[jabalong]

With 30 votes so far, the results jive pretty well with my sense of social media and toy collectors.

YouTube 80%
Facebook 67%
Instagram 50%
Twitter 30%

That YouTube is so high is not surprising, as it's less a social media outlet and more a video-streaming platform, or as least as much of both. So, I would expect everyone to have it, regardless of what their primary social media is. My only question is how are 20% of people not using YouTube? It's seems fundamental now, like a search engine and I'm hard-pressed to think of alternatives .

Facebook I think is still the best social media platform for toy groups (it's the only reason I'm there). But I've noticed that Instagram has really come on strong in recent years, as everyone seems to want to photograph their toys now. As for Twitter, there is a toy scene there, but it's maybe more limited to toy news.

A caveat here is I'm thinking about these platforms in terms of toys, which may be the inference to most of us here, but maybe not. I think if you wanted to drill down further, one might do the same poll but specify "do you actually engage with them on toys".

For example, I use YouTube quite a bit, but not much for toys. And what little I am on Twitter (which is very little), it's never for toys (I didn't know until relatively recently that there was even a toys scene there).

In terms of a Kickstarter like Legends of the Hidden Force getting the word out?

My initial answer would be why not do all of these.

But I'd say focus on Facebook, as I still think it's got the biggest toy reach and o-ring collectors are in the demographic to still be using Facebook a lot. More importantly, with Facebook, you're not limited by your own page's reach, as you can really seek out your audience through groups and your post will get seen.

On Instagram and YouTube, however, you're really limited by how many followers you have. So, if you don't have a lot, then on those platforms it's more about reaching out to people and pages with big followers to seek their help in spreading the word.

My final note is you should probably disregard everything I've said, because like most of you probably, I'm a middle-aged gen-xer, so really what do I know about the state of social media today? :P

[meadlobon]

Hey there! It's interesting to hear about the different media platforms people use. Personally, I've been using HissTank and YouTube as well to stay connected. I also have a Facebook account, but I mainly use it for organizing and don't spend much time browsing. I recently re-discovered TikTok and found it quite entertaining, even though I initially didn't see the value in short-form videos. Social media definitely offers a wide range of opportunities for getting the word out. By the way, I came across this one website where you can Buy Tiktok Accounts . As for me, it adds an intriguing twist to the whole social media scene.

[Cobra Agent 66]

HISS Tank is the last of the "old school forums" I still use. I ditched Rebelscum, Toynewsi, Statueforum and Theforce.net over the last few months, since most of the good conversations happen on Facebook or Twitter. But HISS still has good threads, so keep up the good work.