Like most, I have been on the forums for over a decade. I feel it is not only a benefit to learn more about your passion, but it logs history that people can look at in years to come.

Does anyone feels that Facebook groups are growing in numbers? I have seen forums start to decrease in numbers and I am not sure if it is the people leaving because they have grown out of the culture of their passion, or if Facebook has made it easier to find what they need, and also get an instant response. On the forums there are so many stipulations.

Facebook allows you to join a group quick and easy. There is no "user name" and people get back to you quicker. Forums pack a whole lot of knowledge that no one person could dig through in their life time, but with the ever changing way society wants information it seems Facebook is making it easier to get answers and sell parts.

What is everyone's thoughts on this topic? Am incorrect and just assuming this, or is this a real issue? To me, if people flock to Facebook, this could lead to websites losing advertising and membership to keep the site running. Like most things that interest us , this one has been on my mind for about a year now.


Cheers,


Eathen

 

FB /Twitter seem to be quicker in response times, but I find the forums a bit more slower paced but pack-in more useful, searchable info

Will be interesting to see how these SM trends evolve going fwd. Should have bought FB when it was in the high teens

 

I couldn't agree more. I admin a Evo enthusiasts Facebook page in Australia and feel the whole Facebook arrangement works better for the members than the whole traditional forum setup. I think the big difference is the fact that forums such as EvoM are businesses, a way to make money for someone. Taking advertising payments from vendors, and all the bias that brings, pretty much removes any objectivity on the part of the admins. I've seen threads removed because the content paints a vendor, who paid a lot of money for advertising, in a bad light. The other issue is both a good and bad thing, the whole longevity of the forum system. Being able to search for threads started in 2007 might be handy at times, but if I have to read a comment like "this question has been answered a million times, just use the search function" I'll scream, just answer the question, post up a link or don't comment, Facebook just seems a more personal system.
I feel that the admins on Facebook need to be pretty vigilant to stop trolling, I have a no warnings, you troll you're gone, policy. I also monitor the page very carefully, keeping the content relevant, remove any non-evo advertising, ask vendors to pm me first before placing any ads on the page (the first time) and members have to apply to join, I actually check each applicant personally, all 500 at this point, to make sure they're actually interested in Evo's (looking for pictures of Evo's and such) or at least jdm stuff. Lots of people don't get added because their Facebook pages are full of crap, cheap Ray Ban ads and things like that.
So I feel that the traditional "forum" style system might be a bit 1990's, but like that form of internet interest site, Facebook pages need to have careful administration and are really only as good as the members who have joined.

 

Very nice, I have a lot of respect for anyone that does something completely and does not halfass it, you myfriend, are a bada** admin.

 

FB is the young guys communication tool, will it overtake forums? Well when the young guys get older they will bring it with them and the old dinosaurs (us) will gradually die out. But I bet the dinosaurs will put up a fight before they go down

 

I agree that mediums like Facebook are taking traffic away from forums like EvoM, but the downside is that many of the public groups seem to be huge congregations of lazy, uninformed people asking the same 3 questions and spewing misinformation.

 

Sadly , I don't know how much longer car forums will exist. Facebook was created and became the strongest marketing tool for anything. The farthest reach instantly. People are now used to instant gratification for anything. Instant gratification is rewarding psychologically and changes the way we are do things. Most of the FB posts are on topics that have been answered multiple times on forums but people won't take the time to research anything anymore. The quality of the answers is typically poor as well.

So instead of going to a car forum for a platform thats been around over a decade with guys/shops that have built their cars or modified something they just make a post on FB. The first couple guys respond with misinformation but the OP instantly see's them as knowledgeable unfortunately.

Some recent topics I've seen covered poorly were building a fuel system for xxxx hp. Some people commented with double pumpers or a surge tank design but the OP steered towards a guy that said stock lines will support it . Cheap,easy.. Fuel system is the last place you want to cut corners on any fuel.
Instead of researching the tons of build threads or reading about other peoples mistakes he may put 10K into a build but fall short on a fuel system and melt everything since A guy on the interwebs told him it was good or that his buddy did it.

The internet has been good for alot of things but bad for the human mind . If you look back a few decades people had to use their minds more for things. There weren't multiple choice answers on tests. There weren't GPS systems and we had to use maps. You listened to what people had to say and absorbed the information. Ask your parents where they were when they were xxx age and what they were doing.

Throughout history we needed to store information to survive and flourish. Our brains HAD to do it. Now, we can google anything and get the answer but we don't need to absorb it. We know how to find it but we don't need to store it anymore.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0368a1a613e96

Semi related, people also don't think that there are TWO sides to every story. I've seen numerous posts where a guy states that xxx sold or built him something and it broke. Everyone jumps on that guys bandwagon but no one thinks to ask him specific questions on it. They also would quickly leave the guy bad feedback with only one side of the story. A companies reputation destroyed overnight over one persons side of it.

These cars are complicated and the entire system has to be setup correctly. XXX builds you an engine, you don't take the time to research how to burp the cooling system or prime the oil pump etc.. it blows up and you blame him. Or he builds you an engine and your buddy/cousin/internet hero says it will take 35psi on pump gas and spits the headgasket out.. You blame the engine builder and quickly everyone bashes him. Or a shop wants to put all new parts in your transmission so they know it will shift well but you/internet says its not needed and is too much money. That shop is putting their name on it and it needs to be right.

Sorry for being longwinded, if you need a laugh I would highly suggest watching this movie. Hopefully the world doesn't get this bad...

 

Facebook will get replaced by Snapchat, which will probably get replaced by something from Elon Musk (MuskChat™ ), which will get replaced by Virtual Reality, etc.

Technology keeps on marching. Get in where you fit in.

 

I agree everything Is headed towards facebook, people use it for quick answers and they have the app on their phones letting them know immediately when someone responds and such. However like stated above so much wrong information, however there is a lot of useful info since a lot of professional shops have taken their business to facebook which never hurts, I will say whenever I google for and answer I may have about my car I always try to word it best in google and finish with evom. 9 times out of 10 a bunch of info will come up connecting to this forum. I will always use this forum for any type of technical info or anything else I need. I will say I use facebook for its ease of use when trying to sell parts ( IMO its much easier to simply upload a picture and description).

 

Is this now part of mans evolution where research is done with press of a button and minds don't get exercised like the good old days, therefore memory cells are not formed so corporations take advantage of this by flashing stuff up so we can buy instantly, is mankind one day just going to become jelly sitting on chairs tapping away staring into virt real headsets??

 

User start date 2012.
Only the best comes from MI.

But yes, Im on the Michigan Evo page. As people stated, theres a faster response time, people in your area to meet with and get parts, etc. Also the normal drama one sees on a forum however it happens in real life with real life names and people. Beats watching MTV. But to be honest, its nice to know locals in the area and who to trust, etc.

 

^ haha thats the first thing I noticed too

apparently then I've been on here since 2000 smh

 

I was noticing this place was starting to slow down. I always assumed it was just because the platform is aging. I guess FB has something to do with it as well.

 

I was on a DSM forum and watched it slowly die as the cars aged and the user base moved on. It looks the same here.

 

^ seems like it's all about the RS now