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[Leswan]

Recently I have been using Facebook to communicate with other seekers. It is an increasingly flexible platform to host discussions.

Whilst The River is more than adequate for hosting discussions, I had been looking at the thread created by Aunt Clair concerning the Qi Gong study course and felt regret that this hadn't taken off. 

I wonder whether it would be a good idea to set up a River of Enlightenment page on Facebook in order to encourage more uptake in shared study projects given that Facebook is easily accessible on mobile phones, allows the uploading of a variety of media including pictures and videos, has a chat function and integrates linking to outside websites. This may help in terms of accessibility whilst on-the-go (I rarely get a moment to sit in front of my PC at home) and bridge the time difference problem.

The page could be set up as a private page in order that only trusted forum members could have access.

What do you think?

[Fendico]

*steps out of the shadows*

Excellent idea, Social Media is a great  tool for discussion and it helps bring traffic back to this site. Although too much privacy would undermine the goal.


*back in the shadows*

[Leswan]

Fendico - stay out of the shadows!!!

I'm glad you like the idea!

[Aunt Clair]

Well I think we should consider it and perhaps give it a go for a trial.

[Pawel]

I don't use Facebook or any other social networking medium but I would be willing to give this a try.

[Leswan]

Great. Maybe we could start with a Bardon book or the QiGong course AC previously put forward?
AC, are you going to set up a River of Enlightenment discussion on FB then? You can create sub discussions and documents within the main discussion. 

[Jambu]

I would be interested too. 

[Leswan]

Hi Jambu, I'll send you a PM.Hi Jambu, I'll send you a PM.

[Aunt Clair]

I am considering it. I have joined a group on Facebook but it seems very stunted to me. On FB I can not scroll down and browse subject lines or search and I think it is a poor format for discussions. It seems to me it is better for sharing photos and one liners. But perhaps I don't see the advantages yet. Please discuss this here and let me understand why we should make a FB page.

[Jambu]

I might need a tutorial on FB discussions...  I had about 5 minutes exposure to them and was pretty confused how to follow them.   Also, Facebook is funny in that it reports what people say on other people's posts and frankly, I'm not completely 'out of the closet' to my coworkers, friends and family.  They know I'm a Reiki Master Teacher, but nothing beyond that.  Not feeling secure about how private the conversation would be and not sure why we can't have a conversation here?  

I might be missing something though....

[Aunt Clair]

  I am told that FB allows secret groups and these do not become public posts on the wall.

[Leswan]

Yes, that is correct.

Private discussions are completely invisible to those outside the group, and I don't think people are able to see which discussion groups you partake in.

FB has a real time chat function and will shortly have an integrated Skype function. these functions may be useful.

[Jambu]

I hear you but I don't trust Facebook!  They are notorious for f'ing up and saying things are private when they aren't.  They had a big problem not too long ago with making people's inbox visable to others - people were reading each others messages....   It's not a venue I prefer, honestly.  It's heavily monitored and not at all secure. 

Sorry, just my thoughts on it, I know I said I was down for this initially, but after thinking more on it, it's not sitting well with me.  Personally, I would prefer another venue.  Not sure what the difference is between logging in here and discussing or logging into Facebook and discussing?  Maybe the exposure of FB is greater and more people would find The River, but if the discussions are private, then that tosses the exposure thing out of the window? 

Hope I don't sound too harsh, I'm just direct and to the point. :)

 

[Leswan]

I suggested facebook because it offers a more flexible and quicker means of communication than the forum because it has:
- real time chat function
- Easy creation of documents within discussions that can be formatted easier than here.

However, I appreciate the concerns that have been raised.

Is there any way of upgrading the forum to incorporate a chat function?

This UK based forum is very rich in terms of functionality and interactivity:

http://www.inspiredofspirit.com/joomla/forum/index.php?act=idx

BTW, I don't really like the content of the forum, there's too much waffle for me. But I wonder if there is any way of upgrading The River to facilitate real time chat and improve the user experience in terms of formatting of posts and embedding media. I'd be willing to contribute up to around £50 GBP in this.

[Jambu]

Gotcha. :)  Thank you for hearing me.   

The only problem I can see with real time chat is, once again, coordinating a time to be online at the same time - with all of us in different parts of the world, this has been a problem in the past with skype sessions and could be an issue with RT Chat options as well.

I don't mean to be a debbie downer....  I would love a real time chat option on the forum!  Just not sure if anyone is on when I am... 

What does waffle mean? 

[Leswan]

Waffle, as defined by the Cambridge Online Dictionary: "to talk or write a lot without giving any useful information or any clear answers". Boy, is that site full of waffle!! No, I'm being unfair. There's just a lot of repetition, myopia and people not helping themselves.

I agree with your point about online chat, but I still think it can sometimes be easier for people to hop on and have an online chat as opposed to a skype session. Yes, a full blown Skype circle is the ideal, but a 15 minute text chat is better than nothing at all!

[Jambu]

Ah! OK, I see what you mean. 

No MSN Chat then? 

Julie by Crip
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