TONEAudio's Facebook giveaways

TONEPUB · « **on:** 26 Dec 2012, 07:36 pm »

While I know that some of you are incredibly adverse to the idea of being part of anything to do with Facebook, we have given away a ton
of goodies via our page this year. And, because it's generated so much positive buzz for our advertisers, we've got quite a few fun things
lined up for next year as well.

So, if you feel like popping by for a second and saying hello, fellow AC members are always welcome.

And, who knows, you might win an amp, pair of speakers, or something else audio related while you're at it.

www.facebook.com/tonepub2 (main page)
www.facebook.com/analogaholic (our analog only page)

rhandmj · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 06:38 pm »

I'm not averse to Facebook at all, but I had to de-friend Tone Audio due to the over the top incessant pushing - up to a dozen posts a day - which amounted to little more than advertising for their sponsors. I love Facebook for social purposes, not for advertising. I also noticed a very argumentative tone when others complained on Tone Audio's Facebook wall or posted anything that conflicted with the smiley face 'buy this' approach.

dflee · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 07:01 pm »

While not a big fan on facebook, I do look at it sparingly and don't see much of
a big deal about how Tone Audio post. Facebook was originally designed as a tool
for business. Tonepub: look forward to further wall posts and if it helps the business, why not?

Don

wisnon · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 09:12 pm »

Really?

Facebook was originally developed as a business tool? Do tell!

rhandmj · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 10:22 pm »

Clearly not everyone has seen "The Social Network"!

dflee · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 10:38 pm »

After looking up facebook origination, I stand corrected.
I was told by an IT guy facebook was developed for companies to look up companies listed on FB to see info. Guess I can't believe everything an IT guy will say.

rhandmj · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 11:18 pm »

Actually, you are not wrong at all! In fact, Facebook was never 'social' at all, as anyone who has looked into the Orwellian (non) privacy policies of Facebook, and further into the Brave New World of how they data mine and give access to advertisers and outside marketers, it is easy to see that Facebook is actually one of the most intrusive and anti-social creations of the internet era.

Facebook roped in the unsuspecting by starting out social, and as it encouraged people to post just about anything and everything about themselves, it created a huge database for marketers to tap into - and worse, for government agencies both friendly and unfriendly to access.

ToneAudio is just jumping on the bandwagon to promote product on behalf of advertisers and by so doing, keep their ad revenues going.

Personally, I don't need Tone Audio pimping for Music Direct on Facebook, I can subscribe to Music Direct's newsletters all on my own.

konut · « **Reply #7 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 12:22 am »

Socialism is a business.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 03:49 am »

Quote from: rhandmj on 27 Dec 2012, 06:38 pm

I'm not averse to Facebook at all, but I had to de-friend Tone Audio due to the over the top incessant pushing - up to a dozen posts a day - which amounted to little more than advertising for their sponsors. I love Facebook for social purposes, not for advertising. I also noticed a very argumentative tone when others complained on Tone Audio's Facebook wall or posted anything that conflicted with the smiley face 'buy this' approach.

I think you're pretty confused. We've actually done precious little advertising for our sponsors, but what we have noticed is that if you don't post on FB constantly, you don't get traffic. Judging at the tremendous growth we are having there, it's working well.

I do think it's kind of interesting that you are new to this forum with about a dozen posts, and five of them are whinging about me. Hmmm.

As for the "TONE" I've told a few people that either incessantly whine about the same things, want to start an argument why cables don't work, want to complain about Mobile Fidelity or other magazines/reviewers (pretty much in poor taste) that they should take it somewhere else.

I've told the people that you view as being singled out that I view our FB page as the equivalent of stopping by my listening room, having a beer and hanging out. If you're a dick you don't get invited back. And that's the way I've handled our page. Many of our readers have commented that they enjoy someplace that isn't a constant argument. Again, the reason we have the level of engagement that we do.

We post a lot of pictures of gear, point to other things we find interesting and the like, as well as links to other articles, etc etc. We've even linked to a few things on the Stereophile website that I thought my readers would enjoy.

My personal FB page is contact with friends, and I don't really talk about TONEAudio there.

It's a page for a magazine, which is a business. My job is to grow my business.

As for the "pimping for Music Direct" and the others: Music Direct, SoundStageDirect and a few others have offered gift certificates, a few pieces of gear
and such in exchange for that. Other pieces of gear that I've wanted to give away, I've purchased (most mfrs have been kind enough to give us dealer cost).

That's why we've had over $15,000 worth of goodies to give away this year, and we've sent them all over the world, not just to the US

The biggest advantage to FB for us this year has been to start discussing reviews as they are in process, generating interest in the reviews by the time they
go live. And we review a larger percentage of gear from "non advertisers" than any other publication. We also have the lowest ratio of advertising to content of any audio magazine out there (of the majority that DO feature advertising)

I think saying our posts are "little more than advertising for our sponsors" is not only short sighted, it is incorrect. The most popular posts we have are the ones to do with vintage gear. Everyone seems to love it as much as I do.

So if you don't like what we're doing, fine. But if you're going to make accusations, do your homework.

There I go being "argumentative" again.

As for the rest of you, feel free to drop by. Who knows? You might win something cool next year....

golfugh · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 06:37 am »

Jeff, totally concur with your post!
Mark

wisnon · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 09:10 am »

Me, Im just waiting for my free speakers, LoL.

wisnon · « **Reply #11 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 09:11 am »

Quote from: rhandmj on 27 Dec 2012, 11:18 pm

Actually, you are not wrong at all! In fact, Facebook was never 'social' at all, as anyone who has looked into the Orwellian (non) privacy policies of Facebook, and further into the Brave New World of how they data mine and give access to advertisers and outside marketers, it is easy to see that Facebook is actually one of the most intrusive and anti-social creations of the internet era.

Facebook roped in the unsuspecting by starting out social, and as it encouraged people to post just about anything and everything about themselves, it created a huge database for marketers to tap into - and worse, for government agencies both friendly and unfriendly to access.

ToneAudio is just jumping on the bandwagon to promote product on behalf of advertisers and by so doing, keep their ad revenues going.

Personally, I don't need Tone Audio pimping for Music Direct on Facebook, I can subscribe to Music Direct's newsletters all on my own.

That is what it evolved into. It started as a grand waste of time and still remains so.

rhandmj · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 01:52 pm »

Fascinating reply by Toneaudio!

Really, I don't care much to engage in his diatribe. He admits that he pimps for big box retailers like Music Direct via Facebook, but that there is a quid pro quo for that. So basically, he advertises for them on Facebook and gets goodies to offer his Facebook audience in return so he can drive up his business. So that is fair enough, it is a promotional Facebook page. Not a social discussion at all.

But then to say it is like dropping by for a beer and hanging out - that is stretching much too far.

When I drop by someplace to hang out and have a beer, I don't get advertised to incessantly. That is not cool.

But that is just my view. He started the thread with what is essentially an advertisement to drive traffic to his Facebook page, so I think that differing views are entirely appropriate. But then again, in the Orwellian world of Facebook, views that differ from the establishment are not.

hibuckhobby · « **Reply #13 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 02:24 pm »

Hmmm....he has sponsors and they donate equipment that is given away on the FB
page...I'm shocked...shocked I tell 'ya. If you don't know how to set up your FB account
to avoid what you consider to be spam, then you probably should stay away altogether.

IMO...any medium that allows people to interact about their hobbies and interests is a good
thing. Freebies...that makes it even better.
Hibuck.....

rhandmj · « **Reply #14 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 03:27 pm »

I DO know how to set up my Facebook account to avoid spam - I deleted Tone Audio!!

DTB300 · « **Reply #15 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 03:51 pm »

If you do not like what Tone Audio is doing on Facebook then, do not stop by their page, do not like any of their posts, if a friend then un-friend them. Simple.

Nobody is holding anyone hand over the fire to participate. They did post on Industry Talk, where they are supposed to. Again, just skip by the post if you are not interested in Tone. Simple.

Many other companies do the same thing with Facebook, so this is nothing new.

MaxCast · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 05:48 pm »

Quote from: DTB300 on 28 Dec 2012, 03:51 pm

If you do not like what Tone Audio is doing on Facebook then, do not stop by their page, do not like any of their posts, if a friend then un-friend them. Simple.

Nobody is holding anyone hand over the fire to participate. They did post on Industry Talk, where they are supposed to. Again, just skip by the post if you are not interested in Tone. Simple.

Many other companies do the same thing with Facebook, so this is nothing new.

x100000

gees guys, just don't go to the page.

I don't see any of you complainers donating anything.

Charles Xavier · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 05:56 pm »

Quote from: rhandmj on 28 Dec 2012, 01:52 pm

Fascinating reply by Toneaudio!

Really, I don't care much to engage in his diatribe. He admits that he pimps for big box retailers like Music Direct via Facebook, but that there is a quid pro quo for that. So basically, he advertises for them on Facebook and gets goodies to offer his Facebook audience in return so he can drive up his business. So that is fair enough, it is a promotional Facebook page. Not a social discussion at all.

But then to say it is like dropping by for a beer and hanging out - that is stretching much too far.

When I drop by someplace to hang out and have a beer, I don't get advertised to incessantly. That is not cool.

But that is just my view. He started the thread with what is essentially an advertisement to drive traffic to his Facebook page, so I think that differing views are entirely appropriate. But then again, in the Orwellian world of Facebook, views that differ from the establishment are not.

Every bar I hang out in for a beer has plenty of advertising hanging all over the walls.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #18 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 06:18 pm »

Thank you for the positive replies, we certainly appreciate it. Not sure who rhandmj really is, but seriously, you won't be missed.

As for the rest of you that are not offended by our approach, I just got a note from the people at PrimaLuna - the amplifier guys.

They are giving away a set of 4 EAT KT88 tubes to the best photo of a tube hifi system. The contest is open world wide. So send
a pic of your tube hifi and win $1800 worth of tubes. This has NOTHING to do with TONEAudio, other than they asked us to pass
the word on to our friends and readers.

For those interested, send a pic here.

https://www.facebook.com/PrimaLuna.audio?group_id=0&__req=y

And as a final response to RH, friends stop by my place for a drink all the time and they always want to know where I got
the latest preamp, turntable or new records. It's kind of what I do. As do I when I go to my friends houses that are into
cars, motorcycles, cameras, watches, etc etc.

I just checked our page again, just for giggles. Out of the last 100 posts, one was for something related to Music Direct
and one was related to Sound Stage Direct. So, that's two percent advertising on a page that is a commercial venture.

Hardly what I'd call being advertised "incessantly."

jtwrace · « **Reply #19 on:** 28 Dec 2012, 09:46 pm »

Keep up the great work Jeff! TONE rocks!