Skyscript Astrology Forum

facebook is insidious..

i use it for professional reasons in a very limited context.. the astrological part of it is a mixed bag for me personally. i am on a few astro-forums where the moderation is done very well - traditional astrologers astro forum and professional astrologers forum, but i get limited value from the conversations there.. i get much more astro value here conversationally, even if i don't participate directly.. some would say especially if i don't participate directly, LOL. i was on a mundane astro forum on facebook where i felt the moderation left a lot to be desired so i dropped that.. i was also on another one where the moderating style was very bad to my own way of thinking so i dropped that too..

i think the superficiality of facebook appeals to some.. that said i have seen robert hand post on facebook and say some worthwhile things. perhaps his thinking is his website doesn't reach out and have an interactive platform in the same way that facebook does so he will utilize it for that specific reason..

regardless, i think it is a terrible format generally.. as for the control of information posted on facebook, not to mention open access that snoop central will have on all of it, it just doesn't appeal to me for those reasons and everything else i have cited.. those who feel the need to use it for gaining a certain astrological perspective that they can't get elsewhere - good for them.. i haven't seen it myself.. all i have generally seen is very superficial blather..

james_m wrote:
regardless, i think it is a terrible format generally.. as for the control of information posted on facebook, not to mention open access that snoop central will have on all of it, it just doesn't appeal to me for those reasons and everything else i have cited.. those who feel the need to use it for gaining a certain astrological perspective that they can't get elsewhere - good for them.. i haven't seen it myself.. all i have generally seen is very superficial blather..

Hi James,

I'm posting the same from the other thread, mainly because it fits better here..

<rant>
I "fell" sorry for some people migrating to facebook and not participating in this forum anymore. There's no way facebook can ever replace forums, at least as facebook stands now. In facebook you don't have editing options as here, you can't write bold, italic, underlined, you can't quote people to contextualize your answers, you can't put images inline with the text, you can't change sizes to make things as titles, no changing colors or make a list.

There you are really quite limited to short answers. There's no way one can advance astrology using responses such as as "LOL", "OMG", "ROFL", whatever.

People may have moved to facebook, but the "discussion-ability" remains here.. Now, as a marketing platform, Facebook is king, because you don't need people to discuss your posts deeply! It is a ad-based platform, only the number of "eyes" matter, not the quality of answers..
</rant>

But another problem is that information shared on closed groups will never make its way out of it. These type of forums like we have here in skyscript allows for open access even if you are not a member. Therefore, people can see the type of discussion we have here before agreeing to register.

Facebook just isn't a conversational platform at all..


Jo?o Ventura

jventura wrote: But another problem is that information shared on closed groups will never make its way out of it. These type of forums like we have here in skyscript allows for open access even if you are not a member. Therefore, people can see the type of discussion we have here before agreeing to register.

Facebook just isn't a conversational platform at all..

Jo?o Ventura

thanks for sharing joao.

there is a possibility the info in the closed groups will make it's way out, but what does it tell us about the nature of facebook where moderators have to create a closed group? this forum is so very different in being open for anyone to get involved while having almost none of the downside offered by facebook. ultimately people will do what they do and my feeling, right or wrong is that facebook will eventually deteriorate from a lack of support, while it continues to be swamped by commercial interests that take away more it then they add to the experience.. cheers james

I think each platform has its place, but I am also going to copy something over that you posted in the other thread James, because I think this YouTube video has a really important message about keeping everything balanced:

Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Rl8EIhrQjQ

I can't see that Facebook is designed for enduring communications, or a deep exploration of anything. It is quick and so it can be very superficial. Actually, because I can choose to dip into FB or not, I don't mind that so much, but there was something about Windows 8 that came preloaded on a laptop I bought for my husband a few weeks ago that made me despair. It seems to place its values on everything that is quick, superficial and commercial - making it harder to access the programs you want to work on, because of all the ads (apps) to social media through preferred partners. It was the final straw for me in representing a developing attitude that I find very uncomfortable. (So after being a Windows user since Windows was first launched, I've now bought a Mac - hence now very interested in the development of astrological software for Mac users.)

I haven't joined any of the astrological discussion groups on Facebook, although I seem to get joined up to an endless number of groups by other people. Well, I did join a few at the beginning but then chose not to receive the notices and avoided joining new groups when I realised how distracting Facebook can be. That element of not having control over the groups I supposedly join annoys me, and is one of the ways that Facebook can be too much "in your face". But there are other aspects of FB that I do enjoy - mainly seeing the news and photos of friends and astrologers I know in other countries, and I do like the posts about animals or posters with spiritual messages. Since I work with astrology practically every day, I suppose when I use Facebook I intend it to be a distraction from my astrological thoughts. I treat it as a bit of light-hearted relief - not the ideal place to develop a thoughtful astrological discussion.

Should also add that I don't like mobile phones (I only turn mine on and use it to make necessary calls when away from home), and I only text if it is really important to text. I set up a twitter account for Skyscript some years ago, but then abandoned it when I realised that I have no interest in sending or receiving tweets. Good communication has its place, but it is important to be able to enjoy peaceful periods when you can silence out the rest of the world and concentrate on your own houghts.

you communicate your ideas very well deb.. i like your ideas too! they encourage a more balanced outlook on all things we involve ourselves with. i think the thing about facebook is it has it's place too, but the possibility for losing our balance or hoping that facebook can be all things to all people is un-realistic.. i liked what i believe you said - if i am looking for distraction - or something like that - you can always go to facebook! i could say this for myself about skyscript too, but overall i like the gentler approach of a forum like this where i have time to contemplate others ideas and respond any number of ways without being over-whelmed by the process.

I like fb very much and I like to post songs and pictures and astro-charts. It's like my school diary was, and better. Anyway I never searched there something like Skyscript. SS is a very special place where scholars write, there is not such a thing anywhere. I like it and learned from people here a lot.

I, too, find facebook to be a less than ideal venue for discussing astrology. As jventura points out it lacks formatting options, and for whatever reasons in-depth discussions just don't happen there. At one time I was on a mySpace forum titled (if memory serves) Horoscopic Astrology, which had something like 4000 members and lots of vigorous in-depth discussions. Chris Brennan was the moderator, and while I don't subscribe to his astrological beliefs I found him to be an excellent moderator who knew when to intervene and when to let things go. Unfortunately, in its frantic haste to emulate all things facebook mySpace killed the forum while in the process of creating "something better", which so far as I know never came to pass. One side effect of mySpace's shortsighted action was to kill the archive. I wish I had downloaded all my posts, and the threads in which they occurred, when there was still time. It would be nice if we had an option here to share our posts on facebook if we so desire. That might arouse the curiosity of some of our astrologically unsophisticated "friends" and lead to questions or even discussions there.

Who would have thought, FB for discussing astrology?.... oh my... (reaches for asprin and glass of water)

No thanks, its just for catching up with family and some 'I've seen you in real life, so I know you actually exist' friends. It can be handy for commercial & business interests, but that's it as far as I'm concerned.

Its a hackers dream to break into these kinds of places, same goes for gmail etc...

BE careful what you post on there!