"ChattyCathy" > wrote in message
news
> On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 03:31:00 -0800, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>
>> "ChattyCathy" > wrote in message
>> news
>>> On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:56:19 -0800, Julie Bove wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Unfortunately the means of communication for many businesses that I
>>>> use is through Facebook. So it would matter to me.
>>>
>>> Which 'businesses' would those be? 'Momma's home cookies' or 'Joe
>>> Citizen's Gardening Service' - or maybe 'Jake the Plumber'?
>>
>> Angela's dance studio, some stores and restaurants.
>
> Don't these businesses/stores/restaurants have telephones - or email? And
> why would you need to use their FB pages to 'communicate' with them? Sure,
> you might want to know what their latest specials are - or what time
> Angela should be at the studio for her lessons... She does actually go
> there, doesn't she - or does she just watch videos loaded on their FB page
> and dance along to those? If so, I'm sure there are DVDs one can purchase
> or hire that do the same job...
>
Of course they do! But do you expect them to call 300 students to tell them
not to come in due to snow? Much easier to put one post on Facebook and to
have instructed everyone prior to look there for updates. That's why they
use Facebook.

In can call there if I want to or need to. They may or may not answer the
phone. The receptionists do have to run into the classrooms, refill
supplies, etc. But that's all beside the point. The point of Facebook is
to do updates!

In the case of a store that is closing and moving to a new location, they
put sale updates on their Facebook page. I only wish I had seen it prior to
going to the store. Had I realized that the day I was in was the last day
they'd be there and that the whole store was 75% off (that part was not
clearly advertised in the store) I would have bought a lot more!
>
>>> IMHO, if the only way one can do 'business' with a company or service
>>> provider is via FB then they're not worth doing business with in the
>>> first place.
>>
>> More and more businesses are going that route. Especially restaurants.
>> They do that instead of getting a proper website.
>
> Well yes, I'm well aware of this - as I've already said to sf elsewhere in
> this thread. But I still fail to believe that if FB and/or any other
> social networking site suddenly ceased to exist, surely you'd still have
> some other means of contacting them and/or they'd not automatically go out
> of business because of it.

I never said it was to contact them. It is so that *they* can quickly get a
message out to a bunch of people at once.

>>> Good grief, what's next? Having to have a FB account in order to have
>>> water and power supplied to your home - or to open a bank account?
>>> Gimme a break. I'm fairly sure if you read FB's T&Cs there will be a
>>> 'best effort' clause buried in there somewhere.... Go look it up.
>>
>> Sorry, I have no clue what that is.
>
> OK, T&Cs are Terms & Conditions of service - that every single FB user
> agrees to automatically when they create an account with them (private or
> business, makes no difference). And in these terms and conditions there
> will be a clause that states something along the lines of "we can only
> guarantee access to our site on a best effort basis" - which means that
> they will do all they can to keep the site up 24/7, 365 days a year, but
> if an earthquake breaks a bunch of undersea cables or some fool employee
> of theirs rolls out an 'upgrade' that breaks things, etc. which in turn
> disrupts said access, tough luck! Even 'pay for' websites and ISPs have
> clauses like that.

Okay...
>
>> And I only got a Twitter account
>> because the school required it at some point. Don't think they actually
>> ever used it though.
>
> You can't be serious? How any school could 'legally' require that of
> parents/guardians is beyond me. They might have suggested it, but I cannot
> see it being a 'requirement'.

Why can you not think this? They are also required to have computers and
Internet access. Some school districts here will even give the low income
students laptops and there are ways for the parents to get cheap or free
Internet access. This does not apply to us so I don't know the particulars.
The school district opted to go another route rather than Twitter now. We
are supposed to sign up for it. Whether require is the correct word or not
is debatable. But had I not signed up, it would take longer for me to get
updates. Yes, they still make phone calls. But using this system is much
quicker. And sorry, I don't remember the name of the website and system
that they use.