It is amazing how many people think that Facebook is a place where someone else will help them with everything, especially if they are in a group.
I belong to a number of groups on Facebook and have seen some very interesting questions that people have asked. Here are some of the questions that I have seen and some of my thoughts about them:
1. I’m in desperate need of a new project, haven’t crocheted in months! What’s everyone working on?
I immediately see this and think you belong to a group that shows projects that people are working on so why do you have to ask to see things, just scroll down the page, and you will see a lot of projects that are just finished or are being worked on currently.
2. Are there any patterns that would be considered beachy? I searched the site and didn’t see any.
What site are you looking at because this is a Facebook group, but you really didn’t give us enough information? This is something that I have seen very often when someone mentions that they have checked the site, but they don’t say the site they have looked at.
3. Where can I find free patterns?
Now this question is from the Crochet Crowd Social Facebook page, and it does make me laugh because it is a group for people that crochet and know about the Crochet Crowd website. There is an entire Crochet Crowd website, which is identified in the group, that has patterns and a lot of other information provided, so why not check there. My other reply might have been have you googled “free crochet patterns” and what you want to make, or are we supposed to guess what you are looking for.
4. Where can I find tutorials on learning how to crochet?
Now this question is from the Crochet Crowd Social Facebook page, and it does make me laugh because it is a group for people that crochet and know about the Crochet Crowd website. There is an entire website (The Crochet Crowd) that has access to tutorials and a lot of other information provided, so why not check there. Again, the website is identified in the group.
5. Where can I find a pattern to make a shawl for myself?
My immediate answer to this question would have you tried googling for ideas, or have you checked out Ravelry, which is quite often found through the various Google searches? Of course, there are times that I just scroll by these questions because I think it is best, otherwise my answer wouldn’t be very friendly. I understand that when you are in a group, you can get help from other members of the group, but the idea is also not to use the group as your personal Google.
As you can see, there can be some very interesting questions asked within social media and especially Facebook. I understand that not everyone knows how to use Google extremely well, but at least trying to find things and then asking for help is better. I have seen some questions in one group, and they are very clear, and it makes you feel good.
Here is one of those questions:
1. I'm looking for a chart, but I can't remember the name of it or who the artist was. The chart had an owl flying a key to a lock in the ground. It was a relatively recent release. I remember it being a very beautiful chart with lots of soft colours. I've put every keyword I can think of into the search bar, and I am coming up with nothing (though my wish list keeps getting bigger every time I try to find this thing). Can anyone help me out in identifying the chart that doesn't want to be found?
This question was on the Heaven and Earth Design Facebook group and of course the person provided enough information that someone was very quickly able to tell them the name of the patter as well as the designer. This is the type of question that I enjoy seeing because at least it gives enough information so that people know you have done some looking and just need a little bit of help.
Social media is something that a lot of us understand and are part of, but knowing when not to reply to a question that is posted is something that I have learned to do. If you are part of a group and have a question, make sure that you are asking the right type of question and also try and show that you have done some of your own research before asking your question. You will probably be surprised at the type of answer you will get, and it will probably help you a lot more than just asking a general question.
The other thing that really bothers me about some groups is when people ask what is on your hook tonight or spam me with ideas for a baby girl afghan. Both aren’t great for the group because it just means that one thread ends up with a lot of pictures but no descriptions, and they really aren’t very useful. Think before you ask this type of questions because remember with all the various groups there are it can get overwhelming to see all of this type of chatter.
If you are working on something or have finished something, and you think the group would like to see it, go ahead and post it and remember you will probably be asked a few questions about it so if you have to answer them in your original post it makes things a lot easier for everyone.
Social media is something that can be very helpful when you are looking for things, but that is after you have done your own searches. Remember Facebook isn’t a replacement for Google so try that first and then when all else fails ask a question in a group but make sure the question is clear.
