How not to run a Facebook page
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By Ravi Philemon
On 18 September 2010, the Ang Mo Kio – Yio Chu Kang GRC’s Facebook page was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a roadshow organised by the People’s Association.
Start/Finish - prophetic words on the Facebook page's profile picture. Within a month after the page was launched, it appeared to be finished.
It was a move to reach out to the young people who are the dominant users of Facebook.
PM Lee – who is also adviser to the Ang Mo Kio- Yio Chu Kang Town Council – marked the event by being the first to post on the Facebook page.
“Hope you will participate actively, and post on our wall”, the Prime Minister wrote.
And participate netizens did.
Almost immediately, the Facebook page was flooded with comments and discussions. Unfortunately most of them were either critical of the government or complaints from residents. Many of the posts were directed at the Prime Minister.
“Dear PM Lee, I just hope that you are magnanimous enough to take any negative criticisms to PAP and PAP policies in stride. Don’t just look at the praises and be blinded by them. Read the negative comments too so as to better understand the problems below. Those criticise because they care for Singapore. The day that th…ey stop criticising is when they have all given up on Singapore. Don’t behave like Minister Lim Swee Say who said in parliament: “we are deaf to all criticisms”.
- a post by ‘Kojakbt’ which was later deleted.
At first, the Facebook administrators pleaded with the commenters that “this is a page for us to talk about events and activities going on in Ang Mo Kio – Yio Chu Kang and not about any political views”. Then they updated their rules that any “topics on politics and religion will be removed” and asked the commenters to send feedback on government issues to REACH.
But all these pleas and rules were ignored. Posts which were critical and skeptical of the government kept flooding the page. The Facebook administrators went on a deleting spree to keep such comments that were deemed political or government issues at bay.
The deleting of “unsuitable” comments by the administrators got so rampant that even a seemingly apolitical member of the Facebook page pleaded with the administrators, “Please do not delete comments – preserve the integrity of the site”.
But the administrators would hear none of it.
“Some of you are really making this page into a very unhappy page. At the end of the day, we just want the residents of AMK-YCK to enjoy their community and partake in events and activities. If there’s any political issues (sic) or comments, I will delete it. I am from the PA, not from the PAP, and I am not even interested in politics but love my hometown”, one of administrator posted.
In their zealousness to delete any post that seemed political, the administrators even deleted a post of condolence to the family of the late Dr Balaji Sadasivan. That post supposedly announced first the death of Dr Balaji. The member who posted that message of condolence also claimed that after deleting his message, the administrators copied his message which said in part, “we have lost a good man” and reposted it as if it was their own comment.
Feedback that having the words “GRC” and “SMC” on their page meant that they were political went unheard.
The last update by the administrators of the Ang Mo Kio – Yio Chu Kang Facebook page was an announcement of the winners of the roadshow’s photo contest. It was posted on 19 October 2010, a little over one month after the page’s debut.
Since then, comments like, “PM Lee gave 9K for those serving NS and ICT. Those who had finished the ICT cycle get a big fat ZERO!!! Means those who had contributed to protect our country to be free had no contributions at all? Yeah, PM Lee import more FTs to boost the economy and GDP so that your pay will be higher, okies? Really nice PM we got here! Hurray!!!” (posted on 15 November 2010) went undeleted.
Comments asking why the lift upgrading work stopped suddenly at Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 (28 December 2010) went unanswered.
A seemingly anti-PAP Facebooker by the name of Sin Rak Sin seem to ‘rule’ Ang Mo Kio – Yio Chu Kang Facebook page now.
In the speech given at the roadshow where the Facebook page was launched, PM Lee said, “We look forward with confidence to next year and the years after that, but at the same time we always have to ask ourselves what can go wrong”.
If only those behind the Facebook page had heeded his advice.
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Good luck to them trying to maintain and deleting all the negative comments in the page.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Good luck to them trying to maintain and deleting all the negative comments in the page.
it looks like the mee siam mai hum speech is still haunting our PM -
mission impossible?
that being said, i think the opposition idiots would also do exactly what the MIW idiots have been doing
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How to seperate PA from PAP?
Even after deleting one P, it's still a wing of PAP
PAP is still a child, only want good things and can't take the worst.
Wonderful PAP gods living in a enclosed world built upon by the blood and sweats of our elders which took every adversities threw at them to build up a rich Sinkapore.
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Face Book 95.8 FM
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i think the admins genuinely intended the page for all social matters relating to AMK-YCK GRC, never meant it for political purposes.
But some stuff like urine found in lifts also got deleted. urine is apolitical right? hehe. Just about tells you how the PA works, or rather....all govt organisations.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
i think the admins genuinely intended the page for all social matters relating to AMK-YCK GRC, never meant it for political purposes.
But some stuff like urine found in lifts also got deleted. urine is apolitical right? hehe. Just about tells you how the PA works, or rather....all govt organisations.
fuck ya nigga -
go read MM's book la. bt i have to agree that the moderators too sensitive liao. not even a bit of criticism. well thats the biggest fear PAP has, alternative views.
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Nice thread by the TS! Thanks for bringing it out, we Singaporeans should understand better how our government runs the country... democratic society??? I think more like we're living in a damnYOU society. Media controlled by PAP lah, CPF cannot take out lah, no opposition views or they jail you lah... wah lao.
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Originally posted by Askingyouto:
How to seperate PA from PAP?
Even after deleting one P, it's still a wing of PAP
PAP is still a child, only want good things and can't take the worst.
Wonderful PAP gods living in a enclosed world built upon by the blood and sweats of our elders which took every adversities threw at them to build up a rich Sinkapore.
MM already said PA is part of the incumbent party.
So too bad.
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So how many people "like" or "dislike" this page?
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
i think the admins genuinely intended the page for all social matters relating to AMK-YCK GRC, never meant it for political purposes.
But some stuff like urine found in lifts also got deleted. urine is apolitical right? hehe. Just about tells you how the PA works, or rather....all govt organisations.
The admin thinks that everything is hunky dory in the virtual world.
They think everything online is cute like Maple Story.
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Feel sorry for them cos some of the comments in their FB page are quite childish lol.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
Feel sorry for them cos some of the comments in their FB page are quite childish lol.
Admin's or the residents ?
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http://www.temasekreview.net/2011/04/03/sm-goh-busy-deleting-comments-off-his-facebook/
I think the incumbent party should stop this facebook engaging experiment with the public.
They will be spending all their time deleting unpopular comments.
They still don't know how the internet works.
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yup, the PAP indeed dint know how the social media works.
If you want to engage , you must have an open heart and hear what your henchman dare not say to you.
it is joke they try to do policeing on social media.
just a waste of time and possibly joke of the year.
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Originally posted by reyes:
yup, the PAP indeed dint know how the social media works.
If you want to engage , you must have an open heart and hear what your henchman dare not say to you.
it is joke they try to do policeing on social media.
just a waste of time and possibly joke of the year.
Try going to the facebook page and keep clicking it as abuse.
It would create a new modern warfare called the Power of People Online.
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Originally posted by Nelstar:
Try going to the facebook page and keep clicking it as abuse.
It would create a new modern warfare called the Power of People Online.
if thry try to run the facebook page like running SPH and mediacorps, i am sure they will be doom. -
I'm sure they didn't get permits for the walk.
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Only hear the good stuff.
Really.
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Originally posted by reyes:
yup, the PAP indeed dint know how the social media works.
If you want to engage , you must have an open heart and hear what your henchman dare not say to you.
it is joke they try to do policeing on social media.
just a waste of time and possibly joke of the year.
They are not used to all the mud slinging that goes on over the internet.
Reckon they should register as members of some non establishment approved online forums and open their eyes.
It's like introducing Bambi to NRA meetings.
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looks like the online "counter-insurgency" they've been carrying out has not been working very well... i hope they are not paying the counter-insurgents our taxpayer's money.
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Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:
looks like the online "counter-insurgency" they've been carrying out has not been working very well... i hope they are not paying the counter-insurgents our taxpayer's money.
$0.02 per post.
Yes, there is still a need to be cheaper, better and faster.