Why facebook car communities suck (but not all....)

Interesting video and I agree with quite a few of the sentiments in it

I've had mixed experiences with car groups on facebook, I don't tend to be part of the 'general' car groups (although I joined a track car based one recently which seems to be mostly people talking about their BMW's) but when I do first get a car I tend to have a quick search on facebook to see if there is a specific group for it (as well as look for specific forums).

For the types of car that I've bought, I've found forums to be better (found two good forums for my Jag XJ40 and Saab 9-3 but not much in the way of facebook groups). Conversely I'm on a moderately busy forum for my BMW E34, but the two E34 facebook groups I'm on are very active.

The two E34 groups are interesting because one is fairly heavily moderated and is smaller, the other one is larger and seems to be less tightly moderated. To the point that I had a bit of a 'run in' on the larger group and don't use it as much. I suppose facebook tends to see people more willing to launch into an argument than you get on forums?

I do find you get more 'basic' questions on facebook, like you can get the "what oil is best for my car?" question seemingly 3 or 4 times a day, several times a week. I suppose part of this is the fact that posts hang around for a little bit then drop away to be lost forever, so there's little knowledge retention.

But then another part of that is that people appear in general to be 'lazy', they can hop on a fb group ask a quick question about their car, get a ton of answers and be on their way, rather than searching through a forum for an answer and working out the consensus on what is best.


One thing I have found facebook somewhat good for, is buying/selling. I recently sold my car on there, and while you do get a lot of time wasters (as seems to be the case everywhere) you can sell on groups that help direct your item towards people who are most likely interested. Conversely, you find people often having to bump their items to keep them at the top of the page, if the item isn't interesting.

On the other hand I've seen more car parts bargains on facebook than ebay these days, maybe the fact that posts can drop quite quickly helps this? So bits are offered at much cheaper prices because that drives interest, keeps the post up and increases the chance of a sale?


Bit of a rambling post but those are some of my observations! On balance I prefer a good forum to a facebook group, but for some cars, it can be hard to find an active enough forum, which is where the facebook groups come in handy as you said in your Wartburg example


Edit: On a more positive note, East Coast Retros is a decent fb group that I'm on, even though I don't actually live in the East currently!

Imho FB car communities don't suck, they just have a different clientele from places like here.

A lot of people now don't know much about cars. I know I don't compared with some on here. Some people are just interested in newer cars, some just don't give a toss about them full stop!

I'd rather have the FB car communities than the 'don't give a toss about them full stop' brigade.

The issue I've found is people assuming posters know what they're doing. They're a member of a group so must know what they're talking about - at least that's how others have viewed the replies. Often I can't see any benefit from contributing with a proper bit of advice as it'll get lost amongst the swamp of people tags a comments saying they're following. Many times the bad advice is followed as gospel, so you end up popping around at a later date or making a phone call to get a friend out of the mire.

With forums, reprotation follows posters around and there's generally less curse word. You also get to see at a glance whether or not you've received a good reply of help.

Facebook is there for for quick replies, keeping in mind everyone has an equal voice.
Forums are where you exchange knowledge. Their biggest downside being that occasionally this can feel intimidating to new users.

Never been on Facebook so never had an account so I have no idea what your all chatting about!
Been tempted a few times to join as forums are a bit slow some days.

I think the interesting question to ask is why do the hardcore FB'ers not go on the forums any more/if at all/never have?

I see a lot of people on FB that I never see on forums, and a lot of vehicles as well.

Why do they think forum communities suck (but not all)?

I only joined Facebook a couple of years ago (as I turned 40) and everyone kept telling me how good it was for car stuff and how I should get on there "so I did"
I'm only on there for cars and bikes I'm not interested in who's eating what at what restaurant etc etc

I agree with most of the points and as said already it does make a big difference on each group

Example
I like the retro stuff but there's probably 4 big groups maybe more and I'm on them all
But if there was a retro show or race event at the weekend il be seeing the same photos/vids across all groups time and time again (and il only like a photo once)
So they become quite boring

But the more exclusive groups (like a one make group) are quite handy
Recently I was looking at buying a MGF but as I started looking I realised I didn't know much about them
So I joined a MGF group and they were very helpful

As for the technical side
I never take anything I read on the Internet as gospel
Ask a question see what's the most common answer and then use that as a guide
Facebook is the worst for people commenting/answering questions when they don't know what there talking about (hearsay) "my dads mates best friends done it and it works" drill some holes in the air box and you'll get 1000bhp type stuff

But it is very good for getting your car noticed
I have a built thread on here and people look at it some like it some don't it may be of help to some etc
But it will never go any further than the inside of this forum
But you can post up a couple of photos in the right group on Facebook and before you know it it's been shared and liked loads of times globally


Horses for courses
I'm not a massive Facebook fan and I find myself just going on there to kill time sometimes
But it Can be handy
I still prefer forums Due to build threads and there seams to be more knowledgeable people on there

The Pontiac OC has a web forum that has very little going on in it, I mean VERY LITTLE.
The FB club page however.....
I'm not a fan of FB car communities, todays FB pic and thread is one you will have a load of trouble trying to find weeks down the line.
I like the proper forums, this one, for example, I can go back to a thread that was dead long long ago and bring it back into the here and now.
I accept that what you look at Social media/web content with may determine what you actually prefer to look at and your age will also have a bearing on what type of media you choose to view and participate on but, no, give me a proper structured forum any day of the week.

Never been on fb or indeed ever looked at anything on it & I feel my life is far better for it, go figure. Do love RR though

I for one don't like facebook....I especially don't like the fact that I feel i need to be on it. I'll explain, i feel i need to be on it because so many people, normal middle aged people, i.e. pretty much all my friends in real life, conduct all their business, chatting meeting up etc on there, no one just picks up the phone and gives anyone a call.... it is annoying, but if I want to be included in anything i have to be on facebook, otherwise my sparse social calendar is a wasteland......hmmmm that might mean that they feel obliged to invite me because i am on facebook...

But that's beside the point, facebook car forums, they suck, for all the reasons stated in the posts and vids above. The quick turnaround of posts, the fact that anyone with no brain can post up 'advice' and it is taken as gospel...this one mainly as it can turn out to be dangerous or illegal, (more about that later). The stupid cat videos, and other decidedly 'not funny' jokes and memes that i'd probably laugh at if i was 5. The nasty bigotry that pervades the whole lot of it.

I am part of the VVOC (viva club) and a recent post on the facebook site was from a woman wanting info about a viva she'd picked up, and some loon started in on her saying she was lying about her car being genuine and they never did that model blah blah blah etc etc ( he was wrong obviously), so she disabled posts.

Then the same Loon started his own post about her car and saying she was a liar etc etc bah blah....it got 140 plus comments, some of then agreeing with the idiot, and a good number posting up brochure pages showing the poor girls model saying it did exist and the 'Loon' still said she was wrong...I mean, how do you deal with this idiocy??

If it's still on the page i suggest you have a look, it beggars belief...

AND another post stated that you can chop the floorpan out of your car and replace it with the floorpan of another from a DIFFERENT car and it's ok, you don't have to declare it as it's the same as patch repairing, so won't need inspecting! and people agreed this to be the case... and when it was pointed out that the car in question would need an IVA at the very least or it was illegal, the other guy got irate and aggressive and ranted on that he didn't care if it was legal or not....

yeah so thats why facebook sucks.. it's full of idiots.

did i go off point? i feel as if i ranted a bit ...sorry... I much prefer forums, they, for the most part, provide good advice and helpful hints etc, and you can check back on past posts for info ...