Quote Originally Posted by Apiarist View Post
Thanks to Gavin for starting this thread and discussion. The suggestion came, as Gavin said, from an SBA ICT Committee meeting, although it is a suggestion that has previously been raised by a number of people on different occasions over the past year. The views and opinions that have been expresed here in the Forum are very helpful and interesting in trying to come to a conclusion on this question. However does the fact that only a handful of forum members chose to get involved in the discussion reflect in any way the level of enthusiasm for a Facebook page? Or just the number of people who wanted to comment on it? I don't know the answer to that!
I think it's a reflection on a number of things, not least the demographic of beekeepers generally (we're old!). A forum and a website still has a number of distinct advantages over Facebook, but Facebook can add another dimension to that presence.

I personally think that there is a place for a Scottish Beekeepers Facebook presence, but with that comes a need for involvement. You can't do what another organisation did and expect it to work, it's an interactive medium. You'll get both positive and negative interactions as a result and whoever the person or peoples are who help run that page are they need some authority to speak on behalf of the association. especially, as you mention, in the event of "trouble makers" coming to pay a visit.

My central point remains that before the SBA leap into setting things up or making radical changes to its web presence "because everyone else is" it should talk to and, as you are doing which is encouraging to see, engage with the existing communities that already exist and discuss internally off the back of that what it is that you want. The guys running the Scottish Beekeeper should also be a part of this in my opinion, it is an important part of how the SBA communicates with its membership and beyond. None of this happens because it's here, there's hard work involved, not just from the administrative team but from the "rank and file" members who make this community what it is.

I'm not a great fan of Facebook, but I equally don't think that it can be ignored and that it can also be a useful (and cheap) means to put the SBA word out there further IF the right support is put behind it and I'd be interested in being involved in it if the commitment is there from the SBA itself.