The Facebook Page

[Fangu]

Sorry, but I just feel like I have to say something...

Over the last weeks there's been a recent increase in post on the Facebook page that are, ahem... not typically what The Lifestream used to be about when we were talking about.. shit we used to talk about.

It seems to be about topics like:
* TIFAS BOOBS
* Oh look TIFA IS BLOWING CLOUD
* LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE CRAP

Sorry, but... TLS used to be about translatioons, analysis, carefully considered topics that always had the characters at best in mind. Not steamrolling out anything to create viewers.

Anyways just wanted to say that I'm not a fan of this -intelligence +marketing whatever behaviour. Not a fan.

Edit: Seeing as this thread has popped up again, I edited the title. I made this thread when drunk and the old title meant to say something like 'WTF GUYS WAT IS DIS' and was meant in good flailing drunken spirit. Since it has later appeared that some people saw the title as a direct insult, I decided to edit it to prevent any misunderstandings.

 

[Flintlock]

That kind of content isn't what I want to see either, but there's no denying it's popular. I can see how much engagement each post gets, and our "serious" posts - front page articles, for instance - get nowhere near as much as those jokey posts. Here's an example: the "music event is starting" article reached 156 people, while the "I've had it with these snakes" picture reached 3,117. So I don't blame Pixel for posting that stuff. If we don't want to portray ourselves in that way, then we just need to discuss it.

I think there's a fine line. Stuff like this Cloud costume is a good way to fill the gaps between our articles, at least every once in a while, but the Leave Final Fantasy 7 Alone post shouldn't be anywhere near our page, if you ask me.

 

[Jason Tandro]

This all comes back to the discussion of do we want to be the cut-above intelligent website for FF7 or do we want to be the most popular. Because sadly, those two rarely go hand in hand...

Edit: For the record, I don't mind posts like that on a social media outlet. Small silly sparks like that can draw attention to us and then we can keep their attention with quality posting on the site. I agree that it's better to have a consistent feel, but it's also important that people realize we don't take ourselves too seriously, which can seriously turn off the average viewer.

I'm sure there's a happy medium.

 

[Starling]

I think facebook could benefit from more intelligent posts, to be honest. I don't think garnering that kind of attention is worthwhile; quality over quantity and all that.

 

[Octo]

Pesonally I think theres room for in depth analysis and debate AND Tifa's boobs

Tbh until theres more definite news on the remake we can only do so much, so if we have to pad it out with jokey nonsense i don't see the harm.

Edit: and also it's facebook, which imo is a shit interface for anything, and the last place I'd want to go for anything but salkng friends. Its useful for complaining about restaurants though. But it seems to me that sites/businessrs have a facebook just to have a facebook.

 

[Pixel]

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm trying to grow the audience on Facebook, figuring out what works, and what doesn't. I know some of it is crude. Eg, the boobs thing... thats a parody of a clickbait article, and it was funny.

I post stuff I think will engage people. I dont see anybody else helping out with it.

I've asked for suggestions for stuff to post, and not many fucks were given

 

[Starling]

I'm sure stuff like Tifa's boobs is covered by other people, meaning we can focus on things that are more in line with the content we want to put up. "Jokey nonesense" could potentially harm the site's credibility if done too frequently and tastelessly.

 

[Lex]

For the record this is the thread Pixel is referring to, but I wouldn't say people didn't give a fuck, more that ideas were thrown around and we've got to run with those first.

Ideas are great and more people posting in that thread about what they'd like to see would also be great.

We could probably leave out the sex stuff like that one I think you've just removed Pixel? It appeals to a base of people we don't really want here IMO.

 

[Pixel]

I need more people with access to the page. I don't keep an eye on whats going on on the forums, and im struggling to find or make things to post, thats why crap is being posted.

 

[Lex]

Add me. Add anyone else wanting to contribute too.

 

[Pixel]

Anybody who wants access, I need you email address

 

[RedFFWolf]

I've discussed FB pages with S and G before (who has over 25,000 followers on his - FFVII Unofficial Novel). In his experience, artwork and humorous captions gather much more likes and shares than e.g., his extracts - the extracts being more related to his actual page than the sporadic images.

Lighthearted posts can help reel in new fans to the page/site. Then, throw in something a little more in-depth and original (i.e., site-created material) to show what TLS is truly capable of. I've seen the greatest of researchers on this site portray the most wonderful sense of humour, and I'd wager that among those attracted to the lighthearted posts are the same people who would take an interest in the more TLS-original material - that is to say, not everyone attached to the lighthearted material is only in it for said material. But who's to really say though.

Of course, is it the very nature of these kind of posts or the actual content that could be the turn-off? I guess, as has been suggested already, a careful balance is key. And, as you say, Pixel, you're pretty much in the experimenting stage.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it mentioned lately that the site intends to increase its chances of getting SE to look at the site, perhaps even providing a review copy of the remake before it comes out? Being the most thorough and dedicated site to FFVII won't mean much in the eyes of certain reps if its popularity is little in the way of marketing for them.


EDIT: Whoops - I see there's been about 7 posts or something since I finally got around to posting this. Please ignore/forgive any observations of mine that are at this point redundant or ill construed.

 

[Pixel]

I really want all of our projects to get the audience they deserve. W need to find ways of growing the FB audience so there is more chance of that doing well. Trust me, I don't like posting crap, but Ive been grasping at straws for content.

I dont really like the whole share fore share thing on there. I try to engage with other pages to try to get content out there. But I'd like to explore ways to grow the audience.

 

[Channy]

I don't care who you are, this is gold. GOLD

Also if it helps, I'm a Facebook junkie. Things that come to mind: linking to awesome deviartart FF pictures/collections done by certain artists, trivia, cosplay... things that are still relevant without being stiff or discrediting.

 

[trash panda]

Who the hell is running the Facebook page

I think Pixel's been doing an awesome job, considering that he's been (to my knowledge) doing it himself and I don't think he (or anyone) deserves to have something like this directed at him in such a way.



As for the content I've been seeing on the FB page as of late, suuuuure some of it's a little cheezball, but that can't all be on Pixel's shoulders because we're all together in this community...we all have mouths (or keyboards) to express our ideas. I s'pose it's been cleared up now that we can all contribute content ideas in the FB content thrad that Pixel created and we can do so in a kindly manner.

TLDR thank you Pixel for investing your time in the FB page to begin with and moving forward let's all create content together. Cheesecheesecheese.

 

[Pixel]

lol dont worry about wording things harshly. Personally, I prefer the direct approach to criticism

 

[Claymore]

Ah, the good old 'quality' discussion (again). Didn't this just happen in the video content thread? You guys really need to decide on the direction of this site as it's getting rather annoying to see this pop up every other week when someone actively does something for the site. You can't have it both ways. Either it's professional or it's popular. Which one? Happy mediums are very rare.

For the record, I enjoyed the #clickbait 'you won't believe what Tifa did next' and the snake jokes, though I did raise an eyebrow at the sex jokes. That went too far.

 

[Flintlock]

FWIW I'm firmly in the "quality" camp, but with social media, it's important to build engagement as well, more so than it is with the stuff we produce/publish.

To put it another way, if it's got a "made by TLS" stamp on it, it should be held to the highest quality standards (realistically speaking, of course; we're not professionals), but if it's "here's a cool/funny thing we want to show you", well, just keep it in good taste, and don't do it so often that it feels like spam.

This is just my opinion, off course, not official TLS policy, but then again, we don't really have much in the way of official policy. Maybe we should.

 

[RedFFWolf]

TLDR thank you Pixel for investing your time in the FB page to begin with and moving forward let's all create content together. Cheesecheesecheese.

This is the kind of get-up-and-go-attitude that got me out of bed this morning (seriously, I was browsing on the phone in bed, decided I'd get up and reply on the laptop ) - not that I'm about to write an article/essay on the Metaphysical Nature of the Lifestream (right now), but I genuinely feel spurred on to help out in some way. Wasn't aware this was a one-man show going on here. Social Media is really the way ahead these days, so it should be a spot we should help weigh in on

FWIW I'm firmly in the "quality" camp, but with social media, it's important to build engagement as well, more so than it is with the stuff we produce/publish.

To put it another way, if it's got a "made by TLS" stamp on it, it should be held to the highest quality standards (realistically speaking, of course; we're not professionals), but if it's "here's a cool/funny thing we want to show you", well, just keep it in good taste, and don't do it so often that it feels like spam.

This is just my opinion, off course, not official TLS policy, but then again, we don't really have much in the way of official policy. Maybe we should.

Accompaniment to Site Goals under 'Community' section mayhaps? Probably not necessary. More than anything I just wanted to highlight the page since it may become relevant/helpful for some (I figure policy is in some ways related to goals, especially in whatever points people might want to make down the line)

 

[Flintlock]

Accompaniment to Site Goals under 'Community' section mayhaps? Probably not necessary. More than anything I just wanted to highlight the page since it may become relevant/helpful for some (I figure policy is in some ways related to goals, especially in whatever points are made down the line)

Maybe, but I was more thinking of internal policy, something that all our staff, at least, are aware of. And since we try not to have discussions in private unless absolutely necessary (actual TLS policy!), our members should be aware of it too. If it exists already, it's in an old thread that I've forgotten about.

I have another point about staff roles but I'll put it in another thread and link to it here. (Edit: link.)

 

[Jason Tandro]

Look I get Claymore's frustration. I think it might come across as hypocritical that Pixel is seemingly not adhering to a quality standard he is promoting on other content. That said, the content shared in social media is not, as Flintlock says "Made By TLS", ergo just because we are sharing it doesn't necessarily mean we are abandoning our efforts for quality in content we create ourselves.

Let's also not forget that outside of external content creation, such as the TLS Podcast and of course Claymore and my videos, Pixel has been pretty much single-handedly running both the Youtube and Facebook channels. As such if we are going to actually sit down and bang out a "quality standard" (which I'm all for and have been since the colorful conversation about the Cross-Dressing Cloud video), I feel like Pixel needs to be at the forefront of the conversation.

I have a suggested course of action, but bear in mind that I:

a) Have only created some content and have not as of yet managed content outside of the Fanworks stuff.
b) Do not currently help manage the FB Page or any social media outlet.

Ergo I'm not certain my suggestion really counts for jack, but in a silly attempt to help put this thing to bed, here is a brief action plan:

SHORT TERM GOALS:
1. Determine a schedule for social media sharing (Purpose: Reduce "spam" content, regulate fan engagement).
2. Create an "essential" Do's and Don'ts List (Purpose: Determining what kind of content is appropriate to share)
3. Hire more people to manage the social media channels (Purpose: To help delegate the task of upkeep to other members and take the burden off Pixel's shoulders, (I know Lex has already agreed to chip in. Cheers.) )

LONG TERM GOALS:
1. Create a Quality Standard for content created by The Lifestream. (Purpose: A clear set of guidelines for content creators to adhere to.)
2. Determine what the focus of the website is going to be. (Purpose: The age old question. Are we a news site, a fan site, an encyclopedia, a hybrid? Without being able to definitively answer what our focus is, all other aspects of the site will suffer).


I realize the above seems like pretty much just condensing all the points made thus far, and is probably incomplete, but I'm hoping that we can get some direction and move forward with this.

 

[Pixel]

Its not really about quality, its about taste.

 

[Lex]

Ah, the good old 'quality' discussion (again). Didn't this just happen in the video content thread? You guys really need to decide on the direction of this site as it's getting rather annoying to see this pop up every other week when someone actively does something for the site. You can't have it both ways. Either it's professional or it's popular. Which one? Happy mediums are very rare.

For the record, I enjoyed the #clickbait 'you won't believe what Tifa did next' and the snake jokes, though I did raise an eyebrow at the sex jokes. That went too far.

Nobody on staff has argued that posting "pop" images over quality on social media is a bad idea, because it builds the audience and that is something we need. We'll still always adhere to a quality standard with our own works no matter the medium. I agree about the sex jokes being in bad taste, that appeals to the kind of comments/ audience I wouldn't want to see here.

I strongly disagree that something needs to be either professional or popular with happy mediums being rare in that regard. I believe you and JT's video would have even more views (and a higher like/dislike ratio, and less inflammatory comments) if some of the feedback that has been given is taken on board. I didn't particularly want to bring all of that up again because it's still appreciated work but I know that's what you're referring to.

Look I get Claymore's frustration. I think it might come across as hypocritical that Pixel is seemingly not adhering to a quality standard he is promoting on other content. That said, the content shared in social media is not, as Flintlock says "Made By TLS", ergo just because we are sharing it doesn't necessarily mean we are abandoning our efforts for quality in content we create ourselves.

Let's also not forget that outside of external content creation, such as the TLS Podcast and of course Claymore and my videos, Pixel has been pretty much single-handedly running both the Youtube and Facebook channels. As such if we are going to actually sit down and bang out a "quality standard" (which I'm all for and have been since the colorful conversation about the Cross-Dressing Cloud video), I feel like Pixel needs to be at the forefront of the conversation.

I have a suggested course of action, but bear in mind that I:

a) Have only created some content and have not as of yet managed content outside of the Fanworks stuff.
b) Do not currently help manage the FB Page or any social media outlet.

Ergo I'm not certain my suggestion really counts for jack, but in a silly attempt to help put this thing to bed, here is a brief action plan:

SHORT TERM GOALS:
1. Determine a schedule for social media sharing (Purpose: Reduce "spam" content, regulate fan engagement).
2. Create an "essential" Do's and Don'ts List (Purpose: Determining what kind of content is appropriate to share)
3. Hire more people to manage the social media channels (Purpose: To help delegate the task of upkeep to other members and take the burden off Pixel's shoulders, (I know Lex has already agreed to chip in. Cheers.) )

LONG TERM GOALS:
1. Create a Quality Standard for content created by The Lifestream. (Purpose: A clear set of guidelines for content creators to adhere to.)
2. Determine what the focus of the website is going to be. (Purpose: The age old question. Are we a news site, a fan site, an encyclopedia, a hybrid? Without being able to definitively answer what our focus is, all other aspects of the site will suffer).


I realize the above seems like pretty much just condensing all the points made thus far, and is probably incomplete, but I'm hoping that we can get some direction and move forward with this.

Re: quality, there's always been an unwritten rule of a level of quality in what we produce that has always been met - if it's helpful to produce a list of guidelines then we can do so, but I do feel like it's something we shouldn't have to do. That said I don't have a problem with making one.

Anyone willing to help with social media is welcome to join, and I do think scheduling is important. I'm on the facebook page now and I was browsing stuff to post earlier when it became clear to me that I'm not aware if a meme or somesuch has already been shared, and there's a fair backlog to go through to check.

As for the long term goals, that's stuff that is more relevant in the thread Flint just bumped (The Lifestream and 2015) as well as moving forward with our other plans outlined last month (choosing new WP theme, new forum software etc.)

 

[Fangu]

though I did raise an eyebrow at the sex jokes. That went too far.

Nobody on staff has argued that posting "pop" images over quality on social media is a bad idea, because it builds the audience and that is something we need. We'll still always adhere to a quality standard with our own works no matter the medium. I agree about the sex jokes being in bad taste, that appeals to the kind of comments/ audience I wouldn't want to see here.

These are my thought exactly. One thing I've always liked about TLS is the inclusive atmosphere. We're allowed to appreciate Tifa's massive boobars in this place, but to us, that's not the most important thing about her. We talk about her character, storyline and personality more than we talk about her lack of clothing. Which is not the case other places on the Intarwebz. And, idk, that kind of stuff has always been the case with us.

Which is why I was surprised to learn the change in FB postings were you, Pixel I was sure someone with Grand Ideas On How To Make Us Popular (While Loosing Our Soul) had taken over. I guess with all this talk of OMG WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR REMAKE WE NEED TO BE THE MOST POPULAR VII SITE OOMMGGG frustrates me at times because, eh... it doesn't always have to be about being huge, it's better to be unique, to offer something other sites don't. For me, a large part of this have been the quality of the articles and the in-depth nerdiness, but also the friendliness of the community.

Also the motherfucking snakes on a plane-joke reminded me of the Samuel L. Jackson joke on the Podcast Where Flint made a good point. Re: topics in jokes. Just try steering clear on making all of them about sex and controversial topics. I know that snake-joke wasn't meant to be provocative though. I just don't want us to look like yet another ignorant one-track minded site.

The title was meant to be controversial of kinds. It worked. Clickbait.

 

[Flintlock]

I guess with all this talk of OMG WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR REMAKE WE NEED TO BE THE MOST POPULAR VII SITE OOMMGGG frustrates me at times because, eh... it doesn't always have to be about being huge, it's better to be unique, to offer something other sites don't. For me, a large part of this have been the quality of the articles and the in-depth nerdiness, but also the friendliness of the community.

I'm quite sure the aim is to keep that friendliness and nerdiness while modernising a little bit. I'd be just as sad as you if we ended up losing it, and since I'm going to be helping with the transition, I'll be doing my best to make sure we don't.