Sparkey961 if you do decide to take the plunge into FB here is a group that may be interest: Inland Seas, Kayaking the Great Lakes. It’s a ‘Private’ group. that is, you need to ask to join and you can be kicked out if you post like an idiot. The moderators keep it pretty well controlled.
I don’t get the e-mails from FB. I sorted out how to turn them off soon after I started. I do get some notifications on the phone but they are easy enough to ignore.
@rival51 said:
Sparkey961 if you do decide to take the plunge into FB here is a group that may be interest: Inland Seas, Kayaking the Great Lakes. It’s a ‘Private’ group. that is, you need to ask to join and you can be kicked out if you post like an idiot. The moderators keep it pretty well controlled.
Thanks for the tip. That alone might persuade me to give it a go.
There is a Skin-on-Frame group that I follow as well. Also, some of the Qajaq events host pages if you have an interest in that (I do).
Oh lord! If I got emails every time someone posted something on Facebook it would drive me nuts. I would have deleted my account long ago. No, you don’t have to put up with that. Poke around in ‘settings’ and ‘privacy’ and you can make Facebook much more tolerable. Pay close attention to who sees what. Several of my friends have their accounts/posts set to “public”. I don’t respond to those posts because they get spread way too far. The good thing about a Facebook GROUP (e.g. a sea kayaker’s group) is that you are only communicating with other group members; not the whole world.
In your regular account if you see the little globe icon it means the post / poster is spreading their message as far as they possibly can. If you see the head and shoulders icon the poster is just sharing with their friends.
I hate Facebook. That said, I do keep track of 2 discussion forums on it. One is a local river racing forum, the other is a spinoff gear trade forum. Amazing local (Texas) boats come up for sale-but they are marathon or racing related. I have also used it to keep up with several companies occasionally. Who better than the manufacturer to post links praising their products…
If you don’t control your settings, its just like reading the National Enquirer then. If you control your settings, its like getting your own personal Paddling Magazine etc. I have 800 friends and “hide” all settings and updates from them except my closest paddling circle of friends I also un-follow all ads and irrelevant related groups and things. In OTHER WORDS my entire Facebook feeds that comes in, only deals with Paddling, Canoe & Kayaking, Expeditions, Adventure, Outdoors and gear…so its basically a constantly changing version of Paddler Magazine, C&K, Canoeroots, and SeaKayaker…all in one place! It helped that I created a group which has become the largest paddling group on the net and in the country…about 2100 members. We use it as a message board for our members and to keep tabs of everyone’s expeditions and also a means to give paddlers info…We have a lot of “river angels” in our group that end up meeting up with paddlers and helping with resupply, water and food drops, logistics, portaging , a place a stay, and even a cold beer. We have since gotten together for a rendezvous where we had 70 paddlers from 13 states and 5 countries show up and paddle for 200-miles… So in a sense , Facebook has somehow brought together a tight weave of paddling brothers and sisters and many of us are now best friends.
In short…control what YOU WANT TO see, learn, and listen to----is it paddling? Cooking? Gear? Movies? History? Or all of the above? etc…you have a lot of control. Its far better than email too. You can actually see someones paddling adventure while they are ON THE Journey. We’ve had many members post daily updates of their 6-month expeditions across the continent. So its as if your are in the canoe with them .Can’t do that with email.
Cheers.
A lot of the grumpiness I hear in these responses seems to arise from ignorance about how to control your involvement on FB through “settings”. I’ve put restrictions on notifications so I am not bothered with ANY emails or other hectoring regarding posting activities. i only see FB if I choose to log onto it and check my “feed”. I have also “muted” or blocked specific “friends” who tend to overpost trivialities or re-post memes and religious or political blather. If I notice an increase in paid ads intruding on my FB feed, I take a few seconds to mark them individually as “not relevant to me” which seems to decrease them substantially. I NEVER click on side bar ads so I have so far not noticed any increase in junk mail or other annoyances outside of the platform.
I’m on FB for multiple reasons, among them that my extended family (a dozen cousins, particularly) and good friends are scattered across the country and beyond and it’s a great way to keep up with what they and their families are all up to. I have found that it’s a handy place to share photos from my frequent trips and paddling outings and to let people know when I might be visiting in their area. I also find out about events in my area, from volunteer opportunities and kayak outings to concerts, lectures and museum exhibit openings . Several of my FB “friends” regularly post links to very interesting historical and scientific information of which I would otherwise not be aware. Recently, several of us did a 7-day black and white “everyday life” photo challenge on FB that resulted in getting to see some very cool shots. Just yesterday I signed up with a new FB group , the "Senior Kayakers Club 55+ ", and am hoping to make connections with some other older paddlers who also have the freedom to travel I’m enjoying in retirement.
I suppose one reason I enjoy a daily “drop in” to FB is that I’m retired now (unlike most of my friends and relatives) and don’t have as much opportunity to see other people in person on a daily basis. I look at FB as an information consolidator and a way to stay socially connected with people. In fact, since I signed up 7 years ago I have had at least a dozen folks from my past with whom I had lost contact reach out and reconnect with me, including an old friend who now lives on a cacao plantation in Nicaragua and has invited me to visit. Also was rediscovered by a guy I had dated 40 years earlier during college – after finding each other through FB we spent nearly 4 years together as a couple and had a lot of excellent adventures.
If you make the effort to set up stringent controls you can make your FB page whatever you want or need it to be. How much information you share on it, and what circle of people you connect with is entirely up to you.
It sounds like there are some parts of Facebook that could be of benefit. Now I need to find some time (read “motivation”) to get it all set up and configured.
I tried to find an old girlfriend on FB, but failed. Probably a good thing since my wife is on it.
If it were
our “Book”
then the “auto”
wouldn’t drive
off
with biographies
into wasteland
of uber populace
sandwiched
in a billboard forest
where the ebaying
and the barking
of huckster
hounds
to submission
what is written
from face
to face
into faceless
pages
I do not do Facebook, never have, expect I never will. I don’t tweet either. When it started, it seemed that all it was good for was for someone to tell the world what they had for breakfast that morning and other inane stupid trivia. Somehow I have managed to live all this time without knowing those things.
I don’t text either. Never have, never will. it seems stupid that the device I hold in my hand has a higher technology capability of actually being able to speak to someone with actual voice, or to leave a recorded voice message if there is no answer. What a concept! Why would I send a message to someone with my thumbs when I could actually speak to them in conversation instead? If a written message is required, that is what email is made for. I consider texting to be only half a step above using morse code, which I learned as a first class scout, but have never had the need to use since. From what I have seen, the English language takes a step backward with the shortcut language used in texting. If someone writes like that to me in email, I am likely to ignore the message, or at least tell them I do not understand gibberish. Write to me in customary proper English please!
The phone my workplace forced me to get is a simple “old-fashioned” flip phone, which I demanded instead of the blackberry they wanted me to carry. I can answer a ringing phone just fine and speak into it to the person on the other end without using my thumbs to respond.
I don’t exist…Why? I am faceless inyourFacebook! Don’t “AD” me to the mix.
Please, please hit my like button!
I think it’s fine to use what works for you. This place works for me.
@castoff said:
I think it’s fine to use what works for you. This place works for me.
Agreed, except that trying to find others who are local to actually get off my ass and go paddle with is difficult using only this site. I’m fine with going solo most of the time, but I’m still human and occasionally desire the company of others.
I’ve gone ahead and joined under a false name. So far, it has opened up a few “join walls” so I can see some of what was previously blocked, not being a member. I’ve gone through all of the settings I could find and set them to the most secure, least intrusive settings possible. I’ll give it some time and see if it helps to improve my life or not. If not, I have no problem abandoning it.
Well, that was a waste of time.
It turns out I didn’t look “real enough” to some person, or more likely some algorithm. It’s almost a shame too because I was finding some potentially interesting groups. I guess they don’t want people like me on Facebook.
Not a user myself, but I think it’s a good tool for small business.
I live on the other side of the US from Sterling Kayaks (WA - FL).
There are no dealers anywhere near here.
A company website is good for the ‘facts’: products, prices, etc., but it’s not ‘alive’.
Facebook postings for a business is up to date.
Seeing pictures of the latest boat, youtube links (embedded) of folks paddling the boats, interviews with Sterling, etc.
I’ve purchased 3 of his boats - site unseen.
@Sparky961 said:
It turns out I didn’t look “real enough” to some person, or more likely some algorithm. It’s almost a shame too because I was finding some potentially interesting groups. I guess they don’t want people like me on Facebook.
They think you are a Russian…
Let’s Face It Friend (or Friended Frenemy)
Subversives
submersive,
they twitter,
toot’s’t’weet.
They displace
from some place,
to Dano’s booked face,
mugged sweet.
If they’re russian
in discussion,
someone’s slushin’,
their fund to meet.
Many now fumin’
“They’re communin’,
social’ist reunion!”
Net worked complete.
Front line did a 2 part show on Putin. We need to take this stuff seriously, and get our act together.
I text. It’s less intrusive for those I am reaching out to . When responding to an emergency taking a phone call is not possible
Facebook has been a godsend for finding out what my neighbors might need. We’ve been hit hard with a storm and it’s nice to know what roads are passable and which not. We have sketchy internet and FB is the easiest to load. We have marginal
Cell service and no power for several days now
I love sharing pics and getting critiques from the State of Maine photraphers group. It’s inspiring and gives me travel ideas
Also there are some postcard history groups that are interesting
It’s not all selfies and food pictures
My local elected officials are on FB too
Good way to know what’s going on