Using A Free FaceBook Type Page.

All leagues whether they are darts, or whatever, have the same problems of getting suitable people to do the actual work of running the leagues. Not only have people got to have the interest and dedication to the league, but the ability and time to run them. Nowadays, as with most organisations, darts leagues the World over, also want an Internet presence and to add this computer ability into the requirement list for the Committee, is just asking too much for most leagues. So, for many the easy way to have a website is to use a FaceBook page, a GuestBook page, or one of the many other free Forums and messaging type pages that are out there. They are ready made and need very little effort or computer skills to personalize them for individual leagues. Such pages certainly don’t need a web-designer’s skills and they don’t even need any special hosting facilities as they come free in a ready made package. Some leagues actually use such pages though, as if they were a real website and use them not only to post reports, but also pictures and even league tables – indeed everything to do with the league. Others use them for what they were intended and put hyper-links through to the leagues main website, so that such pages are smoothly incorporated into it thus enabling ordinary league members to get their comments online themselves without going through the leagues Secretary.

Such pages can be a good idea and great fun with some leagues taking to them better than others.

BUT

The pages of some of this type of website can be hijacked more easily than others by things like unsuitable advertising and worse things such as advertising that can have all sorts of “Nasties,” built into them that may raid the surfers computer for personal details, passwords, etc.

Bigger operations such as FaceBook do get attacked by hackers, but less often and are generally far more secure, but such sites are still very much open to other forms of abuse. The whole point of an accessible internet page is so that people can post comments without much effort and that means that surfers can type in all sorts of things even when they are in an excitable state and not thinking clearly. It is all too easy for people to get upset over something and go straight online to have a little rant and get it off their chest. I know this from personal experience of operating a GuestBook page on behalf of one of the darts leagues that I play in. Many is the time that I have had to go into the page and delete comments that have been posted by some irate player who has got it in for someone else. The problem is that more and more people are getting into legal trouble on the Internet by posting libelous remarks about others. It is so easy to get carried away that even politicians are getting into trouble and being sued or prosecuted over their postings.

The League Official who operates the page, has a moral, if not legal responsibility, to ensure that nothing untoward is posted and left up for others to see. Such pages should be closely supervised/monitored so that action quickly be taken if needs be.

Many sites enable the supervisor not only to delete and block offenders, but also alter any posting that has been made. Speaking from experience this can be used in a fun, but much more effective way, to teach any offenders a lesson instead of using the big stick method that simply encourages them to try to cause trouble again later!