I have noticed that YouTube and Facebook are popular with this hobby, especially YouTube.
However, I feel that Twitter is under-utilized, it has the potential to greatly benefit the popularity of model railroading and create a greater community among modellers world wide.
Anyone here have a Twitter account?
Anyone have thoughts on this topic?
Pablo
Count me as no, not now, not ever, never.
I don’t think it is practical. I believe that each “tweet” can only consist of so many words; probably not enough to ask an intelligent question, certainly not enough to give an intelligent answer.
Call me “old school” or “dinosaur”, but I don´t do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any of those not so social media. This forum (and a few selected other ones) fulfill my communication needs 100%. I don´t need thousands of virtual “friends” to follow me whatever I may be doing, nor do I believe my tweeting or chirping it will save the world.
And how did you come to that conclusion?
I have a youtube channel. That way I can share information and techniques through visual stimulation. I don’t have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or any other social media.
I don’t think I’m missing out on anything by not having social media accounts. I know lots of people who have deleted their accounts or wish they didn’t have them.
Maybe if more people spent LESS time on social media and MORE time actually doing things (like going to a train show or railroad prototype modelers meet instead of waiting for it to appear on social media), they might get more out of the hobby.
Terry
A: Nope. I have no desire for one and really don’t see the appeal or benefit to one. I find this and my groups.io forums are quite adequate for garnering “community”. In fact, a number of the members here on this forum cover quite a few time zones around the world.
I do have a FB account, my own website, and also belong to a decent-sized train historical society. I think that’s as much socializing as I need at the moment.
Tom
Nice to hear others seem to feel like I do…
I have no interest in “social media” whatsoever. I do enjoy communicating with email, and I have found huge benefits with YouTube. But the facebook, tweets, and whatever else is out there is just not for me.
Count me in with the above no go guys. There is an up side to social media, law enforcement and attornies think it’s great because it helps them in court cases.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Maybe it’s an old people vs young people thing. I’m in the older people category and don’t really see the need to tweet. Forums have always worked well enough. FB seems mostly a means to connect with others (to both good and bad effects) or advertise company activity and get a little feed back from interested parties.
Back on topic, I’ve never seen a purpose to getting a Twitter account and start tweeting. I mean, what for?
NO, NEVER, NYET, NADA
#noway @ twitter
I have used several photo-hosting sites over the years. Some have fizzled out (Picasa) some have made bad management decisions (Photobucket). I will occasionally comment on someone’s photo at the one main site I now use, Flickr, but that’s about it.
I have some Youtube videos posted. My grandson was looking over my shoulder once and saw that I had some fifteen thousand views on one of the videos and he was amazed. You could be making some money there! said he. Nope, not interested. I did have many commenters thank me for providing memories for them. A couple of Erie-Lackawanna employees re-united by commenting on one of my videos. When something like that happens I’m grateful.
Any other “media” social or otherwise, I have no need or use for. Even texting. I’ve never sent or recieved a text in the past 62 years. Sometimes my wife will be caught up in a texting volley and I’ll say, why don’t you just call the person and get the whole conversation over with at once?
Guess I just don’t understand.
A few other friends of my sons use several Facebook and Twitter kinds of things. I don’t really get it. Mostly mindless drivel.
I believe part of the attraction to this stuff is the “cloistered” lifestyle so many people lead these days. We used to have bowling leagues, card games, dances, picknicks, gee, even going to the shopping mall is becoming a thing of the past. So I guess this is the new way to “socialize”.
You mean like the girl that went to the Police station for her probationary drug test, passed it, then went out to her car — still in the police parking lot — and tweeted to her friends how she
I have to return here with a question for the OP.
How does Twitter have the potential to greatly benefit the popularity of model railroading?
Can you give some examples of how Twitter would be used in this regard?
RIch
I come across some MRR manufacturers that have no web presence other than Facebook*. I don’t go there and as far as I can tell, they’re losing business, at least mine, anyway.
*not really related to the twitter question, but you get my drift, I hope.
Ed
No way
Yeah, it won’t work.
I do.
As a non-user of social media, I get my info from my wife, three kids and six grandkids. Social media seems to work well for those who are looking for constant contact on everyday blabber or as a source of update info on daily comings and goings. But, that seems to be about it. My impression is that a forum like this one works much better for the exchange of information about model railroading activity.
Rich
All of these social media sites remind me of buzzing beehives-lots of noise! Maybe it’s the lone wolf in me but I can live my hobby life quite fine without the need to have x number of “followers” of anything I say. This back and forth forum is sufficient to solicit advice, offer suggestions and remains on point at all times (except when I’m fooled by a 10 year old post that is resurrected). I see many companies with that “follow us on facebook” request in their advertising. If you have nothing else in the world to do with your time, by all means indulge yourself. I just hang around here - on my schedule- and live life more meaningfully!
Cedarwoodron
Having worked my entire 50 year career around law enforcement (Radio Communications maintenance) they always said that the guilty do their selves in by not being the brightest bulb in the socket.
Mel
My Model Railroad
Gmpullman,[#offtopic]
Ed,
I watched one of Your Youtube videos a couple days ago…crossing the Macarthur bridge in St. Louis, I believe it was on an Amtrak coach. I was wondering how You were able to take that video without wacking Your head on the passing bridge beams?..LOL. Great video though…not much of a rail fanner Myself…
Although I was leased to and worked for the CSX railroad a number of yrs. But that was Intermodal.
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
I can think of at least one Twit whose over-utilised Tweeting I could do without.
Wayne
As has been mentioned, twitter seems to invite a quick hitting type of banter that I think doesn’t suit model railroading. The other allow for pictures and videos, and youtube allows for lengthy explanations which fosters more deep understandings.
Of course, some are better than others in producing their videos and presentations.
I’m an old guy and I have a twitter account. I trade stocks and when there is a big move in a stock, with no news, the news is often on Twitter. Usually an upgrade/downgrade or take over rumor.
To do that, I have to wade through a lot of garbage. There are bots, a computer program that operates as hundreds or even thousands of “individuals” tweeting exactly the same thing. If I search CSX’s stock symbol, $CSX, I may see 20 posts from different sources all with some trivial news and a link which is spam for a newsletter. Another 20 that just use stock symbols to try to sell you bitcoins.
Dilbert cartoonist, Scott Adams, makes best use of it by doing one or two daily live broadcasts. He makes his money by selliing books, and other ventures. So he gets his face in front of the public every day.
However there is too much anonymity, and too much hate if you venture into politics or current events.
The bot problem has gotten worse, despite what you read. Then there is the censorship issue. No I am not going to use Twitter for MR
Facebook has some interesting things. I belonged to a forum and was active in it for a while. The problem was the algorithms constantly change what you see. If this thread was on a Facebook forum, you might comment on it, click on a friends webpage, come back to this forum and not see this thread again for hours or days no matter how you searched for it. You see posts from some of your friends everyday and others almost never.
There is a lot of room for improvement in the Internet. The retail industry, the smaller companies, have done themselves a disservice by having terrible websites. We were talking about NJ International last night in the forum. Links that don’t work and pictures of the products so small, they could be posters for your z scale layout.
I was on the Arizona Rock and Mineral site. The sell a