Morris Minor Owners Club

I tried to go on to Facebook today and was met with a full-screen message saying I could either pay £2.99 per month for ad-free content or I could accept ads based on my personal details and use FB for "free". I think this is where I get off FB once and for all; I'm immune to ALL advertising and find them intensely irritating, but the only problem is that there are quite a lot of Minor groups on FB. Does anyone know of any alternative social media groups that aren't owned by Meta, Musk or the Chinese government where there is a Morris Minor community?

Odd. I use FB for communicating, Marketplace for buying/selling, and I subscribe to several groups aligned with my (too many!) various interests.
I have not seen such a demand. Famous last words? Is one heading my way? Fingers crossed not.
I do have Adblock+ installed, which does keep most unwanted stuff out.

One thing I don't use FB for is social interaction save that of comms with fellow enthusiasts. But that is off topic.

Dryad wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 7:24 pm I tried to go on to Facebook today and was met with a full-screen message saying I could either pay £2.99 per month for ad-free content or I could accept ads based on my personal details and use FB for "free". I think this is where I get off FB once and for all; I'm immune to ALL advertising and find them intensely irritating, but the only problem is that there are quite a lot of Minor groups on FB. Does anyone know of any alternative social media groups that aren't owned by Meta, Musk or the Chinese government where there is a Morris Minor community?

Sounds like a scam message, I don’t use Facebook and never have. Asked a friend who uses it and said never seen this message.

It's not a scam as it was announced as being planned last year on the BBC News website. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kglle0p3vo

Meta is introducing paid subscription options for ad-free Facebook and Instagram experiences in the UK and Europe. Users can pay
£2.99/month on the web or £3.99/month on iOS/Android to stop seeing ads, addressing regulatory concerns regarding personalised data usage. Users can still opt for a free, ad-supported version

I wonder how that works if you use a PC and a Phone App?


Farcebook can be useful, but for example, being in a group leaves you at the whim of the person 'moderating ' it.
There are some groups that people can use and everyone get along OK, there's others that are poorly moderated and to be avoided, depending on your preferences for Moderation style...

For example according to the AI summary, and my experience of Farcebook Groups/Pages which I have been involved with...
"Public Facebook groups with high membership often suffer from overwhelming spam, scams, and excessive, 24/7 moderation demands, according to posts from a Facebook user.
Because all content is visible to non-members, privacy is reduced, allowing malicious users to easily scrape data or harass members, as noted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Furthermore, large public groups are difficult to manage, often requiring strict post-approval to control noise, as discussed in a Facebook post"

Chasing high numbers brings a lot of hassle, and can lead to a downward spiral. people can still show up as 'members' but they don't actually participate. That's why you can often see Groups which are asking people to Click to keep their profile active in a Group.

Facebook Algorithims are known to make large groups increasing difficult to manage.

A sensible, ad-free, well-moderated, free to use discussion group alternative to FB? I thought you were looking at one right now, certainly for any discussion relating to Morris Minors

simmitc wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 9:49 pm A sensible, ad-free, well-moderated, free to use discussion group alternative to FB? I thought you were looking at one right now, certainly for any discussion relating to Morris Minors

Well said that man

Both this forum and FB groups / pages have their place, but I would agree that adverts are becoming worse and scattergun rather than targetted. What really Ps me off are the intrusive 'feeds' which assume I want to see videos of moronic pursuits / hobbies and images of people remodelling their homes / sports etc If I wanted these I would sign up for them. Adverts, here or on TV, just annoy, surely subverting their original purpose.

Google F.B. Purity , does the job for me...

John ;-)

firedrake1942 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 7:16 am Both this forum and FB groups / pages have their place, but I would agree that adverts are becoming worse and scattergun rather than targetted. What really Ps me off are the intrusive 'feeds' which assume I want to see videos of moronic pursuits / hobbies and images of people remodelling their homes / sports etc If I wanted these I would sign up for them. Adverts, here or on TV, just annoy, surely subverting their original purpose.

I loathe adverts and I have always refused to watch them. I can pause live TV so I just pause it, do something else and then zoom through the adverts. If I am forced to watch an advert I make a mental note never to buy the product in question.

Stephen

:D We could start a movement!

Talking of adverts——
and I might have mentioned this before but isn’t or wasn’t there a gadget that shut down ads on a tv, when they interrupted a programme

les wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 9:22 am Talking of adverts——
and I might have mentioned this before but isn’t or wasn’t there a gadget that shut down ads on a tv, when they interrupted a programme

Its a £5 option on sky but not 100% channel coverage

We still have a Digibox Freeview Recorder, so we record programmes from Commercial Channels that we want to see, to enable adverts to be skipped.
BBC we tend not to bother recording as much, as iPlayer is fine.
The likes of C4, 5, U (Drama, Dave, Yesterday) etc, their players are a bit random in what adverts they will insert. Their players are also a bit 'clunky' to use, compared to other streaming services like prime or Disney+.
Even a specific series, if watched at different times will get differing amounts of adverts.

Sadly it looks like the days of home recording TV will soon be over. The new "Freely" standard will replace Freeview and will be a streaming only service .

https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/tv-record ... nd-of-era/

mobylette wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 12:40 pm Sadly it looks like the days of home recording TV will soon be over. The new "Freely" standard will replace Freeview and will be a streaming only service .

https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/tv-record ... nd-of-era/

In those circumstances I instantly mute the volume and pick ip my book or magazine until the adverts are over. I would rather risk missing some of the programme than see an advert.

Stephen

I thought there was an electronic device that senses when adverts came, and switched to standby until the programme returned.
———— and another thing, maybe a bit science fiction but I watched a police programme recently, police following a car that failed to pull over. I’d have thought something would have been developed, some kind of laser fitted to the police car, that would interfere with the electrical circuits on the car being chased, on bring it to a stop. Have I been watch too much Startrek ?

No longer have record facility, aerial or dish its over the Internet. Programs stay available for quite a long time on apps after initial broadcast and like Stephen mute sound in adverts.
Noticed sometimes when watching at a later date often the only advert is the program sponsor so very brief. Maybe the advertisers payment time has expired.

Ah Stephen, you'd rather miss some of a program than seen an advert? You are an old grump! Sometimes the adverts are better than the programs.

Remember this?
https://www.google.com/search?q=virgin+ ... s-wiz-serp

les wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 3:15 pm I thought there was an electronic device that senses when adverts came, and switched to standby until the programme returned.

I think that was TI-VO

les wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 3:15 pm some kind of laser fitted to the police car, that would interfere with the electrical circuits on the car being chased, on bring it to a stop.

Many years ago they had that on Tomorrow's World, though it was like an RC car that dropped out, whizzed under, and zapped the car with a charge powerful enough to interfere with the ECU.

svenedin wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 12:44 pm In those circumstances I instantly mute the volume and pick ip my book or magazine until the adverts are over. I would rather risk missing some of the programme than see an advert.

And it's rare to miss part of it, because of the "Sponsored by..." section after you think the adverts are finally over.