Macclesfield Harriers Fell Section

[BARRY BLYTH]

A new Facebook group "Macclesfield Harriers Fell Section" has been set up. This is a “closed group” for members.

Initial members and "Admin" are Barry Blyth, Julie Gardner and Neil Gunn. We have started to invite members known to have Facebook accounts. If you haven’t received an invite and wish to join please ask.

This is not replacing the Forum as a means of communication but the expectations are that over time the use of Facebook will the preferred means of communicating.

Barry 18/1/17

[Neil Gunn]

Just a quick addition to Barry's post ..for those that do not have a Facebook account and are nervous about having one then it may be worth having a read about 'privacy' settings that can be applied. There are a lot of people that have high levels of privacy due to the nature of their work (teachers, legal, financial, health etc) so this is not a new problem. In some cases an 'alias' with a non-identifying profile picture can be used to avoid identification.

It is possible to set up a new account in such a way that it does not appear 'public' and the only place you use it is within the Fell Section 'closed' group.

There are a lot of 'Facebook Experts' in the club that may be able to offer advice and also there is a lot of information on the Facebook site itself.

https://www.facebook.com/help/238318146535333?helpref=hc_global_nav

Hope this helps,

Neil

[mudskimmer]

Is the forum broke?
Isn't there more chance of confusion if fell posts are appearing in 2 places?
I do use FB, but I know many people who don't and don't want to.

[bollygill]

Hear hear.
Facebookers: Please don’t assume that us non-Facebookers are just nervous about privacy.
Facebook offers me nothing I need. All my communication (both information and humorous) needs about fell running are met by email and the forum. I don’t even have to log on to the forum, and there are no ads.
By all means do your thing on Facebook. But if that becomes the *preferred* means of communication, I don’t think I will be the only one who sees that as a breakaway group.

[mhlewis]

I agree with Bollygill.
I'm also a non Facebooker.

[HeyJude]

I do not use Facebook and have no desire to do so. The forum works perfectly well and the fact that it is open to all is more likely to give the impression that MHAC is a welcoming and inclusive club. A closed Facebook group will do nothing to encourage non-members and runners from other sections of the club to come along and give fell-running a try (another of the Club Development Plan objectives ).

Keep fell-running simple !

[BARRY BLYTH]

In answer to Kath the Forum is not broke and you will continue to be able to use it.

The new Facebook group was only set up yesterday and already over 70 harriers have joined with a lot of positive comments. You do need to have a Facebook account (can be with an anonymous name) to be able to view the contents as it is not "open" like the main Harriers facebook page. You need to be approved to be allowed to join after which you will be able to use it. The Macc website and the forum is open to anyone to view but to use it you need TO REGISTER once and LOGIN everytime. MOST harriers DO NOT use the Forum (it's the same people most of the time) so this Facebook group meets a need for them.

It's possible that items will appear on one but not both hence chance for items to be missed. This happens already with the forum as only the most recent 5 posts appear on the main page. You have to search to look for items not appearing on this page.

I will continue to use the forum but will also use facebook.

NOTHING HAS ACTUALLY CHANGED as there has been a Macc Facebook page for some time within which odd items relating to Fell appear eg the fell relays including photos and the recent Bowstones race (you will not have seen these).

Hope this alleviates your concerns

Barry

[Hazel]

Gill and Jude couldn't have put it better for me. I have nothing to add