SCC on Facebook

[Lee Roy]

After hearing Roger's statistics last night for the amount of hits on the website - 25% of hits from the uk, something like 37% from China!

Would there be any legs in setting up a Facebook profile for the SCC? It could raise the profile of the club around the region no end.

[Kieron McMahon]

Interesting idea. Initial thoughts...

1. A facebook web presence may detract from this forum with people perhaps not wanting to log into two separate web sites.
2. Those posting messages may not want to do it twice.
3. FB no longer allows a title other than a real name unless payment is made to them. I believe this was to stop commercial activity being undertaken for free but it impacts on other clubs and societies.
4. Probably would be more visible but I think the threads on this forum are archived by Google and therefore opened up to the public.
5. May involve more work with moderation to prevent inappropriate postings and/or photographs.

These thoughts may make it look like I'm being negative but I certainly don't wish to dampen any enthusiasm - it was just a few things that came to mind. It is a good idea to put this up for discussion.

p.s. As a small footnote, I have set my bookmark for SCC at the website's homepage. This is my first port-of-call before clicking on the forum button. Consequently, anyone doing the same is registering hits/visits on the website and may distort the figures a little.

[Kieron McMahon]

After hearing Roger's statistics last night for the amount of hits on the website - 25% of hits from the uk, something like 37% from China!

I must admit I found that figure for China most fascinating. Just to make a quick comparison, I have just checked some statistics for one of my websites and from 725,703 hits during February, only 4.32% originated from China. This makes me wonder what content on the SCC site is being flagged up in the far east that makes it attractive to both end users and/or bots? Perhaps cycling in China really is BIG!!

[Lee Roy]

I wasn’t suggesting that we replace the forum with FB but if we link the two together – Facebook and the forum we could attract more riders to the club/forum who wouldn’t normally look at the forum or are aware of how diverse our riding demographic is.

For example if we added a local cycle shop as friend – several local bikeshops which have FB accounts have hundreds of friends. There are people who would look at the SCC page, see what we do then may come along to an event – your Easter treasure hunt maybe? (Another idea for you would be to do some touring rides looking for Geocaches which can be quite fun)

There are endless possibilities to FB which is why thousands of clubs, groups and associations use it. I don’t think there’s a better (free) way to raise the profile of a group.

Plenty of people use FB every day to keep in touch with friends and family, in my opinion it would be daft not to take advantage.

[Kieron McMahon]

There are endless possibilities to FB which is why thousands of clubs, groups and associations use it. I don’t think there’s a better (free) way to raise the profile of a group. Plenty of people use FB every day to keep in touch with friends and family, in my opinion it would be daft not to take advantage.

Oops, please don't misunderstand me - I'm all for utilising other media platforms. I just wanted to provoke some discussion on the issue. I quite like FB myself and I have three profiles on there. And yes, I think there is mileage in your idea. I don't think it would be free if it were called Stourbridge CC. You can set up a profile under a real name and then create a group for free but then it isn't perhaps as easily identifiable as SCC. However, you can try to trick the robot when naming your profile but it isn't as easy as it sounds.

[NickH]

(Another idea for you would be to do some touring rides looking for Geocaches which can be quite fun)

nice idea

How about an off road v on road competition one day-who( as a group) can log the most geocaches???

[Roger Allen]

I have wondered about setting up a Facebook page for SCC previously but have declined because it is more work - and had the same thought as Kieron ref: moving the focus from our forum.
However - if you want to set it up and administer it then please do - then invite members to join it. It could reach a wider audience.

[Lee Roy]

However - if you want to set it up and administer it then please do - then invite members to join it. It could reach a wider audience.

C'mon Roger, I'm sure you have a little more room in your already (not) busy (enough) schedule.

Maybe if it is agreed to by the club it could be administered by several people? I.e. more than one person has the profile password?

[Kieron McMahon]

I just twiddled with this to see if I could swerve past normal protocols and it worked. Consequently, I have established http://www.facebook.com/stourbridge.cycling.club - it may take 24hrs for that link to work as I changed the profile by verifying through a mobile. On the page itself I had to hypenate the name so it looks like Stourbridge Cycling-Club.

By the way, I wasn't trying to hi-jack this idea. I chatted to Roger on the training ride and he seemed to think it would be a good idea but he doesn't have the time. I just went through the set-up process as I thought I could try to outwit the robot and it seemed to work. As suggested, we need to have a few trustworthy club members who can log-in and add material. As Touring Secretary, I can add a bit of material. Anyone else want to have a go?

[Gavin]

Can't you just create a page on facebook rather than a person? As far as I can see its free to do...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

[Kieron McMahon]

Can't you just create a page on facebook rather than a person? As far as I can see its free to do...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

I think so but as far as I can determine it doesn't have the flexibility or scope of the standard 'person' profile.

[Kieron McMahon]

Well, the first few people have signed up as friends of Stourbridge Cycling Club on Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/stourbridge.cycling.club] I have copied and pasted a forum message to kick-start it. Please note that I have put a message title at the top in capital letters - it would be helpful if everyone starting a new topic can do the same as it will make it easier to follow.

[Kieron McMahon]

I have added a couple of photo albums to SCC Facebook to add a little colour to the pages. I'll try to add to this in the near future when out-and-about with the club. My regular rides tend to be Tuesday Training, Saturday's Mad Dash and the Sunday Touring Ride but it would be great to see photographs from other rides such as off-road and cross. If you are not sure how to add stuff you can e-mail me some pics [my address is on the committee page] and I'll add them for you.

[Kieron McMahon]

On a couple of occasions I have received an e-mail from FB telling me that an individual wishes to become friends of SCC but when I look on the site it tells me that there are no active requests. I have not experienced this on other FB accounts so it is a puzzle. This happened with Jayne Cheslin and the latest is from Dee Harrison. I can try to get around this by sending a request from the SCC page but sometimes it is not easy to find people, particularly if they have a popular name or do not have a profile photograph. So, if you experience a delay with joining SCC on FB then badger me with an e-mail and I'll try to sort it out. Still curious why this should happen though? On the plus side, there are now 21 friends of SCC FB.

[Kieron McMahon]

The SCC Facebook pages are starting to take shape and there is plenty of colour now. There are now 27 friends who can post to the wall with SCC-related material so if you have anything that will help to promote the club please make a contribution.