My Efficient Electric Home - discussion group on Facebook

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My Efficient Electric Home - discussion group on Facebook

(15 posts) (8 voices)

Started 5 years ago by Tim Forcey
Latest reply from Frewvk

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Tim Forcey
Member

Hi ATA people. Not wanting to take anything away from the ATA (as I am an ATA member and volunteer) but you might want to check out also the discussion group "My Efficient Electric Home" on Facebook. Open to the public to look in and 240 people have signed up as members so that they can post and receive notifications.

Plenty of ATA people engaged with My Efficient Electric Home already.

I have not traditionally been a Facebook fan or user, but I find Facebook to have some functionality advantages over forums like the ATA one here and Whirlpool...

And over at "My Efficient Electric Home" we do not discourage discussions of commercial opportunities, rather we encourage them. Because as they say, money does make a fair bit of the world go round...

Perhaps some day the ATA would like to take over curating "My Efficient Electric Home". That would be fine with me!

Just an idea!

Posted Wednesday 31 Aug 2016 @ 10:22:34 pm from IP #
Tim Forcey
Member

You should be able to easily search and find the group on Facebook, but here is a link to make it even easier.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/996387660405677/

Posted Wednesday 31 Aug 2016 @ 10:37:55 pm from IP #
arttt
Member

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 12:30:43 am from IP #
Bushwalker
Member

Agree with arttt. Forcey is trying to force us to facebook. The group is closed to non-facebook members.

If you click Forcey's link you get a message: "You must login to continue"

I think he has done enough facebook spam and advertising here now. Time to become an active member adding useful content of this forum or leave.

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 1:25:34 am from IP #
Lance
Key Master

Be nice everyone, Tim is a long time ATA member and contributor (as are you guys!), it's great to see people so enthusiastic, and the facebook group has a lot of excellent posts, well worth the scroll through it. The requirement to have a FB login isn't Tim's fault, it's stupid FB policy, but FB is the most widely used social media platform there is and reaches the most people, pretty much, so is only logical to set up a group there.

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 8:38:54 am from IP #
Bushwalker
Member

Lance said:
Be nice everyone, Tim is a long time ATA member and contributor (as are you guys!)

Are you really sure, Lance?

When we look at Tim's Profile, it says:

"Member Since
30 June 2016 (2 months)"

I think arttt and I have been around years, not months. The issue is not whether there is interest by FB users of FB posts, but has Tim been a contributor to this forum or is he just advertising for FB?

Is posting here asking people to join groups in a commercial environment elsewhere advertising? Of course it is.

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 9:13:19 am from IP #
AndrewATA
Member

What Lance meant by "ATA member" was a paid-up member of the ATA organisation, rather than having a login to the ATA forums.
https://www.ata.org.au/how-you-can-help/become-a-member

I can vouch for Tim as a valued ATA contributor - he's even assisted us as a contractor on some projects.

I'm also one of those who's resisted getting a facebook account - I'd prefer if that forum's content was accessible too.

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 11:13:25 am from IP #
Bushwalker
Member

So Tim is a 'valued contributor', but not to this ATA Forum.

Is Tim paid as a contractor?

I have no problem with Tim or anyone else creating a healthy discussion venue on FB. What gets my goat is that he does not contribute in any worthwhile capacity to this forum and has joined it only two months ago with a clear object of prying ATA Forum members away to his FB group.

The ATA should consider this as member rustling. Once or twice would be allowable, but repeated efforts to advertise a closed group on a commercial site should be blocked.

The other area Tim is involved in is 'The Conversation' where he regularly posts many comments unlike this forum.

https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-forcey-104740/activities

Clearly, the ATA forum is being blatantly targeted. The only reason Tim joined the forum is to advertise his FB group.

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 12:27:32 pm from IP #
Canberra Mark
Member

Hi Tim!

Unlike the others I think its good that you are promoting the facebook page. It is definitely a different style of content creation and storage of info- but you have some really knowledgeable people contributing to it that keeps it fresh and interesting. I personally prefer the forum format for content dense/thematic interests- but maybe you can get a few of them contributing over here in the future.

In the mean time, how about we keep this forum somewhere where people feel free to join in and avoid the nasty parochialism that seems to be contagious on the internet

Mark

Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2016 @ 1:23:20 pm from IP #
arttt
Member

Canberra Mark said:
In the mean time, how about we keep this forum somewhere where people feel free to join in and avoid the nasty parochialism that seems to be contagious on the internet

Wow thats nasty. I definitely dont come here for that.

I was honestly trying to nicely and constructively ask Tim to avoid the repetitive cross posting while still joining in.

Apologies if that is not how i came across, I cant see what i wrote causing issue but I have deleted them anyway.

Posted Friday 2 Sep 2016 @ 2:05:14 am from IP #
con
Member

HI guys.
I dont see anything wrong with Tim's post.
He was just letting you know about the facebook page not forceing anyone to join.
When I first went to his fcebook page I sent him a message asking if I could tell his fellow readers about my solrheating and he welcomed me with enthusiasam as long as told everyone that it was my business, which seems fair.
I only posted the one post but there are alot of interesting articles in there at times even if its mainly pushing Air conditioning, it is still interesting.
I like to read different sites the more I read the more I learn. There are smart people posting in both sites and all worth a read
I say welcome Tim.

Posted Friday 2 Sep 2016 @ 9:46:28 am from IP #
Canberra Mark
Member

@arttt- Sorry if it came across as though I was attacking you- definitely not what I was intending. I'm a member of a number of internet forums and have seen how nasty it can get out there. Definitely want to see this forum remaining an inclusive space for a broad range of people- and agree that most people with an interest in sustainable housing tend to be reasonable and pleasant folk. A gentle PM can go a long way if you feel someone is out of line- odds are they don't realize it and will happily modify their behavior.
Mark

Posted Friday 2 Sep 2016 @ 12:39:32 pm from IP #
Frewvk
Member

Tangential perspective perhaps but for what its worth, Ive read content here and whirlpool for years. However it is worth noting one must also create a profile and log in to post here too. Uploading images here requires joining up to other sites for image hosting and then linking to them.
I have had a Facebook profile from way back when i was an "early adopter" and it was used as photo sharing interface between friends in the early 90s. For my privacy this account has been decomissioned /abandoned. I have another profile now deliberately barren on personal info for the purpose of accessing specific groups of interest to me. When using the platform in this manner i avoid seeing any advertising and by electing not to "like" posts or other interactions with the platform there is nominal information gathering as the trade off for what i feel is an accessible format for information sharing. I am reluctant to post on Public Groups however as my honest to goodness real life identifiable name is broadcast.
Everyone has their own experiences shaping their perspectives and priorities.
Ive been an ata member longer than i have been a forum member or contributor. And ive benefited from the information shared here and elsewhere for far longer than that.
I have also seen some of the internet nastiness to which CanberraMark refers and agree that it is best avoided.
Perhaps the creation of this thread will allow future users to be directed to "search for the thread with the link to the electric house facebook group" and then should they follow up is their decision. Ive been skulking about reading and have found it interesting.

Posted Saturday 3 Sep 2016 @ 12:57:54 am from IP #
Bushwalker
Member

I agree with a lot of your comments Frewvk, however I would like to point out differences between a FB Group and an internet forum such as this one.

Frewvk said:
Tangential perspective perhaps but for what its worth, Ive read content here and whirlpool for years. However it is worth noting one must also create a profile and log in to post here too. Uploading images here requires joining up to other sites for image hosting and then linking to them.

This forum, and Whirlpool, and most forums are readable by anyone interested on the internet. Unless the forum owners block search engines, the content is indexed and is available via search engines such as google. FB closed groups are not available to non members and the content is not indexed by search engines.

FB is not everything in terms of content. Neither is this or any other forum. The internet is bigger than any single entity. A closed FB group may have great content (or not) but it's content is not available to anyone searching on internet search engines, which would be the prime method of internet users searching for useful information they currently do not have.

Posting images to this forum and most others does not require joining another image hosting site. Postimage and others do not require membership, images can be uploaded and linked or displayed on other sites.

Posted Saturday 3 Sep 2016 @ 1:51:53 am from IP #
Frewvk
Member

Thanks for the recommendation of Post Image. I will follow that up.

Posted Saturday 3 Sep 2016 @ 8:50:06 am from IP #

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