I was having an interesting conversation with Mrs Shilts the other day about how every passing day rendered Facebook less and less useful.
I have now come to the conclusion that for certain things I follow, there ought to be an option to disable the ability to see any public comments made.
Now before anyone says that I am in danger of living in a vacuum if I do that, that is exactly what I want in these cases. I follow WFC channels (the official one, the Excrete and Stir one) to get news coming out the club. Within seconds of anything being posted anywhere, there is a motley crew of posters jumping on with all sorts of whataboutery and negativity with zero substance. It makes finding the posts that actually provoke thought really tough on that particular medium, which is why I’m glad of this place (although this board has its moments too!)
Its not just WFC, it’s almost anything current affairs related, or political - Facebook seems to be increasingly populated with nutters, trolls, attention seekers and naysayers. I blocked a few of the worst last year which improved things a little, but I’m now almost at the point of getting rid of it.
So my question is, am I alone or does anyone else feel that their WFC Facebook experience is less than helpful?
The vast majority who overpopulate Walsall related pages on Facebook are genuine bus seat sniffers. Twitter’s far better for debate/common sense in relation to Walsall FC.
I think the thing that racks me off about Twitter is how players can be tagged in to the conversations. Some people genuinely lose the plot on conversations descending into abuse they wouldn’t dream of saying to someone’s face. I wouldn’t want players thinking these people speak for the fan base in general.
I’ve seen some of our lads get utter dogs abuse on Twitter (Sawyers being one in particular) and it’s an embarrassment to be associated with it.
I think I’m just having an antisocial media thing right now
I’ve drastically reduced my Facebook usage over the past year or so and feel a lot better for doing so. Not that I ever used it that much, would just waste time reading the absolute tripe that the vast majority of people put on there.
As said above, Twitter a lot better for debate or even just people simply engaging their brain before posting.
“Walsall fans have your say” must be the strangest place on the web for WalsallFC debate. Which is why I find it a bit odd that some quality posters who used to add considerably to these pages have taken up residence there.
Twitter is decent and you will find folk from the club itself engaging there. Again I find it a bit odd as to why Twitter is the only place they will engage though. It is as though the fact that nearly all celebrity and establishment is on there legitimises it for e.g Dan Mole and Nicky Devlin whereas I don’t think they’d ever appear on here.
For as long as UTS is well moderated, this is still the best place to chat Walsall FC.
I don’t get the vitriol that some Twitter users sometimes aim at this place. “It’s too cliquey” - oh the irony! “I got banned for calling a moderator a ■■■■” - good! I like how Walsall shows up on Twitter a lot of the time and it co-exists nicely with this place. And whilst this place has some extreme characters I never feel like I’m a couple of retweets away from accidentally endorsing (by opening) some ■■■■from people I hate.
I think there are parallels with all this and the obesity crisis .In both cases, we haven’t learnt to handle abundance. We have spent most of our existence foraging most of the day for calories, and looking at the sky-literally and metaphorically- for a clue as to what the future is likely to bring. Now we open a liitle box in our house which is preserving more calories then we need that day. Likewise we can find out what’s happening anywhere in the world in seconds, another little box giving us more information than we can ever absorb. To anyone born before about 1800, both look like magic, but both have happened in flash.We haven’t ourselves properly adjusted to either yet.
In both cases our inexperience and naivety are being exploited by unscrupulous companies and individuals who have been quicker off the mark. But if our history is anything to go my, we will adapt. It’s how deep the short-term damage could be that worries me.
That Have Your Say place is crackers. I popped in a few times when references were made to it on here, to be greeted by posts about Emmanuel Eboue and Darren Bent.
I couldn’t stay too long. The “debate” in there made my eyes water.
This is the key for me. By all rights platforms like Facebook and Twitter should have completely obliterated traditional football forums like UTS years ago, but a moderated environment (and a certain level of camaraderie) has retained the appeal.
WSC did an article on the Brighton forum recently that sums it up pretty well:
Great article @simon and I agree with so much of it. I know I’ve only been a registered user here since the move to its current format but UTS has been a big part of my life as a lurker for almost 20 years.
I don’t know why I didn’t post here prior to this summer, but I’m glad to be contributing now.
As for Facebook, I might do a trial separation. Shan’t announce it and flounce off but will probably just hide my profile away for a bit and see if it has a detrimental effect on my life.
The evidence all suggests I won’t miss too much.
Yes, I agree that the new site seems to have given fresh impetus and introduced new users. I was a rather sporadic user on the old forum until a technical issue froze me out - I was glad of the opportunity to start afresh.
As for Faceplant and Tw*tter. I’ve looked but I never inhaled…
