Update regarding the CommunityBound/My Mountain Town Dispute

frogger wrote: Have to agree SC.....they are annoying. Any particular reason why they have to be here at all?
Feels a bit like an intrusion.

Some very good reasons! First and foremost is that business stagnates if it continues to do the same thing every day and doesn't change with the times. In our increasingly digital world, those who embrace tools that make it easier for people to find and share your content will mean all the difference. As Google has established itself as king of the search engines, and doesn't look to be unseated anytime soon, websites must play by their rules in order to improve their rankings and be found higher in searches. Those who add new content every day, and who convince others to share that content, win that battle.

If all My Mountain Town does is share its own threads on its own social media accounts, that's helpful to our website rankings, as it increases visibility and reaches people who prefer other platforms for our content (i.e. we have many Facebook and Twitter followers who are not members here), but it's especially important during emergencies. However, if all of you share emergency posts, or your favorite threads, that exponentially increases the reach of that information plus boosts us in Google rankings. By having those buttons on the side, which we purposely made as out-of-the-way but as easily accessible as possible while reading a thread (they do not pop up in your face like ads that you have to click just so you can even see the content of the page you opened. One of my big gripes with news sites or YouTube videos - you have to close 2 pop-up windows, or watch a commercial, before you can even see the news story you wanted to read), we've just made it a little simpler to share content from here. Anyone could do so before, by highlighting the url, copying, and pasting it in their Facebook status, for example, but now all you have to do is click that little button.

No other forum up here has that capability, though they'll be copying us soon I'm sure. We are looking forward, adding new innovative ways to support our advertisers, and trying to grow our business - not by copying the competition, but by adding features no one else has that take advantage of the new ways consumers shop the market. Imagine you have a business and a customer posts a glowing review of your product here? With the click of a button to the left, you can share that to your business Facebook page, LinkedIn page, Twitter account, or Google page, and let everyone know that you've been mentioned in a good way.

Mobile device ownership and usage is increasing at exponential rates. Social media has its downsides and frustrations, but there's no denying that it is an incredibly valuable tool that must be used by companies if they are to continue to grow and reach new customers. This site has always touted that it's the voice of the community - we live here, we know where the good places are to eat, the great B&B owners, the places to hike/fish/bike, etc, and word-of-mouth recommendations are the #1 way that people choose a business to provide a service or product they need or want. But not everyone knows about us yet, and many are used to the familiarity of Facebook. The problem with Facebook is that its business model is to restrict the amount of information you receive so you don't get overloaded and tune out (because they don't have separate forums, everything is lumped into one giant news feed), which makes it impossible for businesses to reach customers without paying for it. But, Facebook is still king in terms of sheer number of users so it can't be ignored as a marketing tool just yet. We don't filter information here - it's all organized, and with our new Profile Pages and Business Directory (again something that no one else has), it's getting even more organized. Long after Facebook crashes, we'll still be here, providing a place where people can share their thoughts and connect with each other, where they can find local businesses or nonprofit organizations, and where local businesses and nonprofits can reach you. But in the meantime, we will utilize every option we have to increase our visibility and provide you easier tools to enjoy this site and use it to help grow your own business or nonprofit.
[Stats] Social Media Active Users: Marketers Take Note
Posted by Shelly Kramer on December 20, 2013

We work a lot in the B2B space and I joke (with love) that my clients are often a bunch of middle-aged senior leaders who don’t get just exactly how the web has changed marketing, and they really don’t get social networking. Even more important, it’s often a stretch for them to think beyond the traditional selling methods they’ve used for decades, many of which have been very successful, and consider how important it is to change with the times and adopt your marketing strategies to fit consumer behavior.

One final data point on that topic, 92% of consumers trust social media recommendations more than any other kind of recommendation (think email, tv, print, outdoor ads or radio). And it’s because they come from people, and they trust people more than they trust advertising. So if you’re not there, and not participating in social media channels, you’re missing lots of opportunities.

Read more: http://www.v3im.com/2013/12/stats-socia ... z2pB5orCJj
Follow us: @ShellyKramer on Twitter

Nor would I ever, my last post was to answer your question as to why they are there. I'd already explained how to hide them, I'm sorry if that got buried back on previous pages. For me, I'm just really puzzled as to why they are distracting or annoying? In the grand scheme of annoying things on the internet, like trolls, pop-up ads and commercials we are forced to preview before videos we'd like to watch, and Google AdSense ads that flash to get your attention or trick you by mimicking a function of the website you are on, are they really that bad? Or is it just that it's something new to get used to? Please realize I'm not saying this to be rude or dismiss anyone's concerns, because that's not my intention at all, I guess I'm just asking to view it with perspective. Does that make sense? If they are re-sizing incorrectly and covering up other functionalities like the 'Top" button, or bobbing (they don't do that for me, so I'll have the developer check on that as well, thank you for letting me know CK) so that they can't be used or hidden, that I definitely want to know so we can fix it, but they are supposed to be completely off to the side and at the bottom so as to be as unobtrusive as possible.

As yesterday was a holiday for many (and we had to deal with our hosting provider crashing 50 million websites, including ours, for 2+ hours for the 2nd time in 5 months) and today is for most, I haven't heard back from my developer if the button to hide them can be changed to be permanent, but I have asked and will share that as soon as he gets back to me. I don't believe it can be added to the User Control Panel as that's the phpBB component only and doesn't control the graphics on the sides. For now, you can click the arrow below the icons to hide them as you go to a new page/thread - just hover over them and the arrow should appear. Same for the icons on the top of the page as well.

Thank you for your feedback, it is truly appreciated and absolutely considered as we want this site to be enjoyable and easy for everyone to use.