Facebook Privacy Breech.

We have had a security breech from within our membership. To that end, some members have been eliminated from our group and new security measure are being put into place. I absolutely hate doing this and really do not have the time for the drama. These changes have not been finalized and are open for discussion, but changes are coming. Contact me at studiodeangelo@yahoo.com with any questions or concerns.

Those of you that that have been paying attention, know that I have posted many times that Facebook changed the rules for “Groups” aka “Communities”. To make a long story short the changes to our group make everyone’s membership public, no matter how I adjust the settings. Furthermore these settings are also designed to make Groups more open and less private. I run 5 other groups & 6 other pages, some much bigger than ours. In these groups, I do not know everyone and nobody complains that I have to approve every darn post. Except me. It is a lot of work. I do not want to be in the position of approving people I know, posts. I have always provided The Hornets a safe, secure and private online experience. It does not look like I can continue to do this via Facebook Groups.

I know that some of this has nothing to with Scooters and more to with Facebook Management of the Rules. That Job befalls to me. I am a professional Social Media Manager & Web Designer. I do this stuff for a living. I also started this club, so I have a certain responsibility as well. Not only to new or Casual Members but to the Current, Senior & Founding Members too. Also, most of these people are my Friends and the last thing I want to do is alienate our friends by adding restrictions.

Our Club currently has no rules, no dues and very little restrictions. There are no requirements and all events are optional. To maintain such openness while providing Privacy for our Members is increasingly difficult. In fact it is just about impossible. I have been made aware of a number of privacy concerns. I also have been made aware that we all like Facebook and its ease of use. Unfortunately these 2 concepts are clashing and I have to do something about it.

What is the danger? The danger is that you can be contacted by non members of the club to participate in non club activities and other things. Even when I make it private or hidden, this does not protect us from Rouge Members or Spammers/Scammers that get by me. The concerns over privacy reinforce the fact that we need a better way to communicate that protects our members and the club. I am working on this to the best of my abilities. This is going to take time and research and nobodys is going to be happy with whatever solution I come up with. As you can see below, I dont have many options and they both expose our membership.

I have temporarily suspended our Facebook “Group” while I try to find a better Facebook Solution. I have also been told that is confusing to have both a Page & a Group. I an leaning toward the Page and not the Group for purely security reasons.

The Page: https://www.facebook.com/hornetsscooterclub
I am adjusting the settings on this page to make it secure for us all.

The Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hornetsscooterclub
I am having difficulty securing this Group page and may have to delete it or start a new one.

It has been made very clear to me that some of you have serious privacy concerns, but to be in a Public online space, some of you are going to have to adjust your concerns. You gave your email address to Facebook, you can give it to our website and subscribe. This would make things easier for everyone. When you are on Facebook, you do not have much Privacy. There is no other information asked for to subscribe to our website and I do not get any thing more than your email. Our website is provided by the biggest website provider in the world and they have the highest security protocols as a result. You will only receive email from us. Usually in the form of this weekly newsletter.

Speaking of members, we have many in the group that have never participated in any of our events, nor have they posted or even introduced themselves. I do not see a need to expose ourselves to people we do not even know. Well we are a Social Club, not an Anti-Social Club. The changes that are coming will be designed to keep it that way and protect our club. As Bugs Bunny says “You break a few Eggs to make an omelette” I will be in the kitchen all week. Contact me with any suggestions or concerns.

Scoot On… Angelo J. Liguori aka Marbles Mahoney
Founder & President.