I need your help/input here. Recently i have offered to get more involved with the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum. If you have read any of the volumes i have written about Sun City, you know the museum is my favorite place in the community. At 70 and creeping up on 71, i have a passing knowledge of computers and technology. Nope, not great, but smart enough enough to know the role it plays in our daily lives. And the data all supports those growing closer to retirement age are better versed than those of us already there. I've been playing around on message boards and forums like this for nearly 20 years. I like it as a means of communication. The ability to reach, teach and educate is pretty cool. We know there will always be way more readers than posters. Just the way it is. Unfortunately, when it comes to the other end of the spectrum, social media, i'm pretty well clueless. I signed up for Facebook, Twitter (can't remember my password), Linkedin (never click on it any more) and maybe a few others. I'd say i am one step above a Luddite, but that may be being generous. The problem is, i know how valuable a strong media presence is on social media for organizations. The Museum is doing a pretty good job, but i think we could do better. Especially on Facebook. The ability to tell the Sun City/Del Webb story in a more cohesive and structured way is hanging there in front of me. I can almost reach out and touch it, but not quite. I need your feedback. Facebook is far different from my usual story telling ways. That said, there are opportunities to drive traffic to the museum site for the "rest of the story." What i am asking for is whether you see, think there's a value in creating a strategic plan for Facebook and the museum? I have way more time than money (especially after the pool and remodel). I just don't know if the bang is there to try and build both a following and a plan that flows a bit better than an occasional post on Facebook that generates a handful of likes. Any thoughts, good, bad or indifferent would be greatly appreciated.
Your writing style is dynamic, and would draw in those wishing to keep up with the "rest of the story". Why do you feel you would need to change your story telling ways to be on Facebook? Just keep your news feed up to date. You can control the settings as to how the replies come in, set up a "timer" to preview any replies you receive to make sure there is nothing you don't want to show up on your account, and set up filters for profanity, hackers, hecklers and the like. You can also set up notifications for fund raisers, special events of museum interest, and even special pages for such things as contributions of memories or memorabilia which would be of interest to others reading your stories. Don't' find Linked In as useful and entertaining as FB. I do not like or use Twitter, as I feel the world needs its messages to be meaningful and useful. Right now, I do not find twitter to be as useful, as you have to use a pound sign (hashtag) to garner your members. Some of the user names are what I call inflammatory or vulgar, and not something I would find amusing if found on the museum account. There is no limitations as to user names, so one never knows just what may show up to visit your site. I see significant value in building a museum site for Facebook. It also has international recognition, which could increase your audience, which is never a bad thing. Just keep the blocks in place to keep the low life off of your site. Also, FB has a built in translator, so if someone from another country wants to join the conversation they can. Didn't say the translator was perfect, just good enough to get you the gist of the conversation. Go for it Bill, you are one great writer and expanding your horizons and readership is right up your alley.
I think there may be some value in using FB to detail the history of Sun City, but I agree with Lady Gaga who was absolutely correct when she said "Social Media is the toilet of the internet". One huge objective I have with FB is that many if not all pages require you to sign in just to read the entirety of the listing. I have a FB account but only because I need to sign in and read other accounts. Also, FB is becoming less and less secure and personal information is being harvested constantly (but if you use the net, your personal info is constantly at risk). Further, if you use FB to detail the history of Sun City, your presence on TOSC will be greatly diminished.
One step at a time E. Just starting to write a Facebook series we will launch in July. I'll post links once we get it started.
