Taxpayer to foot bill for crash course on Facebook

[Complainer]

Are you seriously trying to defend this blatant legal theft?

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

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.

 

[z107]

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.

 

[Eithneangela]

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!

 

[truthseeker]

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.

 

[Complainer]

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.

 

[pudds]

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.

 

[z107]

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

 

[Welfarite]

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.

 

[Yachtie]

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.

 

[Complainer]

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.