The fascinating dynamics of a Facebook study group


Facebook can be a scary place. And that's because people can be scary. And that's just the way it is. I created a Facebook study group about a year ago for my Phoenix historical images collection and it performs many functions in my life; firstly it keeps me engaged with my favorite hobby (collecting photos of old Phoenix): it helps me to refine the information about those photos (I just love to "step into them" - which is what this blog is all about); and I get to see other people's point of view.

As a teacher, I learned a long time ago that it's nice to get help. I prided myself on always knowing my subject well (which is Graphic Design), but I often got mixed up about what day it is, and when something was due. I rely heavily on my computer for that kind of stuff, and I learned to ask for help in the class, by simply saying "This is due next Thursday, which is the 23rd, right?" and then someone would say, "No, the school is closed on Thanksgiving, so it would be due on the 30th." I loved that kind of help, and I still do.

So my Facebook group runs along similar dynamics. I encourage help, but I'm still in charge. That's something I learned a long time ago, that most people really want to have someone who is in charge, gently steering, and keeping things under control. There are, of course, people who don't want anyone to be in charge, ever, but personally I'm OK, for example, not flying the plane when I go to California. I can leave things to the experts, and follow when I shouldn't be the leader.
Support Arizona history by becoming a patron on Patreon

Click here to become a Patron!
History Adventuring blog posts are shared there daily, also there's "then and now" photos, billboards, aerials, and super high-resolution photos of historic Phoenix, Arizona
And there are a LOT of experts in my Facebook group. Many of these people are surprised to find how much I appreciate their corrections, and it's a reminder that in many other places, including Facebook, people who correct can get slammed. Maybe it's a question of etiquette, but really, just hearing that everything is perfect and I get "first place" doesn't really help me. Tell me when I'm wrong. Experts can do that. No, don't say "WRONGGGGG!" but do correct, and show why. If, for example, I post a photo that's labeled "1960s" and you see your 1974 car in it, please speak up. Some people comment on the page, some people send me private messages. There's a lot that goes on in the background, and I love my experts.

This is what I do that works for the Facebook dynamic: I post confidently. I write "Looking south on Central at Washington in the 1960s". If it's actually looking north, I really appreciate a polite correction, and I correct both the caption and my file name here on my computer. Most of my superstars respond with corrections like that within minutes of a post, so if you see a bunch of comments that don't seem to make sense, you're seeing the post after the correction. Where were you?

Anyway, I hope this helps if you see my group. This is too much fun, and I make it even more fun by writing in this blog. If you like what I'm doing, go ahead and join the group, maybe "like" or "heart" a post, make a correction, read this blog, and support me on Patreon by becoming a patron.

This is just too much fun! Thank you for coming along with me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why cars in the future won't need stop signs, red lights, or stripes on the road

Image
Time-travel with me into the future. Where we're going, we'll still need roads, but our cars won't need the kind of stuff that human drivers need, like stop signs, or stuff painted on the road. And if you're already panicking that computers will take over, don't worry, they already have. The fact that you're reading this right now combines so much amazing computing power that it would have been unthinkable to anyone in the 1960s, or '70s, when I was a kid. Speaking of being in the geriatric age group, if you're like me or older, you took a lot of pride in knowing the rules of the road, such as what to do at a stop sign if four cars approach at the same time, the difference between a "yield" sign and a "merge" sign, or maybe how to parallel park. But calm down there old-timer, that type of knowledge will just be as quaint as how to use a horse and buggy is nowadays. Sorry! The best way to picture how traffic will flow in the future is
Read more

Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?

Image
As someone who has been interested in history since I was a little kid, I've always asked the most childish questions, and quite often never got an answer. As a kid, I was told to run along and play, and don't bother the grownups, so I set my questions aside to work on when I myself became a grownup. But some questions I really haven't found a satisfactory answer for, and get thrown away as I find myself learning the more important stuff. I now understand the grownups, but the kid in me still has childish questions like "Why did Adolf Hitler always have such a bad haircut?" The first question to ask is whether a particular style (whether hair, clothing, etc.) was in style at the time. The moustache was, and you can Google a photo of Charlie Chaplin, who wore the same style of moustache at the time, and quite stylishly. The wide lapels were in style in the 1930s, as was were the tall shirt collars and small ties. But the haircut wasn't - it's just awful. Me
Read more

Watching a neighborhood grow and change in Phoenix, Arizona

Image
I stopped to take a closer look yesterday at where the old Circle K had been in my neighborhood, which is a suburb of Phoenix. And it's got me to thinking about how much Phoenix grows and changes over the years, and how people feel about it. This particular neighborhood was built in the mid 1980s, when there had been only a smattering of houses and a community college (Glendale Community College, built in 1965). There are some houses that I can tell are from the 1970s, and a few even older, but what happened here is that the neighborhood suddenly appeared in 1985 or thereabouts. There are three shopping centers on the corner of 67th Avenue and Peoria - the one in the photo is called "Peoria Station", and it was designed to kinda look like a train station. The other three are called Westporte Village, Brittany Square, and Crossroads Plaza. I've lived in this neighborhood for a very long time, and no one ever uses those names, even though the signs are still up. But the
Read more