Originally Posted by
aymodeler
I tend to agree that the average club member is not likely to engage with the AMA website that often. But I do think that communicating through contemporary platforms is a huge missed opportunity for the AMA. If the AMA wants to attract new/younger members (as it needs to do), then it needs to be present and active in a compelling way in places where those prospective members are. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, etc. just like FlitTest is. A website will remain a critical part of that communications platform, but only to back up and support the other platforms. Facebook is still important, but really only for us old farts and is almost totally ignored by anyone born after 1990 (pretty much only used to post pics of the grandkids for us boomers to see).
IMO, the issue that needs to be discussed is how the AMA is using technology to promote the hobby, not some minor glitch (that was probably resolved well within hosting company's uptime SLA anyway).
I don’t disagree and if you look at the back of your AMA card you will see the platforms that AMA has a presence. The issue comes down to interest. I’ve used the example of a $400 bottle of wine several times. There is no amount of advertising/promotion that will convince me to shell out $400 for a bottle of wine. Ain’t gonna happen. Now I fully understand that there are those who do and that helps keep that industry alive. To the younger generation we ( R/C aviation ) are that bottle of wine. Our hobby is initially expensive, doesn’t offer immediate success/gratification. An XBox offers instant fun and they don’t need to listen to an old fart drone on about safety. A smart phone links them to the whole planet and they get to talk crap without any accountability. Our own forum is a great example of that.