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Remember the old days before a certain social media platform arrived and took over the whole world? The days when Scooterists ran their own busy online forums to socialise, have a laugh, a bit of banter and ask questions about scooters? Well I think it’s time for us to go retro and take back control of our own social media.
I’m sure many of you will have woken up this morning to see either your own, or your friend’s Facebook accounts having been deleted without warning or explanation. Reading between the lines it seems like Facebook has turned their bots and algorithms to attack mode and ousted anybody with non-mainstream views, an opinion that differs from theirs, a short haircut or any connections to Skinheads/Oi/punk/football violence etc. Strangely though, many Facebook groups for the various subcultures are still live.
Rally organisers have been chucked off, even Neville Staples from The Specials has vanished. In short, that means a large proportion of Scooterists will be affected. Not only have their profiles been closed but years of photographs and memories have also seemingly been lost. Rumours behind the reasoning include links (be it by association/friendship/viewing or commenting on) the profile picture of a skinhead couple posing next to a swastika flag.
How to save your Facebook photos
If your account is still active we suggest saving all of your photos as soon as you’ve read this, just in case you end up being binned off as well. It’s easy enough to do so don’t panic.
- Head to your Facebook profile and click ‘settings’ on the right of the screen
- Click ‘Your Facebook information’
- Click ‘Transfer a copy of your photos and videos to another service’
- You then have the option to ‘Download your information directly’ or ‘Choose destination’
- Choose the option that suits you
- The images will save to either Google photos or your computer
Gone forever?
Profiles may well be reinstated before too long, some users have reported having to show proof of ID to Facebook before having their accounts reactivated.
Coming soon – FREE ScooterLab app, classifieds and forum
SLUK App
You may remember a while ago we announced we’d be launching a new ScooterLab app. The Android version of the app is currently being tested (screenshots above) and an ios version is due to be tested later this week. Once we’re happy everything works without bits dropping off we’ll send it out for you lot to play with. It means you’ll have instant notifications on your phone when we post new stories/news or products. It’ll also have a translate feature to help our non-English speaking followers. We’ve also introduced a ‘For Sale’ feature (see the tab at the top right of screen), where you can advertise your parts and scooters FOR FREE.
Forum
As of today, we’re also working on a forum to run on ScooterLab. It should be up and running in the next day or so. If you’ve been thrown off another platform and want to be able to indulge in a bit of Scooterist humour and banter, ask questions about scooter-related stuff and have a laugh with our own community this will be the place to do it.
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ScooterLab is read by over half a million likeminded Scooterists, and people with an interest in classic or modern scooters every year. These are verified statistics from Google. That’s a lot of potential customers for your scooter-related business.
Advertisers benefit from great exposure and an association with ScooterLab. Once the new SLUK app launches advertisers will gain even more coverage and traction for their money. If you want to be part of this huge audience get in touch at: Advertising@ScooterLab.uk
Freedom to shop to your heart’s content
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests-facebook/facebook-takes-down-white-nationalist-and-fake-antifa-accounts-idUSKBN23A06J?fbclid=IwAR0G3MkLZWfrq20VmmN4Xd1ZBsJGYZORu1kF2kOegK2NMRv9g9oM1j5UBUs
Reportedly they were after fake Antifa accounts and white nationalists.
It looks to me like a massive backfire really since everyone I know who had their account kicked in were either anti-nazi or had no political views.
Possibly a case of finding someone ‘known’ to have dodgy politics (i.e. advocating violence basically) and then deciding every single person on their FB friends list was of the same twisted perversion, akin to smashing a pub window after one person only and throwing a few grenades in for everyone else.
https://www.change.org/p/facebook-re-instate-all-deactivated-facebook-account-that-were-removed-without-reason/c?source_location=petition_show
What FB have done is outrageous and I have started a petition please can everyone share and sign it, thank you:
https://www.facebook.com/505625859519209/posts/3005216976226739/?d=n
This is an absolute farce. FB has long been going down a dodgy road. I’ve been watching and trying FB alternatives that have come and gone over the years, but we all seem to have handcuffed ourselves the FB.
Thanks for the Photos and videos save tip. The old way of saving them from the albums page on FB has gone.
I’ll be joining the forum and leaving Facebook
I left Facebook because it stopped being a good laugh so can’t wait for the new forum.
I love the way the anti nazis go after the nazis by becoming the nazis.
The reality is that some lad on a px 125 with an oi badge didn’t exterminate the Jews, didn’t keep slaves and ruin zillions of lives, didnt put children in slavish conditions in workhouses because the british eugenics programme see the lower classes as less than human, didnt create political systems in other people countries that persecuted the indigenous people, did not capture tribal people and show them at Earl’s Court in cages, didnt starve the irish and take away their land for some made fairy tale reason…… no that was our government and ruling classes, the people pointing the finger.
Politics aside, I think the title of this article hits a spot for me. I used to use the scooter related forums. Everyone seemed to be so positive and helpful. There were usually areas ‘to one side’ where people could discuss their views on the scene etc if they wanted. It was a time when I could expect a text regularly from friends around the country. After a while it became obvious that there were fewer and fewer posts and everyone was going over to Faceache. So, reluctantly, I re-registered and joined a few scooter related ‘groups’. It wasn’t long before I had given it the moniker Anti-social media. It has become a breeding ground for arseholes with nothing better to do than slag off everything that isn’t what they like. Some dedicated groups are OK, but you still get posts that appear to be looking down on others and telling then what they should or shouldn’t do with their own scoots etc. and if that wasn’t bad enough, even some of my friends have suggested that if I am not in touch with them on Faceache they aren’t going to bother telling me the rallies they intend to do the following year! What the f… is that about? It’s been suggested that I an unsociable because I have not ‘friended’ any of my mates….but I have phones and an e-mail address, we only live a few hours away from each other but it seems FB has turned everyone into lazy sods who insist on knowing everything instantly about everyone’s lives and telling everyone else everything about theirs too. I will be checking out the new forum…I only hope that it will be monitored and knob’eads removed asap.
Nice 1 Mike! Nail, head, hitting it…I am proud to say that out of principle I’ve never been on Farce Book, my sad pathetic life ain’t worth sharing & as to breakfast pics pfff! Cambridge Analytica aside I’ve seen actual real world communication (as Mike states) disappear into the ether where real world scenes suffer… A club, very close to my heart, that was hugely inclusive straddling generations of enthusiasts completely lost its way, & its democratic available to all website, when it went all Farce Book. Any idiot can use an easy to join easy to leave virtual world while bucketmouthing stuff that they know nothing about as they didn’t actually own a scooter in the 80’s…
I think the days when you can use the internet anonymously are at an end. Or should be. It may have been acceptable when the internet was in it’s infancy, but we know the power it has now. If you post something, or share something, you should be able to see where and who it came from.
As for the forums, they hold a fantastic archive of information that is searchable and of great help. Some even still have photos! Some are soldiering on, luckily. Social media has no archive at all. Some excellent advice and problem solving is just lost into the ether,
Is the forum still going ahead? I have ditched facebook & its endless list of groups & online clubs. We`d all be much better in one happy little forum!
We’ve got somebody working on it now.