Is There A Way To Prevent A Thread From Being "Featured" on Facebook? - Page 3

[mamaboss]

Originally Posted by philomom 

And what's worse is that they can see that they've upset many of us knowledgeable old timers and they just don't care.

Hi, I don't really have any suggestions, I'd just like to mention something regarding the above comment. I've been a member of MDC for a couple years though just browsing topics off and on. Only recently have I felt I had anything to offer in terms of suggestions, comments, etc. Anyway, I have noticed here and there some "older" or more active members stating they are visiting or posting less frequently or leaving altogether for various reasons. This saddens and worries me. I simply feel like it would be a great loss to a lot of women to have these wise women leave. I don't want to see something so great as this community fail, especially with the loss already of the magazine.

So, to MDC, I ask that you consider the feelings and privacy of the members here.

And to those members who are choosing to participate less for various reasons, please reconsider as you truly have so much to offer us mothers who are still little sponges desperate to suck it all in! 

Thanks!

[onlyzombiecat]

It doesn't bother me if Mothering wishes to post a link to a public thread on their Facebook page.

As it is I don't think it helps the original poster any if comments that are answers to a question are posted on FB without their knowledge though. You may as well just post the topic on FB and not bother with a link to the thread.

I don't think "come join the conversation" is enough if you are actually trying to direct people to discuss the question on the forum instead of having them discuss it on FB- maybe say "discuss this question on our Mothering Dot Community forum" instead.

[Arduinna]

I was extremely unhappy to learn that MDC has been posting threads from here on facebook and twitter. I'm going to be limiting what I post here even more than I have in the past now. 

If I wanted to post something on facebook or twitter I'd make an account and post it there. 

[provocativa]

Another voice who doesn't appreciate this linking.  It feels like a violation because it is one.  It is akin to taping what one says at a party, and then replaying it for whomever the taper feels like, without any regard to the wishes of the speaker.  Yes, it is always possible, but.... I am one who was a lurker here for a few years before joining and posting.  Certainly it felt like a community back then.  In order to participate in the community, one had/has to make an active choice....first to type a natural parenting search string in to Google and find Mothering.  Then to choose a username, and perform the clicks to join.  Not a huge amount of conscious activity, but certainly more active choice than liking something on FB, which can be a split second decision.  Those split-second joiners are less likely to share our parenting philosophy than someone who actively searched us out, and spent the couple minutes to join. 

I would prefer to be able to opt out of having any of my posts appear on FB, not just be notified that threads are being used on FB. 

[mumkimum]

I don't care for the crossposting of threads on fb/twitter.  

I think my reasoning is that, were I to begin a mothering thread, it's about my concerns about an issue.  If I wanted to ask around on fb I'd do that, I'd rather not have someone else ask around about my issue on fb.  It just feels like that's what's happening (though I understand the board is public, if the people on fb were searching stuff they could read my thread and I'd never know, blah blah).  

I think having regular facebook discussion topics that were here and there and were started out of discussing a common topic of interest (instead of someone's pressing, personal issue) would be better.   I wouldn't feel weird about posting to something like that, and might even check out what was said about it on fb just to see whether the discussions were going the same way.  I think that's pretty similar to what mothering is trying to do, based on checking some of the threads they've picked.  Seeing a thread put for the purpose of creating a discussion in both places is different than borrowing someone's thread from them and using it there.  

[BarefootScientist]

Well, the fact that people are discussing it on facebook instead of clicking through to here doesn't make me feel better because a) it seems to defeat the purpose of increasing traffic to the site, no? and b) like I said before, people who are not on facebook will never know that people on facebook are discussing the thread they started. Of course that could happen at anytime, I know people discuss UC threads, for example, elsewhere on the web all the time, but in this case, it's mothering itself that is facilitating it. And we've seen just in this thread that people have no idea this is going on.

[philomom]

I hope the admin team is registering our feedback now.

All this seems very anti Peggy. I wonder of she was consulted on any of the changes?

[limabean]

Just chiming in to say that threads that are featured on Facebook should be identifiable so that members can opt out of posting in those threads (or edit out their earlier comments) if they wish. 

[sapphire_chan]

I think posting the threads to FB is a good thing.

1. the people who get them directly in their FB feed are fans of Mothering, the people who get them at one remove are friends of people who have "liked" Mothering.

2. it isn't anything that anyone on the internet couldn't see anyway

2a. and come up on Google searches.

3. which is why there are private forums for things that really need privacy

4. but hopefully not for everything because part of MDC is getting information out to people who don't have it

5. which is why having interesting and informative threads broadcast to people who have already indicated a small interest in AP/natural living is good.

That said, I do like the idea of threads being color coded so people who are concerned can have a choice.

[treeoflife3]

I think not only should the be identifiable as being an FB thread, but they should be started by mothering staff in the first place.  The whole purpose of sharing threads on fb is to bring in more traffic and no veil of trying to help can cover that up.  If their desire is more members and more money from the ads/traffic then they should start their own threads for people to choose to participate in to the degree they feel comfortable with.  They shouldn't just be taking random threads someone starts and pimping it around the internet.
 

Originally Posted by limabean 

Just chiming in to say that threads that are featured on Facebook should be identifiable so that members can opt out of posting in those threads (or edit out their earlier comments) if they wish. 

as for this feeling anti peggy... did she by chance sell mothering.com?  I've been on forums before where the owner sold it without telling anyone and no one noticed til some really unusual changes started occurring causing members to question what was going on.

[HollyBearsMom]

For those of you worried about privacy due to your screen name I replied to the following post to find out if in fact there IS a way to request a username change. I hope if Cynthia isn't able to answer my original question earlier in this thread than maybe one of the other admins can.

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1314051/change-screen-name

[philomom]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

That said, I do like the idea of threads being color coded so people who are concerned can have a choice.

Thanks. That's what I'm getting at. As someone who is anti-Fbook... I should have a choice as to whether or not my words and ideas end up over there. MDC used to be big on "choices".

[Arduinna]

I think facebook threads should have their own forum so we all know that is where they will be posted, and they need to originate in that forum. Lets have the choice to have our posts there or not. 

[Nazsmum]

This is the only "place" that I come. I did not know that I could be on fb or anywhere else. Why would I come here? I thought that MOTHERING was about a community of moms that wanted to be natural. Natural family living! right? I have been seeing changes that I don't understand. I miss Mothering Mag. I miss the old MDC,

[SuburbanHippie]

The thing about posting on a public message board is that what you write becomes their property.  If Mothering wants to use your interesting post about breastfeeding or cloth diapering to try to drive up some traffic for their site, they are perfectly within their rights.  It's a good reminder to everyone that if you don't want your neighbor's grandma's pool boy to know about it, don't put it out there for everyone to see.  Yeah, it kinda sucks, but that's just how it is.

[MusicianDad]

It creeps me out that at some point it was determined "Hey, will share what other people are saying on our facebook" and the conversation didn't finish with "and we need to come up with a way to let them know a thread will be posted else where."

[philomom]

Originally Posted by Nazsmum 

This is the only "place" that I come. I did not know that I could be on fb or anywhere else. Why would I come here? I thought that MOTHERING was about a community of moms that wanted to be natural. Natural family living! right? I have been seeing changes that I don't understand. I miss Mothering Mag. I miss the old MDC,

I know. This is the only parenting/lifestyle site I choose to come to. I'll really miss you guys if we can't work this out with the admin team.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie 

The thing about posting on a public message board is that what you write becomes their property.  If Mothering wants to use your interesting post about breastfeeding or cloth diapering to try to drive up some traffic for their site, they are perfectly within their rights.  It's a good reminder to everyone that if you don't want your neighbor's grandma's pool boy to know about it, don't put it out there for everyone to see.  Yeah, it kinda sucks, but that's just how it is.

Hey, people aren't asking "don't do it" they are asking "let us know which threads you are doing it to so we can choose not to post in them if we don't want to."

[physmom]

Just throwing in my 2 cents here that I wouldn't want my threads posted over there either.  I like the opt-in/opt-out idea and that the threads posted there would be in a different color.  Maybe i would respond on those threads but I'd like to know ahead of time because that would probably affect my answers. 

[AislinCarys]

I am shocked at this, but glad to find out. I am not on f-book, and do not wish to have anything of mine featured there (actually not on Twitter either, or any other site except Mothering). Now I will start going trough all the threads I've posted on , and remove stuff. And I'll be very careful about what I post here in the future. My handle isn't easily recognized, and I am careful what I post that may be too identifiable. But that doesn't mean that plenty of people couldn't work out who I am just by the content of posts I've written.

I have loved Mothering, and loved this forum. I received so much help and support when DD was newborn, and later too, and I hope I've been helping others. But Mothering has been a safe world for me. F-book I don't trust, at all.