that is correct but and its a big BUT when i have to spend hours some days trying to keep things on track, dealing with reports etc then its very time consuming and before you know it your evening has gone. This applies to all of the team not just me personally.

 

We do stay on track with the main forum and apart from the odd hiccup it runs smoothly, however the facebook page is not like that. Its had its moment of glory and those who choose to treat it with disdain have helped towards its closure.

[vx220]

I have tried several times to explain why I use forums but won't use FB

I have seen people getting tetchy when they are unable to check their Facebook, you can see their concentration going in a meeting/training until they have a little swipe!

And in my career I deal with people literally damaged by Facebook, either by cyber bullying, meeting people or seeing things they shouldn't, or my current favourite rant, the lack of attention young people recieve from FB addict parents

As said before, call/text/email your real friends

I apologise to all those who think I am a fuddy duddy, but next time you see a crying child being ignored by a swiping mum or dad, don't be surprised when that child becomes a yob, and smashes your window or steals your car...

Edited by vx220, 02 March 2014 - 05:10 PM.

[sonikk4]

A lot of companies use FB against some of their employees or potential employees and yet you see posts / threads slating this that and another and then they wonder why they end up with issues??

 

I can live without it and actually talk to friends face to face as that is what we used to do. Ahh the joys!!! 

[Tanya]

There are a few of us who can manage to use Facebook and still lead a normal life interacting with those around us!   Like anything, it's how YOU use it, so I do find the sweeping generalizations about Facebook a tad annoying.

 

I have checked potential employees on Facebook - not a bad idea.  A few years ago, I had an employee who didn't want to do her First Aid on a Saturday so called in sick only to then post on Facebook that she was out shopping!   

 

I help run convoys and Cowley related events via Facebook and it's a God send.  Not to mention, without a chance, off the cuff comment on the end of a FB post, I wouldn't have found my Montego!  

Edited by Tanya, 02 March 2014 - 06:08 PM.

[The Matt]

I don't have a problem with Facebook. I use it loads. I use Mini groups on there loads.

[robminibcy]

makes no odds to me. I used to flick through from time to time but never found it as interesting (except the odd arguments!) as the forum. Certainly if i wanted to share or find something out id use the main forum. What i find interesting is the comments about the facebook page being free! Im a tmf+ member and like many others have saved far more than £5 on discounts at minispares! As well as supporting what,is probably one of the most useful car based forums about. And if you just want info you don't need to pay anyway

 

I think on the whole admin is pretty much spot on. When issues arise as one did recently with the minispares brake calipers there was an explanation for the reason of the topic being locked which although i didn't feel was really too bad i can see why they didn't want it escalating. I think some of the replies were out of order given the reasoning behind the locking and despite some retaliation of tmf admin i feel it was in the forums best interest. In my eyes you shouldn't post on tinterwb what you wouldn't say face to face. I think some people need to chillax a bit with whats said either as a result of repeated posts for similar topics, or for disagreements between members and advice. In relation to the repeated posts new members are going to be unaware of the wealth of info available so suggesting a search will be helpful to them but could be done in a more friendly and welcoming way than some posts ive sen, other times it may be due to the use of phones which certainly i find can be tricky to navigate search menus.

 

one thing that this forum really benefits over the FB page is the direct links to suppliers such as minispares, minispeed and all the others. Being able to get direct answers is a great help to us and probably the traders as well where customer trust and satisfaction is key for this market.

Edited by robminibcy, 03 March 2014 - 01:06 AM.

[AVV IT]

To me TMF is a welcoming and family friendly place to be, where enthusiasts of all ages come together to share their thoughts and knowledge about the classic mini. Whereas the Facebook group is primarily frequented by younger members and is full of petty squabbles with people being offensive towards each other. When members behave that way it can be quite off putting to some people, meaning those with valuable knowledge don't participate and their contribution is lost. Whilst the Facebook group shares the TMF name, then there's a risk of that behaviour being associated with the main Forum and people staying away from here too.

Maybe there needs to be a classic mini owners face book group where all the TMF Facebook users can go to abuse each other to their hearts content, but without the TMF name so that the Forum doesn't have to be associated with it?

[Tanya]

Personally, I haven't had problems with Facebook or young people on Facebook and I'm in numerous groups (car ones, generally related to BLARG).  For the group that I help manage, in the last 2 years we've had two significant issues to sort out, neither involving people under the age of 30 (although for one, the risk was to younger members of the group).  One was relatively easy to deal with as the Police has some involvement making it quicker and easier to address, The other one was a bit more of a challenge as it involved potential liable.  However, after about four hours work it was sorted to everyone's semi satisfaction, which was the best that we could hope for.

 

My understanding (I think from research covered on the news) is that young people are starting to move away from Facebook to other social networking sites and one reason given was that their parents are often on Facebook too, making it less appealing.

 

I think the AROnline Facebook group is a good example where it does work well and is generally friendly with good banter.  In that respect, personally I do find Facebook friendlier than a forum set up.  Keith Adams seems to have got both the AROnline site and Facebook group working well together, but the AROnline site is a different type of site to TMF, so they're not really comparable.

 

I also like that fact the generally people use their own names on Facebook (I know not all, and I know you can't tell if it's a pseudonym) and I do prefer real names to forum names - that does feel more friendly to me.  Quite often you can see what they look like and know a bit more about them than you can with forum members.  It is rare for someone from a forum who I've never met before to come up to me at a show (and vice versa), but I'm regularly greeted at shows by people introducing themselves as 'so and so from Facebook' as they've recognised me.