Open Rails official Facebook page

[BrandonS261]

Hey Everyone,

So I have been thinking of starting an Official Open Rails Facebook page to try and get more interest in Open Rails and wanted to see what others thought of this idea? YES I have looked up Open Rails in Facebook and there are already a few pages out there but no Official page to let others know of updates, share progress, routes, photos, share ideas and other aspects that come along with Open Rails.

Just wanted to post on here and see what others thought before I went ahead and made a page!

Brandon

[John_P]

Have you got a connection with the developers of the program, or maybe you're one of them? It wouldn't be polite to start a page using the Open Rails name when you haven't got authorization, and it certainly wouldn't be "official". Anything like that should coordinate with what's on the openrails.org website.

[crstagg]

Why LookatMe FaceBook? What's wrong with this forum or the OPEN RAILS DEVELOPMENT, TESTING, and SUPPORT > Open Rails Simulator Project> OR - News forum at Elvas Tower or the OpenRails web site. Are you a member of the OpenRails Management Team? If so have you posted this question at Elvas Tower?

And why can't users keep up with the latest version by looking at the top right corner of the ORTS menu window?

The 6 subforums here at TS and the 11 subforums at Elvas Tower are sufficient for what you are proposing for LookatMe FaceBook.

[BrandonS261]

This is the whole reason I started this thread on here and Elvastower before I started one! I knew there would be pushback especially from the older generation who are not as tech savvy! I have connections and talk to the ORMT regularly and yes some of them agree an official Facebook page would be good for Open Rails. We need to branch out and expand Open Rails into new platforms and not just rely on the Elvastower and Trainsim forums! Coming from the younger generation who are all about technology and being tech savvy unless you are a part of Trainsim or Elvastower there is no real way to find out about Open Rails. I am trying to come up with more ways that others can find out about Open Rails and we can get more people involved.

Brandon

[R. Steele]

Brandon, if perhaps you had open your first post with this sentence...."I have been talking to the ORMT regularly and some of them agree an official Facebook page would be good for Open Rails, do members here have an opinion.?" The response would have been different. Plus to dismiss the older generation as not as tech savvy....once you put your foot in the pile you sure know how keep stepping in it. You gotta know some "older" members here are expert in "tech savvy"....

So some of the ORMT do not agree that an official Facebook page would be desirable?...you appear to be saying that.

The kernel of your argument that we need to promote OR, reach out to other communities and generations is valid....got no problems with it. To do this, it's best to try to achieve some sort of consensus and co-operative attitude among all those interested. Take some time thinking through your posts ---- in your enthusiasm to post you've added built in conditioned negative responses.

[eric]

Mixed feelings about Facebook -- "official pages" can help draw people to the official website, but I suspect the average age on Facebook isn't too far off from what you'll get on traditional forums.

Then there's also the problem of their filtering algorithms limiting what people see.

If you're lucky, someone will find it within the 12-36 hours that posts seem to be pushed to timelines.

FWIW, we have an "official page" here which is all about bringing people here to the site.

[BrandonS261]

Thank you both Eric and Gerry for your input on this subject. I myself have mixed feelings about it as well and yes I have been in contact with some or the ORMT about the subject and I am only trying to find ways to draw more people into Open Rails. That being said no one has started an official page and I have no intention of starting one unless we get enough support for one. That is the reason I started this forum. Seeing that most of the community on here and on Elvastower are in there 60-80 range in age I am only trying to come up with ways to get younger people to find out about Open Rails. I do agree with Eric in what he posted above and also agree with what Gerry says as well. I do believe we need to reach out to other communities but the best way to do this is try and figure out how to reach out to others about Open Rails!

Brandon

[crstagg]

I knew there would be pushback especially from the older generation who are not as tech savvy!

Hummm I started using computers in 1970. I had an IBM XT on my desk in 1983. I bought my first MS/DOS PC in 1984. But because I have no use for things like FaceBook, I am not tech savvy.

Kamay!

[eric]

Yeah..... probably not the greatest choice of words from Brandon.

Those in their mid 60's to 80's were some of the first mainframe programmers, who were also the first PC programmers. My generation (mid-late 50's) were the first to have personal computers in college.

What might be true is that some of us are nowhere near as versed or dependent on social media, which is really what the conversation should be about (engaging Millennials and younger on the platforms where they congregate)

[BrandonS261]

I completely agree Eric. My choice of words were not the best and I do apologize for that as I do know many of you are on these forums and I did not mean to offend anyone. You know maybe Open Rails does not need a official Facebook page but we do need to branch out to other platforms.

One thing that Open Rails is lacking is the fact that it is not even mentioned when I look up Train Simulators on Google. I just happened to look up the best Train Simulators on Google and Open Rails was not even mentioned. I had to type in Open Rails for anything to even come up about it. I guess this is what I should be bringing up instead of a Facebook page. The issue I see is you need to know about Open Rails to find anything about it. TRAINZ, TSW and Train Simulator 20xx are already widely known throughout the Rail Simulator community but when it comes to Open Rails it is hard to find if you do not know about it.

I feel we can not just rely on TrainSim and Elvastower alone any more if we want to get more people involved and have more find out about Open Rails. Yes they are fantastic assets to Open Rails but they can only go so far when it comes to getting Open Rails out there and out to the public. Train Simulations is also a fantastic asset to Open Rails and I hope that continues into the future!

Open Rails is a fantastic simulator and I am only trying to help Open Rails branch out so we can get more to learn what it is all about and not trying to offend or put down Open Rails, it's management team or coders in any way with some of these post just to make that clear. It is a far cry from the MSTS Days and I think the ones involved are doing a fantastic job and keep pushing forward to make Open Rails even better for the future! I know I have put a few post up lately that have either offended or upset some people on TrainSim and Elvastower I am sorry as I know it is hard to some times read people online. I am only trying to look out for Open Rails and its future and hope others can understand where I am coming from.

Brandon

[crstagg]

One thing that Open Rails is lacking is the fact that it is not even mentioned when I look up Train Simulators on Google

Try Bing. #2 behind Wiki. Yahoo #1 after the Ads.

FYI WiKi page did not have URL to Open Rails. I edited page to add it.

[Nels_Anderson]

First I think we all agree that bringing in new enthusiasts to OpenRails, or any train sim, is generally a good idea. So the debate is how best to do it.

I hate to say it, but much of the old-timer computer skills that many here (myself included) have don't really apply to the current environment.

So a few things...not being able to find OpenRails when doing searches means the current sites that support it need better SEO (search engine optimization), a relatively new computer skill that I know I don't have but finding someone who does and working on that aspect of things would at least make OpenRails more easily findable by someone looking for a train simulator.

As for an official Facebook page...well, the problem as I understand it is that these days Facebook is mostly a place for older users, so you're not going to reach the younger newcomers you seek by creating a presence there. So you need to figure out where those younger potential train enthusiasts are, and go to them. Video is the hot thing these days, so Tiktok and Youtube come to mind. Find someone who can create engaging short videos showing OpenRails in action and create a Tiktok and/or Youtube channel.

As some background, in my years running FlightSim.Com I created associated sites on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Discord in an effort to draw people to the main web site. Frankly, I never really saw any effect from doing this. Maybe I was doing it wrong but that was my experience.

[crstagg]

...not being able to find OpenRails when doing searches means the current sites that support it need better SEO (search engine optimization),

RE: SEO I will repeat a post I made in an OR subforum on Elvas.

A look at the Source code of https://www.openrails.org/ reveals that the "Hints" by the HTML editor were left on the page.
Example:
<meta name="description" content="Write an awesome description for your new site here. You can edit this line in _config.yml. It will appear in your document head meta (for Google search results) and in your feed.xml site description." />
<meta property="og:description" content="Write an awesome description for your new site here. You can edit this line in _config.yml. It will appear in your document head meta (for Google search results) and in your feed.xml site description." />

Maybe the SEO works on a last read is data remembered.

Appears https://www.openrails.org/ needs some cleaning to remove the "Hints".

[eric]

If I had to guess, 95% of the promotion for MSTS/ORTS in India is done via YouTube channels, and less than 5% thru Facebook (which is ultimately redirecting people to YouTube...).

And YT seems to work, given how popular ORTS and MSTS are in the region.

I'll draw a parallel to that with our screenshot threads, which are 70% or so of the steady state activity here.

Lots of eye candy that is crowd sourced will be far more useful than one person trying to generate buzz.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[wwhall]

I'm quite tech savvy, but I refuse to join Facebook. I don't like them, I don't like the platform, and I don't like the company's politics. So, Facebook is a big NO for me.