My April 2015 group started off with about 50 people and then split due to drama. Some people in the other group came back in the end and others have left...we're down to about 20 now. I like when the groups are like 40 people because it's enough for adequate participation and activity, but not too much that it gets overwhelming.
I'm a little late to this thread (I was out of town all week on a family trip and don't use TB much on mobile). But, I agree with other posters that it's too soon. I'm also not personally comfortable with the vetting process established. I'm not 100% sure I'd qualify as a regular, but I'd want that to be part of the criteria for a group that even sees the bare minimum of my public Facebook information.
Okay I haven't read all the comments but I think I'm the weird one here, and I don't get worried about joining fb groups. Idk why. I just don't. I'm on fb every day, and am not able to check TB every day. Especially since it seriously eats the heck out of my phone battery when I log on. I try to get on a couple times a week but I feel like I miss so much. Fb is so much easier for me.
My May 2015 FB group was 250 and then we split into 2. Our group now has about 117 members. But only probably 40 are truly "active" members. There are a few names that I honestly don't recognize and I'd like to avoid that if at all possible this time around. I understand everyone has different participation levels, but it's freaky to me when someone has been in a group for 2-3 years and has never posted...
Another reason I'd personally prefer to wait. And am not opposed to there being a group to form now, and one to form later when our babies are born. Mark me down for the latter group!
Then make your profile picture something that doesn't reveal you or your family and same thing for your cover photo...... mind blown!
I don't know why you feel the need to be sarcastic to people who want to protect their identities. I don't want people to know even my name at this point. There's only so many of us in this country. I also have no interest in changing my profile & cover photos for the sake of joining a Facebook group. If other people do, good for them. But if people don't, that's perfectly reasonable.
Me: 34 DH: 38 Married: June 2011 TTC since Feb 2016 BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16 BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
Then make your profile picture something that doesn't reveal you or your family and same thing for your cover photo...... mind blown!
There's no need to be condescending. The majority of us use FB for friends and family so why would we randomly change our pictures to not be of us just so we can join a group?
@babybluu Same, doesn't bother me. Plus I appreciate the format and notifications on fb.
@justkeeptrying I agree about being weirded out by people who aren't active! The group that was created made a rule that you should post at least once a week (other than extenuating circumstances) to weed out the lurkers and non-active members.
Then make your profile picture something that doesn't reveal you or your family and same thing for your cover photo...... mind blown!
This feels like a response to me telling you that profile pics and cover photos are always public. I was really just trying to tell you that they can't be set to private, as it seemed you didn't know. You used to be able to select who they were shared with, but a couple years ago they changed it to always public.
Me: 30 H: 30 Dx: PCOS Married: June 2013 TTC#1: January 2015 BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16 TTC#2: June 2017 BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
@becausescience and I think they should change it back. No one needs to see any of my information other than my name/location if stated, until they are my friend. I understand they have to do something differently when there are multiple people that share the same name, but there has to be a better way. For this reason my kids are not in my profile or cover photos.
@chasingroygbiv Kind of unrelated and it's not the main reason why I left, but this is part of my wariness of Facebook generally. They're constantly slackening the privacy and increasing their rights to use your info for advertising (ie. sponsored stories) and burying the change in their terms of service so you either have to actually read the terms (which, obviously, no one has time for) or be super savvy to know what info you're sharing and how it's being used.
@babybluu Same. I’m super active in several FB groups that are related to everything from podcasts I love to politics. Maybe I’m setting myself up to get catfished but I’m not giving $$ to someone I don’t know, or sharing private info, but maybe I’m naive? But I also have public Twitter and Instagram accounts, so I guess it’s just a personal preference.
@ksmwalters I used to have a public IG account until my daughter’s photo was taken and used by some sketchy account. They spoke another language, too, so I had zero clue what anything said. I learned my lesson in a hurry. If you must steal any photos, steal mine, do not take and use photos of my underage children, creep. I have my own reasons for having everything locked down, that’s one of them though! It’s different when it’s your babies (for me).
@ksmwalters I used to have a public IG account until my daughter’s photo was taken and used by some sketchy account. They spoke another language, too, so I had zero clue what anything said. I learned my lesson in a hurry. If you must steal any photos, steal mine, do not take and use photos of my underage children, creep. I have my own reasons for having everything locked down, that’s one of them though! It’s different when it’s your babies (for me).
That. Is. Horrifying. Why do the interwebs gotta suck so bad sometimes?
***March '18 October Siggy Challenge: Halloween Costume Fails***
@ksmwalters I used to have a public IG account until my daughter’s photo was taken and used by some sketchy account. They spoke another language, too, so I had zero clue what anything said. I learned my lesson in a hurry. If you must steal any photos, steal mine, do not take and use photos of my underage children, creep. I have my own reasons for having everything locked down, that’s one of them though! It’s different when it’s your babies (for me).
That's really messed up. I had something similar happen to my profile picture on FB with a French company (they pulled all the profile pics for ppl attending a particular public event and then republished them all). I emailed them a bunch of times, got a couple emails in French sent back to me, and eventually they took it down.
Internet safety is absolutely an issue, especially on social media. I've been working in social media for almost 10 years, since the beginning of when it became a marketing tool basically, and there are definitely reasons to be concerned. It's not even just about what kind information you directly share on there, phones and cameras produce images that contain data about your location. Sick people use this information. It's very real. I'm more lax than many, but I frequently check my privacy settings to limit my past posts and only allow friends to see my stuff. I frequently go through my friends list and purge. I don't use my last name on Facebook and neither does my husband. I don't allow my family to share pictures of my daughter on their accounts unless I have edited their privacy, and even then I discourage it. That all being said, being in a Facebook group doesn't give people access to more than your listed name, cover and profile photos at the very least, and some basic information (if you included it), so I have no qualms about joining them. If I want to share pictures and deeper info, I prefer a small group of people I know a little better. I do hope that we (as in the majority) decide to form one before the babies are born because I really like the excitement and support it brings during labor. So I'm willing to wait a few more months.
TLDR: internet dangers are real; I'm hoping to join a fb group in third tri for labor support and excitement.
TB kills my phone battery but I can’t realistically do this on the laptop because I have a toddler who loves to push buttons. My last BMB is on Facebook now and it’s really great. We have some people who don’t post as often but I have some wonderful friendships from doing parenting the past two years with them. Our group is pretty large but it works for us. We still periodically check for lurkers and weed them out if we find any. I’m not ready to move to Facebook. I like getting to know people on here with a little more protection and privacy. We moved after everyone gave birth with my last BMB and still had to do some weeding out, but fortunately only had one really crazy incident.
No matter how big or small the group is, it’s based on relationships and I want some more time to build those here... that’s my opinion and as @kiki75 said “you do you.”
A bit late to the conversation, but I'd be interested in joining a PG if I'm considered active enough... i definitely wouldn't join fb this early on, maybe late in third tri or after birth. I really don't feel comfortable sharing any type of personal info this early on... I'm not a huge FB fan at all. So id be really happy to see this BMB stay active.
It's unlikely that I would move over to FB. I like the anonymity of TB. i briefly joined a FB group in one of my previous pregnancies, and there was way too much drama and actual fraud. There is drama on TB, but I don't get too worried about it as they don't know my name, location, etc. Once burnt, twice shy.
PgAL (MC@7w 29/10/11 - lost you before we knew we had you)
My main thing is I use TB app and it really sucks so I usually stick to my S15 fb group! It's just so hard to post on the app and I rarely have time to get on the computer. I've mostly been lurking because of that lol
I'm not very concerned about internet privacy, mostly because I just figure my life these days is so tame and routine that no one would care to stalk me and my sleeping dog photos, but reading this has made me realize I might feel differently once I have a child. The only other forum/ internet group I have ever belonged to was a pit bull board years ago, I read just about everything every day and was genuinely attached to some of those people and lots of those dogs, but I hardly ever said anything for the exact same reason I don't say anything in a big group in real life, which is that I'm very shy. I am easily intimidated and I feel an irrational new kid at school feeling in groups like this, and I often type responses here and delete them because I am a neurotic child who will never feel cool. Our current dog came from a great rescue group with a private Facebook page for all of it's adopters, and for some reason I am less shy there and have made some real friends who I care about beyond sharing leash pulling struggles. This long nonsense is all to say I hope I'm not a "lurker", I will always be quieter in a group than average, but I love the idea of a group that I can turn to for advice or just to laugh together when our babies pull all the stuffing out of the couch, or whatever the baby equivalent of that behavior is, lol. Facebook seems a little less intimidating, but I would certainly come here too. also, fwiw, I have a lot of issues with this site not on mobile, safari is constantly reloading the page because it is using "significant memory" and I have repeatedly lost posts I was half way through typing and then I have given up rather than start over.
Re: Facebook Group?
Pregnant with #2:
Another reason I'd personally prefer to wait. And am not opposed to there being a group to form now, and one to form later when our babies are born. Mark me down for the latter group!
Baby #1: BFP on 10/12/2011, EDD 6/24/2012 Born: 6/16/2012 Boy!
Baby #2: BFP on 11/11/2016, EDD 7/25/2017 - MC 1/2/2017
Married: June 2011
TTC since Feb 2016
BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16
BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP
BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
@justkeeptrying I agree about being weirded out by people who aren't active! The group that was created made a rule that you should post at least once a week (other than extenuating circumstances) to weed out the lurkers and non-active members.
those of us who are cautious on FB enjoy having out photos up for friends and family. we shouldn't have to edit our profiles just to join a group
Dx: PCOS
Married: June 2013
TTC#1: January 2015
BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d
BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16
TTC#2: June 2017
BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
TLDR: internet dangers are real; I'm hoping to join a fb group in third tri for labor support and excitement.
edited because it posted too quickly
TB kills my phone battery but I can’t realistically do this on the laptop because I have a toddler who loves to push buttons. My last BMB is on Facebook now and it’s really great. We have some people who don’t post as often but I have some wonderful friendships from doing parenting the past two years with them. Our group is pretty large but it works for us. We still periodically check for lurkers and weed them out if we find any. I’m not ready to move to Facebook. I like getting to know people on here with a little more protection and privacy. We moved after everyone gave birth with my last BMB and still had to do some weeding out, but fortunately only had one really crazy incident.
No matter how big or small the group is, it’s based on relationships and I want some more time to build those here... that’s my opinion and as @kiki75 said “you do you.”
EDD March 12, 2018
i definitely wouldn't join fb this early on, maybe late in third tri or after birth.
I really don't feel comfortable sharing any type of personal info this early on...
I'm not a huge FB fan at all.
So id be really happy to see this BMB stay active.
Our current dog came from a great rescue group with a private Facebook page for all of it's adopters, and for some reason I am less shy there and have made some real friends who I care about beyond sharing leash pulling struggles. This long nonsense is all to say I hope I'm not a "lurker", I will always be quieter in a group than average, but I love the idea of a group that I can turn to for advice or just to laugh together when our babies pull all the stuffing out of the couch, or whatever the baby equivalent of that behavior is, lol. Facebook seems a little less intimidating, but I would certainly come here too. also, fwiw, I have a lot of issues with this site not on mobile, safari is constantly reloading the page because it is using "significant memory" and I have repeatedly lost posts I was half way through typing and then I have given up rather than start over.