Fan of the Month Changes

[Brian Coltrane]

Howdy there - I'm considering a few changes to how we select our Fan of the Month, in order to be fair to the growing audience we have. I've yet to discuss this with Mufn or MaryAnne so nothing is written in stone.

Originally, our Fan of the Month was selected based on Forums participation (constructive) and/or material contributions to content, consisting of photos, info, fanfic, what have ya. We sometimes take tenure into consideration, as we've had some members with us since darn near the beginning.

The HazzardNet forums will be a part of HazzardNet for as long as the main website here stands. But the trend I've been seeing is that we have Facebook users who make comments, post info and photos on our Facebook page, but they don't seem to follow the Forums. Still, they should be eligible for some kind of recognition too.

Since HazzardNet is HazzardNet no matter what location is "home" to people, I'm thinking of choosing our Fan of the Month from among both groups, and giving that person recognition on both locations.

Mind you there are times that we don't choose a fan of the month because the clock runs out on us and we haven't had time to discuss it. Rather than just fling a name out there at random, we'll pass on it and pick it up again later. People appreciate the recognition, though, so it's never going off the table.

What do ya'll think?

[RogerDuke]

I think that's a great idea Brian. After all, the recognition is called "Fan of the Month" and not "HazzardNet person of the month".

I don't think being a member of the HazzardNet should be a prerequisite (probably spelled that wrong) for being recognized. Let's face it, there's a lot of folks out there who are huge Dukes of Hazzard fans but don't hang out here. Those of us who love this website have a hard time understanding why every Dukes fan isn't a HazzardNet member but instead of racking our brains trying to figure out why they're not here, we should be thankful that there's millions of us on the planet and all that matters is that they love Hazzard as much as we do.

I think it would be very interesting and informative to learn about other fans who aren't HazzardNet members. HazzardNet member or not, they're a part of the Hazzard County family and if they believe in Dukes values, they're good folks in my book.

[HossC]

I was hoping someone else would answer first so I could gauge the mood. Now let me throw my two cents in:

I'm not on Facebook, but I do look at the HazzardNet page once or twice a week. I completely appreciate why HazzardNet has a presence on Facebook and the amount of work that Mufn, Brian and MaryAnne put in to updating it. I also agree with Roger that all Dukes fans are "part of the Hazzard County family", and I'm not suggesting that those on Facebook are lesser fans than those of us on here. Having said that, I don't feel that Facebook gives the same scope for contribution that the forums do. I looked through the recent posts and all the user submitted photos and videos earlier, and while there were some interesting ones amongst them (I'd love to read a thread about Jamie Jensen's trip to Georgia, complete with pictures), can you really equate uploading a few pictures, posting a few comments and "liking" a few statuses with the contibutions of previous FoM winners in the forums? I speak as someone who was very proud to receive that award myself.

Maybe I'm out-of-step, but I don't think you're comparing like with like. I would prefer it if you introduced a "Facebook Fan of the Month" award, but kept it separate from the one for the forums - think of it like two different categories at the Oscars. Then both winners could be given recognition on both locations. If there isn't a "Fan of the Month" every month, it's not the end of the world, no matter what the Mayans say .

[Brian Coltrane]

I was hoping both Roger and Hoss would chime in on this, as you both are excellent examples of what Fan of the Month is really all about. What's more, you go above and beyond it with your ongoing contributions and it's truly appreciated.

I'm gonna leave the door open here for day or two, for Mufn and the Deputy to weigh in. Anyone else with thoughts, feel welcome to share 'em!

[Meadowmufn]

I would have to agree with Hoss. I think we should have a separate Facebook fan of the month. Facebook is much different than HNet and the level of participation is too. You have only to look at the detail in some of the HazzardNet threads to realize that (the trivia thread, Hoss' locations thread, etc). HNet contributions are much more substantial. Besides, if we recognize someone on FB for a particular contribution that occurred months or even just weeks ago, how are you going to find it on Facebook? FB is a little more ethereal. Everything on HNet is readily available with a handy dandy search function, so folks can look up particular contributions easily.

I definitely think we should have separate fans of the month.

[Capt_Redneck]

I wholeheartedly agree with Mufn on this. Facebook, at least to me, is a seperate entity. Don't get me wrong as I use Facebook and have commented on H-Net's Facebook's posts in the past but this forum is special to me and the people on here are like family to me. Facebook just seems so random amd convoluted as far as topics and posts.

I am hoping you keep them separate as they are like two different things to me. I just wish some of the people who actively post on Facebook would migrate over to see what an AWESOME website Hazzardnet is. Then again maybe it is better with just the great people we already have here.

I'm gone

Darrell

[RogerDuke]

I'm too ugly to be on Facebook so I don't know too much about how it works.

I will say this...picking the fan of the month is a tough job. There's so many different things to consider. After the regulars have received it you then have to pick from folks who look like they have the potential to be big contributers VS someone who used to be a big contributer but doesn't get on that much anymore. Once the award is received it isn't given to that recipient again so you're left between picking folks who don't post on a regular basis (and sometimes you don't feel like they have done enough to deserve it so you're reluctant to honor them) VS folks who are big Dukes fans but log in even less. That goes back to the problem of who deserves it. If a person had thousands of posts but most of them were in the non-Dukes threads would they deserve it over someone who has a hundred posts in the threads that were more strongly related to the show? It's not easy to maintain the award for years and years. Is the solution to give multiple award to the same person? That seems like a good idea but that would create it's own set of problems. An annual award seems like it's not enough but a monthly one is tough to do unless you honor outsiders like Brian is suggesting. You simply run out of worthy people. Whatever MM does I'll respect because I understand what a difficult decision it is. It's one of those decisions that could be easy to criticize until a person puts some thought into it and looks at both sides. Thanks for asking our opinions. I'll be fine with whatever is decided and I hope others will be as well.

[MaryAnne]

You're not really missing much, Roger, by not being on Facebook. LOL

It really is two different worlds between Facebook and the forums here and I agree we should recognize fans on both platforms. If we do it as a "Facebook Fan of the Month" and "HNet Forum Fan of the Month" or whatever that's fine. The important thing is it acknowledges our audience, regardless of how they're finding us.

I'm partial to the forum myself. Facebook is fun when you post a pic with a funny caption and you get 20 likes in less than five minutes. But the forums here are more indepth with great information and trivia and stories and whatnot that just can't be replicated in the FB environment.

[Brian Coltrane]

Thanks ya'll for giving this some real thought, I appreciate everybody weighing in. Roger hit the nail on the head with where I was coming from...the Forums just don't grow that fast. We get more lurkers than participants, which is true of a lot of message boards. Thus my quandry and debate of whether Facebook fans should be included in Fan o' the Month.

I agree with ya'll, that a lot more effort goes into the Forums, and therefore the HazzardNet Fan of the Month will continue to be chosen from the Forums and/or Gallery and fanfic participation. In other words from folks that provide some form of real content and discussion here on our flagship site.

Starting July (gah..one more thing to fall behind in) I'll also come up with some kinda Facebook fan recognition. Maybe it's for the most smarmy remark, best submitted photo, ect.

Thanks again for sharing your views!

[Jami Lee Hogg]

who is the hazzardnet fan of the month?

[Brian Coltrane]

I'm gonna be announcing that in a matter of minutes! Woulda been sooner, but I'd just typed the whole thing up and then HNet timed me out and lost the post. Our beloved site here has a sense of humor.

Stay tuned!