New club Facebook page

[Mick D]

Hi

I have benefitted from the use of the forum and try to reciprocate in a positive and helpful manner as I have restored several classic motorcycles and am currently restoring an FH.
I have not joined the club because I don't see significant benefit in doing so and I baulk at the additional £10 for the first years membership.
In my opinion the club should publicise the benefits of membership more efficiently, for example, what parts are available through the spares scheme, what data is available in the library etc.
Maybe closing the forum to non members after a limited introductory period would goad potential members to join.
Opening a FB group may increase awareness of the club but it could also contribute to fewer members if the group provides technical advice and discussion.

Just some random thoughts of a forum member.

Regards Mick

[Dave.Thomas]

But it’s the club and members that pay for the forum Mick, you’d hope they’d feel like contributing without having to be goaded

[JohnnyBeckett]

I Joined the club to be part of the ariel owners club and to support the club and to be part of it their is a very good lot of members and i get a good lot response on my posts from club members and they are very helpful to me and i like the cheval magazine it is very good reading and keeps you in touch with the rest of the world of club members i will not go on facebook i will sick with the club forum and just keep paying my membership to a very good club and enjoying it

[harry.thompson]

There is a problem here judging by the number of posts in such a short time. The danger may also be that we exclude and alienate many (particularly long serving) Ariel members with a "switch" to Facebook as a consequence of trying to boost numbers. I too refuse to see my association with a particular user interest collected by a 3rd party for others to exploit with marketing campaigns. FB is something I choose to avoid to protect my own personal interests. Telling me to get over there are start chatting about Ariels is very disconcerting.

What we don't seem to have worked out is: "what is the digital strategy for the club?" The web site, the magazine, the forum, social media are all important components and should be integrated and used to their best advantage. Trouble is they look as if they may be starting to compete with each other instead of being used in a collaborative way.

I really appreciate the idea that we appeal to wider audiences and keep more people in the fold. The more the better. I also look at the purpose of the club as being a foundation and place where we protect the knowledge and information of the members for years to come. Fragmentation will not be good for the club's objectives and FaceBook could never achieve these objectives on its own. So we need to understand, as a club and organisation, what goes where, when, how, etc. so we have a clear picture of what this means and how each component develops.

[Leejm]

My first post was really to let people on the forum know about the group no way was it to be disconcerting to anyone. I apologise if it came across that way that was never the intention. It was meant as a friendly invite to the members. My own personal views on Facebook hasn't come into it, I'm happy to back the club in anyway I can for the future. Some ideas will work others not that's life. Doing nonthing is never the best option, if anyone else has any idea I'm sure the committee will be pleased to hear them. And I will support them ideas too even if I personally like it or not. Lee

[Rob Reaney]

I am apparently a founder member of your new Facebook group as I joined and posted pictures on it right away. Just looking briefly at Facebook, it contains the following Ariel related groups:

1: Ariel Motorcycle Club: 390 members started November 2010... closed group.
2: Another so called Ariel MCC.... 93 members started in Feb 2017. closed group
3: The BSA and Ariel three page: 357 members started April 2011
4: The Ariel club of North America: 84 members... started October 2013. closed I think
5: The Ariel Club (Atom and Nomad): 955 members started Sept 2008.
6: Ariel leader and Arrow page: 434 members started July 2014.. closed group.
7: Ariel Motorcycles page. 2,013 members started July 2007.. open group
8: Ariel M/C Group page... 3,213 members started August 2008 .. open group.

Notice the difference in size between open and closed groups. This alone gives you an indication of what happens if you choose to become a closed group. It also makes you realise that some of these groups have been promoting Ariel Motorcycles for more than a decade, so you might ask actually, where would the club be had Facebook not existed at all?. Facebook is entirely free and entirely voluntary, so you do not have to engage at all if you do not want too. But does the club need too ? Some of the pages have more members than the actual official club and have people involved from all over the world, buying, selling, swapping, exchanging information and ideas.... I can see why some pages started as they wanted to concentrate on particular models... eg.. Ariel threes... Ariel Leaders... Atom / Nomad etc... but there are pages that I wonder why they started eg the Ariel club of North America...?

Many of the comments above seem to me to be based on fear of the unknown. Social media can have a lot to offer and I embrace some of these changes personally. Well done for getting involved as a club, and in a way... I would almost chide the club for taking so long to get involved.

[will_curry]

I thought the name was familiar:

viewtopic.php?t=6816

Same chap?

[john.whiting]

Ive applied for a couple of facebook closed groups,and also look at some open groups....cant see any difference,meself......My brothers keen on facebook,because hes always selling bits thru it......far as I can see ,facebook stuff is there for a day or so ,then gone......yeah i know you can search it..............I was trying to find out something about 750cc JAP engines,guys with them simply own the bike ,but dont have a clue about the mechanicals.....So just another way to waste time,IMHO.

[john.whiting]

But,FB is good for pics ,cause its so easy to stick them up from your phone......as a for instance ,some discussion about the JAP factory in Tottenham,so someone just nips around the corner takes a pic ,and its there for all to see....You dont "ave to liv in norf lundin" to see it.

[paul.wirdnam]

I am apparently a founder member of your new Facebook group as I joined and posted pictures on it right away. Just looking briefly at Facebook, it contains the following Ariel related groups:

1: Ariel Motorcycle Club: 390 members started November 2010... closed group.
2: Another so called Ariel MCC.... 93 members started in Feb 2017. closed group
3: The BSA and Ariel three page: 357 members started April 2011
4: The Ariel club of North America: 84 members... started October 2013. closed I think
5: The Ariel Club (Atom and Nomad): 955 members started Sept 2008.
6: Ariel leader and Arrow page: 434 members started July 2014.. closed group.
7: Ariel Motorcycles page. 2,013 members started July 2007.. open group
8: Ariel M/C Group page... 3,213 members started August 2008 .. open group.

Rob, you are wrong. The biggest and most active of the Ariel FB Groups is the "Ariel Motorcycle Group" of which I am one of the Admins. Today it has 3218 members (I just checked) and is.....a Closed Group.

My objection to the way the AOMCC Group has been set up is that it is an Open Group but with new Post Approval. i.e. a new Post has to be approved by an Admin, although it wasn't like this for the first 6 hours. With a platform like FB, why should I have to wait 5 hours (for example) for one of my posts to be Approved by an Admin before it becomes visible? That's not what FB is all about.

A Closed Group is a better way to go IMHO. All it means is someone asks to join, and an Admin says yes or no. Once a member, they are free to post and comment with no approval needed. Obviously the admins (8 of us on Ariel Motorcycles) keep things straight but we really have very little to do....just removing the odd advert or to.

Having to Approve every new post on the AOMCC Group is a quick way to throttle the young Group --- it's a pain for Admins and is very disappointing for the authors of the post. I hope you remove this "feature" asap.