The UKvac FB group?

[Max...]

I did not even realise there was one until someone mentioned it this week on here. Like many I don't really 'do' FB unless I have to TBH. Not just the whole 'socials' thing but just find FB a total shonky mess compared to the structure and ease of looking stuff up, coming back to topics, known members, close knit trusted group etc on forums as here.

So, are the same people behind UKvac behind the FB group and do most users here cross over?

I did join a couple of days ago but posts still pending admin (again - always seems a common FB theme) but looking on there it seems to be the place to buy/sell - cabs especially as these now seem a bit thin on the forum but is that just because non-forum members join UKvac-FB just to sell?

 

[Bods]

sounds pretty spot on that

lots are only interested in selling items and paying no fees so they'll join any facebook or social media group to flog it and with many younger brought up with phones they can't be bothered with old type PC's and its with them 24 365

Certainly seems to be some good cabs sold on there at some decent prices which is good if you still have space to buy more which is why I dare not look on there lol else I'd get myself in more mess buying stuff but yeah this is the place for proper chat and help

 

[qjuk]

The problem I find with Facebook is that it’s so buggy. If I’m looking for something that’s more that a couple of weeks old, it is a nightmare. I’d actually say it’s near impossible as FB “crashes” on my IOS devices (phone and ipad) and starts back at the beginning if it has to load too many photos/messages when scrolling back through the postings.

FB is a necessary evil IMHO. Most of the good sale stuff gets posted there, including the cheaper USA import machines.
There’s a lot of users who only seem to post on FB, some on both FB and the main forum, some only here on the forum.

I personally much prefer the main forum here, it’s a better layout and generally a better vibe overall.

I believe the UKVac FB group is run by the same admins as here.

 

[69er]

There seems to be a general decline in the number of members who post or reply with comments .. members who often appeared a few years ago are no longer seen yet I believe the still view and even log on occasionally?

General , technical, sales & wanted. All seem affected the same way.. maybe when ukvac follows jammaplus to beyond infinity it will be too late to recover the forum ?

The fore mentioned regular commenters do show up on rare occasion but don’t appear that often on fb , pinballinfo or other forums either …. Are they just fed up or has the novelty of the hobby passed them by ? Just a trend ? Or worse while they need fix advice or sell a few items ? Bit selfish if that’s the case ?

I am on fbukvac and pinballinfo and other minor related forums but do find this most engaging with restoration projects , memories, pictures of less common cabs , especially when housed in ambitious home arcade gamesrooms etc. all great to follow.

Fb doesn’t offer the opportunity for others to appreciate your interests and if you go back in history (not far) what happened to Autotrader weekly , record collector, coin slot , Kodak paper photos in family albums..etc etc all gave way to internet and nothing is saved to look back on any more.

Maybe we older generation are not adjusting with the times BUT, I can open an 80s machine and feel quite comfortable inside… or a 60 s pinball or jukebox .. and still most 21st century computer tech too.

I recall A/F & Whitworth spanner’s before metric just as some on the forum still enjoy big10p. and other pre decimal coins and mechanical coin entries and still sometimes reference printed electronics books or past magazines for coin op or general antiques.

As said above fb can be viewed for a short time you can comment but rarely get into conversation.. it disappears in no time , even shuffles up posts if you go back tomorrow you can’t recall a post on many occasions … not least as adverts sneak in by the back door!

My opininion is support the forum more, it was quite strange to see an explosion of comments a few months back when Alpha1 put up a mystery marquee photo to be guessed and it received many pages of continuity and follow up replies, The restorations with pictures are great too the dragons lair cab at present being one..

The patience and personal skill and time put into these recovery projects is admirable … as also are the fix logs and other general crt & pcb repairs. If these were posted on fb the items would probably get trolled for being too invasive? But how many folks are continually listing boards for sale on fb one after the other like it’s their personal private social advertising channel!

Ok we all want sell and perhaps buy stuff (free of eBay fees and limitations) and chat with people briefly. So all the outlets have a purpose , just hope this forum doesn’t collapse as a result of lost interest!

 

[TheDaddy]

I dont do faceshit ! cant stand it. Prefer to miss out than be tracked at my every move thanks !

Dave.

 

[Max...]

Thanks for the comments chaps - I'll go off on a bit of a tangent - speaking for myself although videogames have been a big part of my life (like all the fellow oldies on here I guess since the late 70's/80s) I do tend to drift out of them seasonally and therefore drift in/out of the forums - but I always come back. I find it hard when the sun is shining in the summer to sit down and 'waste time' playing games when (again as oldies) we have only got so many years left...!

However, as more and more one day follows another into the 21st century, one thing is for sure - being born late 60's/early 70's was the greatest gift ever - we might have spent a small chunk of our lives enjoying stuff through a 20" CRT but we spent the rest enjoying 'real' life/people/experiences.

For toddlers upwards it's more like your entire world through a 5" flat screen 24/7 for some years now.

The modern world - pah - I just cut myself off from news totally a few years back as everything is so fooked up, and tech is handy but the way it's going...

 

[Bods]

Thanks for the comments chaps - I'll go off on a bit of a tangent - speaking for myself although videogames have been a big part of my life (like all the fellow oldies on here I guess since the late 70's/80s) I do tend to drift out of them seasonally and therefore drift in/out of the forums - but I always come back. I find it hard when the sun is shining in the summer to sit down and 'waste time' playing games when (again as oldies) we have only got so many years left...!

However, as more and more one day follows another into the 21st century, one thing is for sure - being born late 60's/early 70's was the greatest gift ever - we might have spent a small chunk of our lives enjoying stuff through a 20" CRT but we spent the rest enjoying 'real' life/people/experiences.

For toddlers upwards it's more like your entire world through a 5" flat screen 24/7 for some years now.

The modern world - pah - I just cut myself off from news totally a few years back as everything is so fooked up, and tech is handy but the way it's going...

Absolutely, It was a joy to be around through the birth of Video Games and all the other cool stuff the 70's/80's brought us 90's was good too when Internet first around, surrounded by old stuff from these times is just the tonic you need to forget about the stuff these days

Not listening to any News/Weather is just bliss, I get up and look out the window and think well It's raining so I'll do stuff indoors or Sun is out I'll get outside working and not scared about some bad weather like storm Hilda is coming and be careful as trees, buildings, cranes could fall on you best to stay home (quoting the Princess of Darkness - Laura Tobin) from GMB that repeats the Climate Fear Porn for the MOD Met Office

First thing I did when was forced to use Windows 10 on work laptop was turn off all the crap news/weather nonsense and I'll be doing same with 11 on the new laptop that arrived monday, I don't wanna see any of that rubbish

 

[Lardonate]

Easier to post pictures on Facebook I guess. I only go on there to check a few groups. I think a lot of people on there are completely unaware there's even a forum.

I'll be honest, I check the fb a lot more than I do the forum these days. But I chat to other people on discord servers more than anything now.

 

[ExZX]

Half the users on the FB group can't read or skim read. I tried messaging someone on there this week on behalf of a member on here that doesn't use FB and it is painful trying to communicate. Gave up in the end. Maybe I should have used pictures? Nah.
One word 'idiots'.
Yes I do believe the world is full of stupid people and a high percentage of them infest Facebook.
There I said it. Idiots = Facebook, ad infinitum.

 

[Bods]

I had some time off work like 6 months because they were doing my head in, working with and for these type of people and I had to go to doctors for certificates, Doctor was asking me stuff and I was explaining some of the things getting me down and I said to her, I feel like I'm surrounded by Idiots, sure she was trying not too laugh but I was being serious, that's when I moved to working 3 shifts a week to get away from the clowns I followed round weekly and now the crap they have us going to fix it's like history repeating itself which is why hopefully retirement is looking favourable now because that was about the last time I've been doctors which is probably 15 years ago

 

[TheDaddy]

I had some time off work like 6 months because they were doing my head in, working with and for these type of people and I had to go to doctors for certificates, Doctor was asking me stuff and I was explaining some of the things getting me down and I said to her, I feel like I'm surrounded by Idiots, sure she was trying not too laugh but I was being serious, that's when I moved to working 3 shifts a week to get away from the clowns I followed round weekly and now the crap they have us going to fix it's like history repeating itself which is why hopefully retirement is looking favourable now because that was about the last time I've been doctors which is probably 15 years ago

Problem is when one idiot dies God replaces them with a bigger idiot ! lol We cant win.

Dave.

 

[big10p]

Yeah but, Facebook has some great kitty cat videos, which makes enduring the idiots easier. 😸

 

[TheDaddy]

Yeah but, Facebook has some great kitty cat videos, which makes enduring the idiots easier. 😸

You cant beat videos with cute pussies in

Dave.

 

[BubNotBob]

Discord seems to taking over from forums and FB these days, but I don't like the format as much as a forum. I can't be bothered with FB.

 

[kingtreelo]

i am on facebook for groups only and buying stuff, as others have mentioned, it is full of idiots but there are still a lot of nice people out there if you are part of a nice community

i tend to see a lot more cabs advertised on the FB group than on here, which is a shame, and communicating with people who use facebook can be one of the most painful experiences you will ever encounter

 

[big10p]

Discord seems to taking over from forums and FB these days, but I don't like the format as much as a forum. I can't be bothered with FB.

Just me that hates discord, then? Lol. Only use it when I have to. So much fluff thrown at me, confusing format and logging in recently was harder than getting access to online banking. Wtf?

 

[Max...]

Well, nearly a week on from being ‘admitted’ to the group and my first two posts are still awaiting admin approval So I still can’t actually participate - you gotta love Faceshite! 😵‍💫🤪😆

 

[chubsta]

I miss the days of IRC when you only got to talk to people who were tech-savvy and the internet was only really viable for people who had the intelligence and perseverance to understand it.

Now the internet is infested with the sort of dimwits who used to use aol chat rooms etc.

Worst thing about the net was that it became accessible to the general population, who are generally dumb sheep.

Snobbish and elitist? Yep, don’t care.

 

[John Bennett]

A lot more buying and selling seems to happen on the FB group.
It's hard to work out who's both on there and here as it's all real names on there.

I'd thought it was a public group - it certainly is/was to view. The problem with that is your friends and family get bored to death seeing your UKVAC posts in their daily feed as the algorithm thinks they need to see such things (until they stop following you).
So do you need admin approval to post and comment now? You didn't used to, so any random troll could jump in.

 

[Max...]

A lot more buying and selling seems to happen on the FB group.
It's hard to work out who's both on there and here as it's all real names on there.

I'd thought it was a public group - it certainly is/was to view. The problem with that is your friends and family get bored to death seeing your UKVAC posts in their daily feed as the algorithm thinks they need to see such things (until they stop following you).
So do you need admin approval to post and comment now? You didn't used to, so any random troll could jump in.

Yes, public group so anyone can view but to post you must join and then have first posts vetted before they are published.