Hi Sean

I still think there is a future for the forum, judging from the feedback there are quite a few members checking in daily, even some re-joining from a few years back. Its seems that many are not keen on Facebook in general, so to launch a Facebook Group may be counterproductive to our loyal following

If we did launch a Facebook Group it would also create more work for me as I would have to check everyone joining against our database, if someone does not re-subscribe to UKAT then that would mean I would have to block them from using that group, thus possibly causing friction between that person and me, as you are fully aware it can get ugly on Facebook very quickly

There are still thousands of forums for every type of vehicle out there, many closed, many open, but they have loyal followers that share useful information. How many times do you Google a fault code or sensor problem and you are nearly always directed to a FORUM post (sometimes in Russian ect) and invariably you will get your answer or a link to more info on that problem

I hope that we may persuade a few long standing members to post more, share more and get involved more. We are all in a trade that is changing so quickly, many like me are starting to find it hard to keep up, so it would be great to hear more from those who have been with us for some time

John Ritchie pointed out that some members think that some other members perhaps do not always carry out the basics (but who has not done this, including me, jumped in at the deep end) or perhaps do not want to share valuable tips or info with other garage owners or technicians on a closed forum......this seem ironic really when Techs using Facebook Groups

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Closed Facebook Groups:

I was given an insight about a year ago by a software engineer that had worked for a Diagnostic Company

What you have to remember is that Facebook is now one of the richest companies on the planet, originally designed for college students to chat and share experiences, but has now become a web machine that gathers and sells DATA for commercial gain

In the old days a diagnostic company (one of the largest) would get workshops to feedback fault code reports, tips, tricks and fixes which would then be included in your subscription to aid diagnosis....but that was back then

Now Facebook Software Engineers (some of the cleverest on the planet) can write algorithms for companies that will analyse the raw data picking out fault codes, descriptions, sensor names, vehicle makes and models (plus many more key words) and turn this into extremely valuable information for any automotive scan tool manufacturer or technical data supplier. It does not discriminate between closed or open groups, once you post you valuable knowledge that you have taken years to acquire it becomes the properly of Facebook, we are talking hundreds of thousands of Automotive Facebook Groups worldwide with probably millions of posts every day (imagine that amount of helpful info being posted)

So the irony is that some techs will not share on a closed forum with other like minded techs but are happy to post on Facebook Groups, to make things worse they will end up paying for Techs Tips and Fixes on scan tools and Workshop Data, some of which they probably supplied in the first place FOC

I was also told that many diagnostic and tech data companies have employees set up Groups specifically for drawing out information with maybe some original or fake posts, along with fake technicians entering into groups


I am sorry for the long post but it's not always easy to get your thoughts out in a few words. I have the greatest respect for all our members whether they post on UKAT or Facebook Group...... but for now a UKAT Facebook Group is on hold

Peter