Facebook Group for SMNet members

[PSMKay]

I've started a Facebook group for those of us who are both here and there to find each other more easily over there.  The group is called SMNetwork.org Members.  (Clever, no?)

It's really only for us to find each other more easily, I've not put much up there that allows much conversation so that the main action still all occurs over here.

EDIT: Someone asked for a link to the group, so Here you go!

EDIT: The group will be closing by Dec 10 2015.

[PSMKay]

The group has been migrated to the new format, meaning that about 400 of you were dropped from the group membership.

The group remains at [removed] so stop by and re-join if you feel so inclined. I'll frequently post updates there if we're having server problems, and post major news there for easy sharing with your FB pals.  (I added a those of you who are also on my friends list back in tonight.)

[jcarey]

Have you thought about making a similar group on LinkedIn?

[PSMKay]

I really really do not like LinkedIn. I think the user interface is absolutely awful and their paywall settings are far too restrictive. I personally do not use it and my profile is totally incomplete. So to answer the question, no I hadn't thought about it. To answer the implied question, I would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to do it and I doubt it would be well-maintained.

[MatthewShiner]

But, Kay, how do you really feel about LinkedIn?

[PSMKay]

Heh. It's about on par with going back to production work. Both could probably benefit the community but I have to draw the line somewhere.

I'm currently handling 4 Facebook Pages, admin for 4 or 5 Facebook Groups, plus 3 Twitter accounts, 2 Google Plus accounts, a blog for which I'm generating 15 to 20 thousand words of content per month, and a partridge in a pear tree. Most of those are for my job. I have to be very careful before I take on any other social media venues. They take time.

Regardless, let's make a deal here. I'm going to toss up a poll. There's 83 members in the Facebook group since the reboot. If I can see over half of that number of people - 42 votes - in favor of a LinkedIn group and someone steps up who's willing to handle the join requests, I'll make the group.

[PSMKay]

And then FB re-merged all of the remaining active accounts that were lost in the great Valentine's Day Archiving. Our FB group membership instantly increased from 86 to 222.

[PSMKay]

(Y'know, I wish I didn't have to post this, I thought it would be obvious, but recent events have made it plain that it is necessary.)

SMNetwork's Community Standards, Student policies and all other existing rules extend to our Facebook group.

[PSMKay]

So the Facebook group has been growing - I have to approve 1-2 legit membership requests each day and turn down 1-2 spammers.

I screen every single one of those requests. For every person who requests membership, I look them up on Facebook, Google, I read their Twitter accounts, I check their college performing arts department playbills to find out if they are stage manager or not. In some cases it's obvious when their Facebook profile says "stage manager." In other cases I wind up digging for 45-60 minutes before I can successfully vet the person.

I'm tired of playing Sherlock Holmes to keep the group free of spammers.

Therefore, going forward, in order to be approved for the group you must request to join, and then do one of the two following things:
- Message me through Facebook or on here so I can match your name there to your username here.
- Ensure your privacy settings are such that if I visit your Facebook profile I will see "Stage Manager," "Theatre Student," or something similar as your current or prior occupation.

[PSMKay]

As of today the SMNetwork Members group on FB will no longer be accepting join requests from people who are not actually SMNetwork Members. Until now, I had also been accepting requests from other stage managers, but it's time for that to end.

I'm requiring all new membership requests over there to let me know their SMNet username. Additionally, they must have a post count here to be approved over there. I'm going to grandfather in any non-members who've already snuck in, mostly because I cannot cross index all 346 members, but additional outsider join requests will not be approved.

Going forward I will also be taking steps to filter wayward general SM discussion that pops up on the FB group to resurrect over here.

The FB group was started so that our valued SMNetwork contributors could find each other on FB. The idea was that you check the FB Group's memberlist to find your friends and occasionally get warning if this site will be down. It was never intended as a general stage management discussion group, but folks who play Pokemon (gotta catch 'em all) with every stage management group on FB have been joining ours to complete their "collections" and missing the point.

I'm fully aware that this decision will probably halve the FB group's membership and I'm fine with that.

[PSMKay]

As people still cannot use the Facebook group for its intended purpose, I will be deleting it at some point over the next 48 hours.

[RuthNY]

What's been going on over there, Kay?

As people still cannot use the Facebook group for its intended purpose, I will be deleting it at some point over the next 48 hours.

[PSMKay]

Facebook does not make it possible to see a groups intent and rules before requesting membership.

Even though I have made it clear all over the group that it's only for news pertaining to SMNetwork and not a general stage management discussion group, people have continued to post off-topic material, in particular one very rude individual by the name of Michael Fernandez who has been using the group as his personal employment search site.

It is chiefly the fault of Mr. Fernandez that the group is going away, as his response to my message asking him to stop posting job search requests to the group was met with a rude instruction to "get a life."

In order to shut down the group I have to remove all 300+ members one at a time, so it will take me a few days to make it go away entirely. I'll probably replace it with a fan page somewhere further down the line when I'm not so steamed about the whole debacle.

[babens]

Maybe not the appropriate place to post this, but I have to say that I have seen that particular person's behavior over several different SM groups on Facebook and it's pretty much the same M.O. in each one. I have to admit that it's a pretty big turn off and should I ever come across his resume it's certainly going to weigh heavily against his favor.

I'm sorry that so many people, especially stage managers, have trouble with following the rules, which were outlined pretty well in the post you had pinned at the top, as I recall (I seem to have already been removed, so I can't double check myself now and have to go from memory).

[MarcieA]

Maybe not the appropriate place to post this, but I have to say that I have seen that particular person's behavior over several different SM groups on Facebook and it's pretty much the same M.O. in each one. I have to admit that it's a pretty big turn off and should I ever come across his resume it's certainly going to weigh heavily against his favor.

That's only the tip of the iceberg with this individual, I'm afraid. I'm sorry that you had to deal with such disrespect Kay, and that as a result you are forced to take the group down completely.