# Taxpayer to foot bill for crash course on Facebook



## NorfBank (22 Oct 2010)

Words fail me.

http://www.independent.ie/national-...ill-for-crash-course-on-facebook-2390334.html


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## alaskaonline (22 Oct 2010)

thought the same this morning!


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## Chris (22 Oct 2010)

There really is no end to the total disregard for taxpayers' funds!!! Every single day I hear or see something that makes me want to send nice invitation cards to the IMF.


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## huskerdu (22 Oct 2010)

I know an 18 year old who will teach them all they need to know about Facebook for the price of a few pints and a Chinese takeaway.


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## truthseeker (22 Oct 2010)

huskerdu said:


> I know an 18 year old who will teach them all they need to know about Facebook for the price of a few pints and a Chinese takeaway.


 
I know a 15 year old who'd do it for the price of a phone credit top up.


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## PaddyW (22 Oct 2010)

I know facebook inside out. Throw us a 50 and deal


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## Papercut (22 Oct 2010)

This is ridiculous. Facebook provide ample instructions, help & FAQs on their site. 

If the councillors have special needs in this area they should foot the bill themselves, or better still ask any 13 year old for advice, or of course search YouTube & watch a couple of videos.


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## truthseeker (22 Oct 2010)

Course they could do it for free if they just learned how to use google - oh wait, then there would be a course for learning how to use google.


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## z107 (22 Oct 2010)

If they are so stupid that they do not know how to use Facebook, they should not be councillors.

Hundreds of millions of people across the globe seem to be able to use Facebook without going on a course.

It's just another example of 'legal theft' in my opinion.


Next week's course:
- Using twitter.


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## missdaisy (22 Oct 2010)

Incredible. It is actions like this that makes it so hard for people to accept all the cuts that are necessary. Grrrrr!


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## bren1916 (22 Oct 2010)

I wonder if the local press will name & shame each 'Councillor' that goes on the Jolly, and claims expenses for it...disgusting!


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## Megan (22 Oct 2010)

truthseeker said:


> I know a 15 year old who'd do it for the price of a phone credit top up.



Will the 15 year old pay for 2 nights in a three star hotel for the councilors but we as tax payers will have to foot the bill. i think we should take a leaf from the people of France.


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## Complainer (22 Oct 2010)

truthseeker said:


> I know a 15 year old who'd do it for the price of a phone credit top up.


Can you show me an example of a FB page set up, maintained and populated by this 15 year old, preferably one that is integrated with a blog, a Youtube feed, a kildarestreet.com rss feed and a Twitter account?

The idea that 'everyone knows how to use Facebook' is nonsense, in this content. Training is (presumably) about how to set up pages, how to prepare interesting content, how to integrate with other online tools etc. Very few organisations (public or private) are doing this well at present. There are lots and lots of people providing FB training to private and public sector clients; see 

Having said all that, there is a real question over whether councillors should have a budget for conferences and training.


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## truthseeker (22 Oct 2010)

Complainer said:


> Can you show me an example of a FB page set up, maintained and populated by this 15 year old, preferably one that is integrated with a blog, a Youtube feed, a kildarestreet.com rss feed and a Twitter account?


 
There are plenty of 15 year olds with the know how to do the above. Integrating a blog, a youtube feed, an rss feed and a twitter account is commonplace and easy to follow instructions are available via google. God knows if the course content will even cover any of this (unlikely I would think given its such a short course) - more likely theyll learn how to manage their privacy settings so we the general public dont get to see the chats they have with others!!

Now - more interestingly - how many of these councillers do you think will bother doing all or any of the above?

Perhaps the knowledge of how to maintain a meaningful web presence with interesting content, integration with online tools etc may need some basic training - but a course purely for how to use facebook is a waste of taxpayers money. There are far more appropriate social networking sites than facebook that councillers should consider using - linkedin for example.

Its irrelevant whether or not there are people offering this service, people will offer a service in anything! It doesnt mean that its a meaningful service!


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## alaskaonline (22 Oct 2010)

completely agree with truthseeker !


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## Complainer (22 Oct 2010)

truthseeker said:


> There are plenty of 15 year olds with the know how to do the above. Integrating a blog, a youtube feed, an rss feed and a twitter account is commonplace and easy to follow instructions are available via google.


You have some examples in mind of FB pages created and maintained by 15 year olds that cover all this?



truthseeker said:


> Perhaps the knowledge of how to maintain a meaningful web presence with interesting content, integration with online tools etc may need some basic training - but a course purely for how to use facebook is a waste of taxpayers money. There are far more appropriate social networking sites than facebook that councillers should consider using - linkedin for example.


Perhaps you should consider going on some training course. Any councillor would be crazy to choose LinkedIn in preference to FB. FB reaches a far wider audience, and is far more focused on direct contact with citizens. LinkedIn is great for professional stuff all right, but is very little use to a politician.


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## truthseeker (22 Oct 2010)

Complainer said:


> You have some examples in mind of FB pages created and maintained by 15 year olds that cover all this?


 
Oh please - 15 year olds can run rings around any adult when it comes to social networking sites.



Complainer said:


> Perhaps you should consider going on some training course. Any councillor would be crazy to choose LinkedIn in preference to FB. FB reaches a far wider audience, and is far more focused on direct contact with citizens. LinkedIn is great for professional stuff all right, but is very little use to a politician.


 
Facebook is far more widely used as a social non professional chat/contact tool - I seriously doubt any politician wants to attract abusive posts, or have things he/she says remembered forever on the internet. 

And out of interest - what do I need a training course for? To have an opinion?

Forgotten the old 'attack the post not the poster' rule have we?


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## z107 (22 Oct 2010)

> Can you show me an example of a FB page set up, maintained and populated by this 15 year old, preferably one that is integrated with a blog, a Youtube feed, a kildarestreet.com rss feed and a Twitter account?


Are you seriously trying to defend this blatant legal theft?

How many councillors do you think will be setting up even a simple Facebook page after this 'course'?


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## NorfBank (22 Oct 2010)

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=facebook+help

It's amazing what you can find for free on t'internet. 

The thing is if councillors did end up on facebook, there would be no end of 

"I spend 12 hours a day on constituency matters...what do you mean Farmville doesn't count - I'm from the country"


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## PaddyBloggit (22 Oct 2010)

'legal theft'

The use of this oxymoron seems to kill all argument for me.

If it's legal the rules need to be changed so it isn't. If it is legal and allowable then it can't be argued that there's any wrong doing happening.

Re. Facebook .... if politicians want to self-promote they should self-finance that promotion.

Tax Payer gets caught again to foot the bill.


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## Complainer (22 Oct 2010)

umop3p!sdn said:


> Are you seriously trying to defend this blatant legal theft?


Perhaps you'd like to go back and reread my original jpost.


truthseeker said:


> Oh please - 15 year olds can run rings around any adult when it comes to social networking sites.


I'll take that as a 'No' then to my request for examples for good FB pages set up by 15 year olds. Your post seems to be assume that anyone who can use Facebook as an end user can automatically manage a FB presence. This is a false assumption. It's like assuming that anyone who can speak French is automatically a French interpreter.


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## z107 (22 Oct 2010)

> I'll take that as a 'No' then to my request for examples for good FB pages set up by 15 year olds. Your post seems to be assume that anyone who can use Facebook as an end user can automatically manage a FB presence. This is a false assumption. It's like assuming that anyone who can speak French is automatically a French interpreter.



There are 500 million active users of Facebook as of July 2010.
Do you believe that out of these 500 million people, that none of the 'good' pages were set up by people under 15 years old?

I wonder how many of these half billion people needed to go on a course? 



> 'legal theft'
> 
> The use of this oxymoron seems to kill all argument for me.


Okay, I would call it simply 'theft' but that may cause legal problems for AAM.


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## Eithneangela (22 Oct 2010)

The subject of the course is not the issue - the mindset of these public representatives, who were unfortunately voted in by us the people, has not changed a whit in the current times.  Why - because they have not been affected at all by the current recession/depression.  All they think about are entitlements, usually monetary or enjoyment (after all, doing a Facebook course in a luxury hotel is like a holiday!) - and never delivering public service.
For example, on the Courtown road in Wexford, there has been severe subsidence on a bridge over the river which occurs on an annual basis.  Each year the Council comes along and drops a load of some kind of tar/stone substance on this patch.  This year, they are obviously so busy going to their various junkets that they have decided rather than fix the problem, sure just stick up a warning light and close off half the road at the bridge.  Aaarrgghhhh 

Unfortunately, our parish pump politics has put these people into the positions they now hold.  So, come the next election, demand a dictator!


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## truthseeker (22 Oct 2010)

Complainer said:


> I'll take that as a 'No' then to my request for examples for good FB pages set up by 15 year olds. Your post seems to be assume that anyone who can use Facebook as an end user can automatically manage a FB presence. This is a false assumption. It's like assuming that anyone who can speak French is automatically a French interpreter.


 
You can take it whatever way you like. If you think that its good value for taxpayers money to be spend on hotel junkets for courses on facebook then you are entitled to that opinion. I think its a disgraceful waste and yet another two fingers being given to the taxpayer. Perhaps in a few weeks time youd be so kind as to post links to the 'good' facebook pages that pop up as a result of this money being spent. I know Im looking forward to seeing them.


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## Complainer (22 Oct 2010)

truthseeker said:


> You can take it whatever way you like. If you think that its good value for taxpayers money to be spend on hotel junkets for courses on facebook then you are entitled to that opinion. I think its a disgraceful waste and yet another two fingers being given to the taxpayer..



My position on the question of  taxpayer funding of such courses is clear from my first post, so I'm not going to bother repeating this.

My main point here is to challenge the assumption that 'anyone can do a good Facebook page'. They can't, and most Facebook pages put together by untrained amateurs are crap. Indeed, your comment about "social non professional chat/contact tool" and "attract abusive posts" and " have things he/she says remembered forever". A good training course would show exactly how to avoid these problems, how to prevent abusive posts happening at all, how to create engaging content and how to separate personal pages from professional pages.

Politicians of all parties are effectively using Facebook to communicate with citizens - check out [broken link removed], or http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=790155330 or [broken link removed] or http://www.facebook.com/thomasbyrnetd

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that every Facebook user knows how to manage Facebook content. Every great footballer is not a great football manager.


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## pudds (22 Oct 2010)

*The Fat Lady HAS Sung*

I just can't get worked up anymore.....I seen it all before but nothing quite like this shower of brass necked ******* and the country bankrupt both economically  and morally and crime ridden.

As far as I'm concerned the Fat lady *has* sung.


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## z107 (23 Oct 2010)

Maybe they can learn how to do this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-11609438


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## Welfarite (23 Oct 2010)

The kernel of the issue here is not that councillors attend a FB conference at taxpayers' expense; it is that they feel justified that they should do so. And justified to go on everything from Paddy's day junkets to conferences on global warming. 
It is another example of hwo our elected representatives take advantage of the system. Just look at the indignity and affront shown by Ivor 'hardneck' Callely. All such conferences/junkets/ 'training' day attendances should be suspended until we get debt down to 3% GDP. We can't afford it. it's not 2007 anymore when we didn't care what they did.


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## Yachtie (29 Oct 2010)

Complainer said:


> Can you show me an example of a FB page set up, maintained and populated by this 15 year old, preferably one that is integrated with a blog, a Youtube feed, a kildarestreet.com rss feed and a Twitter account?


 
Is such skill is required by the councils, wouldn't it make more sense for IT and / or PR staff to attend? Money spent on permanent staff is a better investment that training councillors who may not be there next week IMO and probably wouldn't maintain council's Facebook pages themselves anyway.

With so many households and businesses struggling, especially businesses which can't afford commercial rates (money paid to the council), etc., spending money on a Facebook course is ridiculous and infuriating.


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## Complainer (30 Oct 2010)

Yachtie said:


> Is such skill is required by the councils, wouldn't it make more sense for IT and / or PR staff to attend? Money spent on permanent staff is a better investment that training councillors who may not be there next week IMO and probably wouldn't maintain council's Facebook pages themselves anyway.


I assume that the objective of the course is to help councillors to manage their own FB pages, not the council FB pages. The council's IT/PR staff would have no role in looking after these pages.


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