Determination!

[IGOTASTi]

First I would like to say thank you to everyone who is a premium member and vendor on this site. You all have my deepest thanks. Without you this would not be possible at all.

Second, as I sit here and type this some of you might have heard that I was going to throw in the towel for I.G.O.T.A. I have had some issues that have constantly been a huge bother to me. So I sat down and looked at the issues that are giving me a hard time and its the Facebook group I have created. I created that group to promote the forum and give people a place to quickly chat. Well it has gotten out of control and now instead of throwing in the towel I'm going to step up and deal with the monster I have created. Why should I give up because of some people that don't know how to follow the rules. Here is what we are going to do about this issue.

I have already created a new Facebook group for premium members and added them to that new group. We feel if your a premium member then you will follow the rules and want to be apart of a great community. We understand we are not for everyone and that's OK. I have been told from a few people who are not on the forum that we have tons of drama. No we don't. Facebook is separate from this community! Its a few people who ruin it for everyone, but I won't let them here and that drives them nuts. This is a safe haven to learn and be respected. We are all equal here. No one is better than the next.

When I created I.G.O.T.A. a few years ago I had a dream to be the best at what I did. I wanted a place to learn and make new friends without power hungry admins or mods on a power trip. I wanted a place that stood for something. I stand for being honest, truthful, devoted, so why couldn't I do it in a community? I hear from so many people that they can't stand the other communities because of the drama. Well you wouldn't find it here. If you do your the one making it and will be shown the ban hammer. We watch and protect this site daily and won't let anyone attack you or hurt you here. You have my word.

Now another thing about how we run I.G.O.T.A. We are a 100% legit company. We have bills to pay like any normal business. This company is not cheap to run and people think I make a ton of money. You are very far from the truth. I have put in over 2 years of my time and all my mod money from my STi to make this a great community. I have also turned down 4 vendors so far as they had a bad reputation. My members mean more to than some vendors money. I put every dime back into the company and products to be the best. We want to be the best for you and that takes time and money. Our bills are very high because we run the best equipment. Like a new server, programs, new products to sell, and so one. So please donate or become a premium member today. We give give and keep on giving.

I also wanted to take the time to thank all my admins and mods because you guys have done a great job with the community. I never have to go anywhere else to get correct information about my STi. I truly thank you all.

So as I sit here I will be talking to my admins, mods, and vendors and will be working on a solution. I would like to delete that Facebook group, but I'm going to see if there is a different route we can go. Thank you all for your time, money, and support! Your the best!

JJ

 

[Z1107]

Delete it bro. They've shown their true colors, either creating drama or refusing to sign up here and trying to get hard earned info by repeatedly asking the same question when they could find the answer here in under a minute. Thanks for sticking with it.

 

[Vermont]

I would be hesitant to say to delete the face book page. The reason being it does give us some publicity and get our name out there, which is important. It also works as a filter and keeps the D-bags off the forum, it shows us who should and should not be a member so we can keep the boards, which is the most important part, clean.

Now us as mods also need to step up our game and keep all technical discussions inside threads, not in the chat box or on the face book page. I am just as guilty of this as every one else. I don't know how many times Holycrap has caught me giving tech advise over the chat box. The bottom line though is that we are growing and working together which is what needs to happen. All you have to do is take a quick hop over to IW and just compare the massive amounts of drama, flaming, adds, and spam bots on there and you will realize what a truly great thing we have built.

 

[Vermont]

JJ, I have to agree with Jordan. Maybe we can work on a system for us mods to take turns on moderating the page so that way you can get a brake from all the bull shit and idiots who keep flooding you there. I see the Face book page as mote around our castle. With the forum proper being the castle walls and the keep being the premium members section. Sounds kinda corny I know but if you think about it makes sense.

 

[IGOTASTi]

I also agree with Jordan. That's why this is a very hard decision for me.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

The thing I don't like about FB is that for allot of people it is the first gateway to the site and for anyone to see the drama there is a reflection on the forum whether or not it is true.

In the beginning it was a great way to advertise the forum but now the word is out for the most part. I don't like that FB is our first line of contact for allot of people because of some of the negativity it presents. That is why I try to promote as much posting here as possible. With every post we make here, it gets us further to the top of a Google search. Once we are on the top there is no need for FB IMO.

 

[IGOTASTi]

How do I always miss the drama?

No clue, lol.

Holy our pages are not the issue. Its the groups. The pages we have are a great thing and promote us. The groups are like a cheap free forum on crack, lol.

 

[Z1107]

Same here, it's always on Facebook.

 

[Grinder34]

Its been a while since i was on facebook, but cant you disable chats/threads/discussions on the FB page? It seems like a good store front, and way for MODS to post info, but if you wanna talk about something, bring it here?

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

I didn't know the difference since I don't have a FB account. I apologize for my ignorance. :tup:

 

[IGOTASTi]

I didn't know the difference since I don't have a FB account. I apologize for my ignorance. :tup:

It's ok pal.

Fuji I need to talk to all our vendors and get there take on it also.

 

[Td_d]

Phew... I obviously missed this - been off Facebook for a very long time.

I would be loath to shut down the FB pages due to the marketing / viral opportunity that they present for vendors and for the site as a whole.

If the drama is on the discussion groups, then maybe that's the route to follow - use it more as a static marketing tool, and allow vendors to post (which is easily moderated).

Let me think about this, I'll ask some people in the digital marketing space for opinions as well.

 

[IGOTASTi]

Only one vendor has chimed in so far. I'm going to repost this in the groups again.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

I was serious when I said how do I always miss the drama. You guys always talk about all this drama that is going on on Facebook. I am on the Igotasti page almost all day and don't see it. To me it is more of the constant posting about the drama that is creating the drama. I like the groups, They see ten times more action than I see on this site. You can go for 3-5 hours on here with no one posting anything new. The groups are instant with people talking and chatting all day. I for one think you shouldn't call out drama just delete the post and ban the people. Don't point it out don't go over and over about the rules of the forums or group. People get that, that doesn't mean that they are going to A follow it or B think that what they are saying is creating the drama.

If someone post something technical it is there responsibility to get it to the forum. If they don't then they don't you can't force someone to do so. If you get rid of the facebook group I foresee the entire drive of the community falling off. This is something that no other forums have.

I hate Nasioc for vendor purposes, however if I need something to kill the time I am most likely going there or the facebook page, because they have hundreds of posts a minute. Here there are no post between 1am-10am 90% of the time.

This is my two cents for what its worth.

I don't see the drama, and honestly may have only seen it once in the past 10 months. I feel the mentioning of no drama, stop the drama, did you hear about this drama... that is what is making the drama.


At some-point some people need smacked upside the head for stupid comments. Such as a guy asking what turbo to buy with no other info about said car or goals of said car... A comment about getting a GT62R might be considered drama, however I feel it is a comment that needs to be made for said poster to realize just how stupid there initial post was.



Sorry for the rant

Is it possible the reason no one is posting over here is because they are all posting and chatting on Facebook?

I'm not on facebook so I don't know.

 

[Z1107]

^^^^^

Before Facebook and the chatbox, there was 10 times more action on the forum.

 

[IGOTASTi]

^^^^^

Before Facebook and the chatbox, there was 10 times more action on the forum.

Well the information posted is awesome, but the chatbox has cut down on post whoring.

I just don't know what to do about this all. So confused.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Well the information posted is awesome, but the chatbox has cut down on post whoring.

I just don't know what to do about this all. So confused.

As you said the vendors are what's keeping the lights on and they benefit allot from the Facebook pages... Ergo we should keep it as it is because we need our vendors more than we need traffic. Without them all other points are mute.

I would just hope that everyone would be diligent to recognize when technical questions are being posted on facebook and that you promptly remind them that there is a forum for that.

 

[Grinder34]

Is it possible the reason no one is posting over here is because they are all posting and chatting on Facebook?

I'm not on facebook so I don't know.

Ditto that.

And another question, because i dont have facebook...how does keeping FB groups active help vendors?

I wish there were more posts going on here and it makes me sad that it's all happening on FB where I don't go.

 

[IGOTASTi]

Here is my take. Lots of people come to us for correct information and guidance, but then don't wanna support us with a membership. Maybe we should just help premium members, and the free members get limited information. Just throwing out some ideas.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Here is my take. Lots of people come to us for correct information and guidance, but then don't wanna support us with a membership. Maybe we should just help premium members, and the free members get limited information. Just throwing out some ideas.

This would be a mistake... There will be no incentive for free members to become a supporting members at that point. You can not expect people to become a paying member instantly. You have to give them time to feel comfortable enough to contribute and you have to make them want to. The way you do that is through respect and catering to their needs just like any other customer. What we need is more members and for them to post information and or questions. Overtime those members will likely become paying members.

If you were selling cars would you tell your customer that you will disclose all the really good information about a car or let him take it for a test drive only if he buys it first. That is absurd

We need to make the core of information available to all and entice prospective paying members with the other stuff like chat and the member's forums... Which brings me to my biggest pet peeve... We really need to start concentrating on the member's forum and filling it up with stuff they can sink their teeth into... I just need some ideas to get it going and I can't do it alone.

I started a thread a while ago asking for ideas but It never got any response.