Spock's Beard in the studio!

[Brainforest]

I think that traditional message boards were better for people like me who used to pop by occasionally to check what the news were. With Facebook, you just need to be connected all the time which is not how I function. But I guess if all those old message boards ended up closing in favor of FB and Twitter, it's because that's what people wanted and bands just went along with it.

I ran the SB message board. It got to the point a couple of years ago that the posts trickled down to a few a month, mostly by the same handful of diehard members. The old message board format had some positives, but it was moribund.

A few years ago I started the SB Facebook page for news from the band that also allowed members to comment. Then, last year I started a separate forum specifically for fans to post, comment, etc. IMO, it's far superior to the old message board format for a few reasons. It makes it much easier for band members to interact with group members as well as share pics, videos, etc. Also, because you can't post under an anonymous screen name, cuts WAY down on trolls, off-topic discussions, spammers, etc.

Bottom line is that if I posted something on the old message board, it wasn't seen until someone happened to log in and read it. May take a day, may take a week, month, year, whatever. When I posted a video I shot on my iPhone from the studio last week on the SB Facebook page, it immediately went on the timelines of everyone who "liked" the band. As of today, it's reached 21,000 + people. Impossible for such immediacy and reach on the old message board.

Spock's Beard Forum on Facebook

[trurl]

Same thing happened at the Glass Hammer forum. 10 years ago it got traffic to rival this site! Several thousand active users, tens of thousands of posts over the years. Now I think it still exists but even I don't remember how to log into it. I don't know if there is anyone posting or not. It's the way of things. It was a happening place back in the day.

[LeFrog]

I ran the SB message board. It got to the point a couple of years ago that the posts trickled down to a few a month, mostly by the same handful of diehard members. The old message board format had some positives, but it was moribund.

A few years ago I started the SB Facebook page for news from the band that also allowed members to comment. Then, last year I started a separate forum specifically for fans to post, comment, etc. IMO, it's far superior to the old message board format for a few reasons. It makes it much easier for band members to interact with group members as well as share pics, videos, etc. Also, because you can't post under an anonymous screen name, cuts WAY down on trolls, off-topic discussions, spammers, etc.

Bottom line is that if I posted something on the old message board, it wasn't seen until someone happened to log in and read it. May take a day, may take a week, month, year, whatever. When I posted a video I shot on my iPhone from the studio last week on the SB Facebook page, it immediately went on the timelines of everyone who "liked" the band. As of today, it's reached 21,000 + people. Impossible for such immediacy and reach on the old message board.

Spock's Beard Forum on Facebook

I know what you mean, John. But if I ever want to watch that video again in a couple of month's time, it'll be almost impossible to find! Same thing if Dave Meros posts a bit of info on a new song they're working on. If I miss it on the moment he posts it, I'll never be able to find it a few days after the fact.
I can see that FB is much better in terms of how many people you can reach in a short amount of time, and how you can interact with fans, but when you're not connected permanently and just looking for the latest info on a band you like, FB does not allow you to search and find it easily.

[Vic2012]

but when you're not connected permanently and just looking for the latest info on a band you like, FB does not allow you to search and find it easily.

Is that how that works? I've never used FB. Just doesn't interest me. If I want band info I'll just go to their website. OTOH, if FB's format keeps trolls away then that's cool. But could you imagine if you're part of the FB circle with this band and you said something negative about an album of their's? My guess is you'd get run out of town. That's what I like about a message board like PE. You can be critical about something and people tolerate it.

[Gruno]

Is that how that works? I've never used FB. Just doesn't interest me. If I want band info I'll just go to their website. OTOH, if FB's format keeps trolls away then that's cool. But could you imagine if you're part of the FB circle with this band and you said something negative about an album of their's? My guess is you'd get run out of town. That's what I like about a message board like PE. You can be critical about something and people tolerate it.

Negative things are said about Spock's Beard on their FaceBook page. Those people don't get "run out of town". Same thing when they had a message board. No different from PE, so I don't know where you're coming from with this.

[Plasmatopia]

Maybe from John B.'s post at the top of this page?

[Vic2012]

Negative things are said about Spock's Beard on their FaceBook page. Those people don't get "run out of town". Same thing when they had a message board. No different from PE, so I don't know where you're coming from with this.

Well, I haven't been a member of the Spocks Beard message board for about 10 years and I don't do FB and the like, so I'm only going by past experiences. But you're right. I do remember when I was very active on that board people were pretty honest. When "Feel Euphoria" came out most of the threads were negative. I was one of the few who actually liked that album. But there were also a few fanboys who kinda "took over" the place. OTOH, I've been a member on a few band specific fan forums in the past and the mods are constantly scolding people and "warning" them. It's one thing to be a troll, it's another thing to just state an honest opinion. In that sense I can see how this old fashioned "message board" system is becoming obsolete.