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TJ_2000

TJ_2000

TJ Enthusiast
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I want y'alls opinion.
This came up recently for a brief moment on the Jeep Wrangler TJ/LJ Owners group on Facebook. Someone stated how online forums (wrangler forum, jeep forum, tj forum ect..) are dead or dying. When I got my TJ 6 and a half years ago forums where the s*** and Facebook didn't have groups yet. I feel the forums are far more useful and over all better than FB groups. Easy to navigate, everything is organized and not laid out in essentially one big thread. Which had me wondering why FB groups are more popular and growing.

So, what's your guy's opinion?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
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On FB I'm really only friends with close-ish people i know and 1 meat smoking forum, I quickly got off of any of those, Local city Crime, 4x4, or whatever else is out there forums. Most seem like a shit show and I never liked the fact they could look at my FB.
We have an awesome shit show here and we can beat the crap out of dead horses with the best of them, and its some what private
 
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A few things to consider in regards to Facebook Groups:
  1. Facebook Groups were never intended to replace forums. Anyone who thinks or assumes that is gravely mistaken.
  2. Facebook Groups are a way for Facebook to further target ads to individuals based off things they like. If you belong to a group for Jeep Wranglers, Facebook advertisers can easily target you for their ads based off groups you're part of.
  3. Facebook is a closed off eco system. Go do a search on Google for something related to a Jeep Wrangler TJ. You'll see that all the top search results are from forums. Do you know why this is? It's because Facebook doesn't want to be found in Google search results. In order to find things on Facebook, you have to search on Facebook itself. This is the way Zuckerberg intended it. He doesn't want Google to have any of their business, he wants people to search directly on on Facebook instead of Google.
  4. How long have you been a member of any given Facebook group for? Hang around for a few months and pay a lot of attention. You'll notice more drama, stupid posts, and useless regurgitated information than you'll find on ANY forum, period.
  5. How can a Facebook Group replace a forum? It can't be organized into sub-forums, or sections.
I'm sorry, but anyone who said forums are dead is simply stupid. If I showed you the amount of traffic this forum gets a month from my Google Analytics account, you'd quickly realize that forums are NOT dead. Last month alone there were over 100,000 hits on this forum.

Facebook Groups are for sharing memes, the occasional discussion, and social interacting. You're not going to get the kind of information from a Facebook Group that you would from a forum.

While I don't have a Facebook profile, when I did, I just sat back and laughed at the amount of idiots, morons, and drama that infests those Facebook Groups. Sure, some may be better than others, but I don't care what group you're part of, there will always be more drama on Facebook because it's social media, and social media (including FB Groups) is always about, "me, me, me".
 
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Oh, and let me also ask you this... If you were searching for something such as "How to replace the rear main seal on a Jeep Wrangler TJ", would you do a Google search first or a Facebook search first? Pretty sure I already know the answer too.

If the answer is the former, then the first results would lead you to a forum more than likely.
 
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Chris said:
Oh, and let me also ask you this... If you were searching for something such as "How to replace the rear main seal on a Jeep Wrangler TJ", would you do a Google search first or a Facebook search first? Pretty sure I already know the answer too.

If the answer is the former, then the first results would lead you to a forum more than likely.
Click to expand...
that is how I found this forum......I still don't know what a FB group is?
 
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Chris said:
Oh, and let me also ask you this... If you were searching for something such as "How to replace the rear main seal on a Jeep Wrangler TJ", would you do a Google search first or a Facebook search first? Pretty sure I already know the answer too.

If the answer is the former, then the first results would lead you to a forum more than likely.
Click to expand...
Amen @Chris Amen....but I think your preaching to the choir here. :p
 
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cliffish said:
that is how I found this forum......I still don't know what a FB group is?
Click to expand...

Yep, that's how most people find a forum, while doing a Google search looking for an answer.

Asking if Facebook Groups are a replacement for forums is like asking if Facebook is a replacement for Google. Sure, I guess is you're obsessed with social media, but for the rest of us, we still use Google for our searches.

FB Groups are hard to explain. It's basically a group you can join on Facebook for people who share the same interest. But it's not even close to being a forum in any way, shape, or form. I'm not just saying that either... it's not even close.
 
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Kiwi TJ said:
Amen @Chris Amen....but I think your preaching to the choir here. :p
Click to expand...

I also think you're always going to have people who gravitate more towards social media, just because they don't know any better. I was born in 1983, but I grew up in the 90s when forums were the big thing. I think that some of the modern generation doesn't know what a forum is to begin with, but they also don't know what a desktop computer is either (all they've ever had is a phone or a tablet).

I think that some of it may have to do with age. Seems like the modern generation is obsessed with "apps" and always asking, "is there an app for that". I have a few apps on my phone, but maybe only 15 at the very most. I still don't understand why there is an app for everything.
 
Chris said:
A few things to consider in regards to Facebook Groups:
  1. Facebook Groups were never intended to replace forums. Anyone who thinks or assumes that is gravely mistaken.
  2. Facebook Groups are a way for Facebook to further target ads to individuals based off things they like. If you belong to a group for Jeep Wranglers, Facebook advertisers can easily target you for their ads based off groups you're part of.
  3. Facebook is a closed off eco system. Go do a search on Google for something related to a Jeep Wrangler TJ. You'll see that all the top search results are from forums. Do you know why this is? It's because Facebook doesn't want to be found in Google search results. In order to find things on Facebook, you have to search on Facebook itself. This is the way Zuckerberg intended it. He doesn't want Google to have any of their business, he wants people to search directly on on Facebook instead of Google.
  4. How long have you been a member of any given Facebook group for? Hang around for a few months and pay a lot of attention. You'll notice more drama, stupid posts, and useless regurgitated information than you'll find on ANY forum, period.
  5. How can a Facebook Group replace a forum? It can't be organized into sub-forums, or sections.
I'm sorry, but anyone who said forums are dead is simply stupid. If I showed you the amount of traffic this forum gets a month from my Google Analytics account, you'd quickly realize that forums are NOT dead. Last month alone there were over 100,000 hits on this forum.

Facebook Groups are for sharing memes, the occasional discussion, and social interacting. You're not going to get the kind of information from a Facebook Group that you would from a forum.

While I don't have a Facebook profile, when I did, I just sat back and laughed at the amount of idiots, morons, and drama that infests those Facebook Groups. Sure, some may be better than others, but I don't care what group you're part of, there will always be more drama on Facebook because it's social media, and social media (including FB Groups) is always about, "me, me, me".
Click to expand...
I agree with this 110%. I've heard a few people say the forums are dead and I thought that was odd for them to say.
I do agree there is a lot more drama and stupid posts on FB groups.

This is where my signature would go.
 
Chris said:
I also think you're always going to have people who gravitate more towards social media, just because they don't know any better. I was born in 1983, but I grew up in the 90s when forums were the big thing. I think that some of the modern generation doesn't know what a forum is to begin with, but they also don't know what a desktop computer is either (all they've ever had is a phone or a tablet).

I think that some of it may have to do with age. Seems like the modern generation is obsessed with "apps" and always asking, "is there an app for that". I have a few apps on my phone, but maybe only 15 at the very most. I still don't understand why there is an app for everything.
Click to expand...
I was born in 1968 so I grew up with this...
pencil-and-paper-images-pencil-paper-4184006.jpg

Some people may remember it hehe
 
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TJ_2000 said:
I agree with this 110%. I've heard a few people say the forums are dead and I thought that was odd for them to say.
I do agree there is a lot more drama and stupid posts on FB groups.

This is where my signature would go.
Click to expand...

When I did have my Facebook, I remember the group had 46k members in it, and I kid you not at least once a day someone would ask “What’s the biggest tires I can fit with no lift?”.

On a forum you could just make a sticky thread and point them to it (or maybe they would find it on their own), but on a Facebook group you can’t do that really.
 
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Kiwi TJ said:
For some reason I have an image of you sitting at your desk with the Nun from the movie Blues Brothers whacking you over you knuckles haha
Click to expand...

Haha! They insisted if we didn’t learn it you’d never be able to get into college. We came to find that was further from the truth than anyone could imagine.
 
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Chris said:
When I did have my Facebook, I remember the group had 46k members in it, and I kid you not at least once a day someone would ask “What’s the biggest tires I can fit with no lift?”.

On a forum you could just make a sticky thread and point them to it (or maybe they would find it on their own), but on a Facebook group you can’t do that really.
Click to expand...
We still see that question once in a while here....hell I might have posted it in the beginning!
 
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Chris said:
When I did have my Facebook, I remember the group had 46k members in it, and I kid you not at least once a day someone would ask “What’s the biggest tires I can fit with no lift?”.

On a forum you could just make a sticky thread and point them to it (or maybe they would find it on their own), but on a Facebook group you can’t do that really.
Click to expand...
Back 6 years ago when I was highly active on Wranglerforum there was the same repeat questions that got asked 6 times a day.
Biggest tires on a stock jeep. Best cheap lift. Best cheap top. Do a need to upgrade the batt for a winch. How do I get better MPG.
That's why I left the forums after a few years of the same B.S. questions. Well, after the groups came about on Facebook I thought I'd give them a try. Well, same B.S. questions all the time lol.
But as I said originally. Forums are the way to go. They are just better.
And as said by others. On Facebook you get the annoying teenie-bopper asking how to paint his coils springs lime green and how big of a tire can he run if he installs a 3" body lift... smh....

This is where my signature would go.
 
TJ_2000 said:
Back 6 years ago when I was highly active on Wranglerforum there was the same repeat questions that got asked 6 times a day.
Biggest tires on a stock jeep. Best cheap lift. Best cheap top. Do a need to upgrade the batt for a winch. How do I get better MPG.
That's why I left the forums after a few years of the same B.S. questions. Well, after the groups came about on Facebook I thought I'd give them a try. Well, same B.S. questions all the time lol.
But as I said originally. Forums are the way to go. They are just better.
And as said by others. On Facebook you get the annoying teenie-bopper asking how to paint his coils springs lime green and how big of a tire can he run if he installs a 3" body lift... smh....

This is where my signature would go.
Click to expand...

We get the same questions from time-to-time, but somehow it never annoys me like it did on Facebook. Probably because it's not happening on a daily basis, but perhaps it's also got something to do with all the threads I made in the FAQ section such as these:

A Beginners Guide to Lifting Your Jeep Wrangler TJ
What size tires will fit a stock Wrangler TJ?

I feel like maybe people here are seeing some of these threads before they post, and maybe it's cutting down on those questions.

But like you said, on Facebook you get a different type of person altogether. I remember female Wrangler owners would post scantily clad photos (or selfies) of them with their Wrangler, and the comments would go out of control with horny guys trying to proposition them, cat call them, etc. But that's the whole "look at me" social media aspect of it. It's hard to focus on just Wranglers when you've got that overarching "social" aspect of the site as well.
 
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Facebook is good/better for some things. for example buying and selling jeep parts because of the size of the audience and traffic. As far as forums go there is no comparison to the groups on FB. Most on facebook don't put a lot of thought into the questions they ask and never seem to search for anything.

That said I have to point out that this forum is organized and managed better than just about any I've been on. It is very unique in that way. I love coming here and reading through the new post. I don't often say much, just how I am but I jump in to try and help if I see an opportunity. The how to section on here is amazing and the experience an expertise of some of the members is priceless.
 
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If it were not for Forums, I would not have such a passion for the hobbies I do have (home theater/computers/Jeeps)... I'm sorry but to me, FB is a useless time suck for the most part. I have an account, but purposely have no friends, etc. Never even filled out the details. Have logged into it maybe 3 times in the last 6 years and have never posted to my account or anyone else's. Most of the FB junkies I know spend more time telling the world about useless crap that they did or that happened to them that day...and really...who gives a crap unless you are a very close relative or super close friend of that person...yet they are telling a thousand people or more, most of which are barely even acquaintances. And telling too many things that could make them the victim of a crime or that could be used against them in some way.

That would be like me coming on this forum and telling you all what time I woke up this morning....that my wife is having a bad hair day, that I just got my dog groomed, that I had to put my recycling out this morning, etc... FB is the product of the "I am the center of the universe" generation/mindset.

I guess I could make my FB page all about Jeeps, and only Jeeps...but I will still get 20 friend requests a day from various people that want to sell me something, discuss naughty stuff or people I knew 30 years ago that I didn't really like then, but they want to "get in touch" even though they don't know or care the first thing about Jeeps.

Maybe I would check out a few FB Groups if I did not have to sign in to do it. Every couple years when I sign into FB just to maybe check on somebody I have not heard from in a while...I get a cluster of friend requests, notifications and other crap spamming my email for weeks afterward. Remember Yahoo Groups? Guess they still exist. I used to use them before forums were a big thing - but it was the same thing - they opened you up to soooo much spam...

Sorry for the rant...
 
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