Well… time to get a major discussion going! I have been a bit distant from the haunt business for the last couple years. I announced my return prefacing it with the fact that during my career I have been known to tackle important issues for our industry no matter who is on what side. Always for the betterment of the industry, I have argued for and against the same people. I argue points not people.
On this return I went back to get a grasp on the state of our industry. I logged on to the Fright Forum… a ghost town (pun intended). Now I know there are a proliferation of Facebook Groups for the industry. So I joined several and started to get up to speed. I’ll be honest, it’s a PAIN IN THE ASS! There is NO WHERE NEAR the amount of communication and knowledge passed on through these Groups that we had through the Forum. Soooooo… I started looking!
I am not alone. Just do a Google search. “Facebook Groups vs Forums” Just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s the best option out there. In almost every article the gest is that for business purposes a Forum FAR outperforms a Facebook Group. Here’s what I noticed…..
FACEBOOK GROUPS
It’s a pain to keep track of topics. Two fold: first the posts can’t be searched, categorized or browsed. If you’re looking for a topic you have to SCROLL forever looking for it. Second, good discussions get lost too quickly and it is very difficult to reference it later. You see a good topic, but you don’t need it right now. When you DO need it…how do you find it???
The biggest difficultly I found is the quick turnover. Someone makes a good post, great info something that really lends itself to a great discussion. Then a scene from “Up!” take over…SQUIRREL…. someone posts something (usually less important) and off you go…. Subject and discussion GONE! Important subjects do NOT get the amount of real discussion they deserve and too much FLUFF takes its place.
FORUM
Topics are better categorized. More pertinent discussion takes place, subject are better covered in WAY more depth. If you need that information later, it is searchable. You can even Google search and get back to the topic on a Forum, can’t do that in a Facebook Group. In our industry we have seen tremendous growth over the last 20 years (I have witnessed it personally). We went from cheesy non-profit haunts to attractions that can rival the Disney’s, Six Flag’s and Universal’s of the world to the point that everyone one of THEM are now in the game.
Our growth was directly tied to the fact that our generation of Haunters did something NO ONE else had ever done…. we SHARED information!! The Fright Forum was one of the biggest and best tools in our arsenal.
Now, I see this importantly useful tool being underutilized. The problem I see here is the slow stagnation of useful information. We may not even notice it at first, but it WILL take hold and our industry will be the worse for it. We NEED a tool like to Fright Forum for the professionals to continue to grow and develop our industry. That is NOT the purpose of Facebook Group!
Facebook is quick communication… see what I did…oh I mean what you did… what were we talking about?? If you want to communicate with a bunch of friends and/or family and show them Lucy’s first steps, share a quick joke or a cool video clip…it’s PERFECT!! Continue to use it (I have a lot of stock in Facebook so I do want it to be successful). But for REAL communication let’s …. RETURN TO THE FORUM!
Right now, if you want to post something important what do you do? You end up copying a post and putting it on Pro Haunters Hangout, Haunter’s Toolbox, Haunters’ Hangout, Haunted House Prop Builders, etc…. Transworld just posted the fate of TW 2020 on their Facebook page. Unless you go TO their page you wouldn’t have known. It the past TW would just post on the FORUM and EVERYONE KNEW!
The Facebook groups have a purpose and most of it has to do with haunt enthusiasts. The Haunt BUSINESS people need to get back to BUSINESS!!! We need to RETURN TO THE FORUM.
I will also post this on the various Facebook Groups. But my purpose is to RETURN TO THE FORUM so all important discussions from now on will now continue there…join me…
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