The great migration

No answers yet? I would have thought that at least hawkeye would comment, hehe....

So what do you think about the great migration?

I don't know if hawkass has Fb, though I wouldn't be surprised

I don't facebook.

But then again I am part of the out crowd.

what she said

what he said..

It's possible I might someday try facebook out in order find some old california friends whose email data didn't transfer from pacbell.net to my new mail site when I moved to New Mexico... 1/2 of the alphabet did, half didn't. I keep putting facebook off, since it sounds too complicated for my brain.

I've a smidge of resentment at those who left a2k, oh, and me, but that is their business and I do understand. But if I have trouble imagining my dealing with old CA friends and relatives, and who gets to see what, plus some kind of wall, and how to do that, I'd probably have conniption fits trying to fit them in with the a2kers who left. It'd be a whole new job.

I'm plenty happy here, though I whine from time to time.

I don't get the apprehension of facebook. Just like a2k, it's a tool for
communication. Nothing more, nothing less.

I don't book my face either. Find it lame.

As an aside, the idea of building up an alternative to A2K on Facebook is a way to dump A2K, to say it failed. Which of course it did, as compared to its original goals of promoting knowledge.

This place really sucks these days, and gets worse all the time. Then again, i'm no big fan of FB, and haven't used my own account for a year or more. I do see peoples' posts, however, because there are two other FB accounts to which I have access. The discussions there are much better.

The sky is not falling!

I don't see all of this polarizing stuff ... as an 'either-or' scenario between participation or movements to FB non-A2K or from the A2K online communities. I wish A2K would or could improve, because it (and Abuzz) have been my home for 13 yrs or more...but I'd be hard pressed as to see how it can as its comprised ... other than people behaving more and backing way off on vitriol when in conflict or disagreement.

I am on FB and participate there ...with FB at-large and not-A2K and see and chat with ex-A2k-ers. Online fora and online communities are cyclical...and will always be that way. Ebb and flow is natural. However, that is not to say that improvements can't or shouldn't be attempted.

It's all good..and with FB ...you just need some exposure limits or tweaks...they are not that hard to do, if you want to limit exposure. Those that allow change can manage it ...without too much trouble. I can see how some just as soon not get involved in yet another time-suck.

I don't see all of this hoopla and 'the sky is falling' and fears or concerns for people 'dumping A2K' and crying that seems to go on in some spots.

It is what it is.

Me too!!

The advantage of Facebook is that you only have to have discussions with people who agree with you. That is also the disadvantage of Facebook.

I said nothing about this being a plus or minus for a2k.
I simply said that those of us who have been here a long time are finding each other there TOO.

( who the hell is oliver? ... ohhh.. too many names for me to keep up with )

yes. A2k has changed, but .. if it was that bad, it wouldnt be going as strong as it is.

My point remains.. If you are on here, and also have a fb, have been a long time member.. we do discuss things there too.

If you are only discussing with people who agree with you, no matter the platform, thats not much of a discussion at all I agree with you.

I dont think facebook is limited to only those who agree with someone, unless the person using it is spiteful or immature and blocks/removes those that have different opinions in order to cultivate a feed that is ONLY about the things they agree with. Yeah.. that can be a down fall, but that is not its default..thank goodness.
Its not a user friendly platform thats for sure.. but its been around long enough that it can and will serve as another place for some of us to keep in touch. Mainly those who dont visit here regularly anymore.

I see many debates going on there on the FB posts by current and ex A2Kers as well as people with no association at all to A2K. I subscribe to a lot of media and political pages on FB and there are lots of interesting discussions on their posts.

Maybe it is this way for you due to the way you have chosen to define your FB experience. Might be time to make some changes to your "likes" and "subscriptions."

My experience with Able2Know is that there is a significant group of posters (Setanta/Edgar/EhBeth etc.) who draw a very fine line between opinions they consider acceptable, and those they consider unacceptable.

People who cross this line by the mere act of respectfully expressing an opinion are attacked. There have been a couple of threads calling for people who express "unacceptable" opinions to be ostracized. And this ostracization really isn't a matter of civility or good behavior, they are restricting opinions. On facebook the technology makes restricting opinions is a fairly easy to do.

I have a little curiosity about the Facebook group. I imagine the people on facebook are the people who have had trouble with differing opinions on Able2know.

I consider the inability to restrict which opinions can or can't be expressed to be one of the strengths of Able2know.

There is a whole lot more at Facebook that just the tiny microcosm of an A2K user group. Widen your experience there to find the discussions you are looking for.


Same suggestion goes for people who are burned out on A2K. There is the ability to block entire topics, entire posts by specific members, etc., to make your A2K experience the way you wish it to be. If you don't care to see any of the political or relationship topics, set up a filter and remove them from your A2K view and only participate in the remaining topics that interest you. If you want to participate in the political or relationship topics but don't want to see posts by specific individuals, use the ignore feature and you won't see their posts. If you only want to see posts by a specific group of people that you've added to your "following" list, use the My Friends tab instead of the New Posts tab and you will only see posts by those people and no one else.

Both venues take a little bit of work on our part to define the experience to our liking. Neither is better or worse than the other.

Any chance that Finn is part of the Facebook crowd? I will join if he is.

I have no idea. Don't know his street name and I wouldn't "out" him without his permission if I did know it. You could send him a PM and ask him.