What Can We Do to Make MFC Better?

[maggie112]

7 hours ago, Siri said:

 

 

If you have a problem with me, you are lying because you are jealous and if you try to have a discussion I'll ban you or make you shut up in some way. 

Yes, it’s common that when people complain (sometimes people can exaggerate, or talk just about rumors that aren’t even true, that’s another story!) the answer they get it that they are just jealous: because if some people are more smart, more organized, have more “helpful friends”, more time and resources to dedicate to follow Mika events, then they deserve to see him again or better than others, and if someone complains about something, that’s just being jealous .

About arginating people making gossips about MFC, I know it’s the other side of the problem 😒 I don’t know how it could be solved, maybe if we all would say in a clear way how we get what we get? How can some  people 99% manage ways to enter events even if they initially didn’t succeed buying tickets or winning competitions? Because most of the “gossips” are about MFC (or Mika staff) giving more stuff or informtion to some members 🙈 (and Sometimes times I’m sure it wasn’t true because I was also there and I saw it) 

but how did we arrive to this point? 

[cat_loves_mika]

1 hour ago, mellody said:

 

Then those who don't have the money to pay for these tickets would also say it's unfair. Maybe Mika should use a stage design as in Bercy, with the catwalk into the crowd, then the front row would be longer. But then he'd also have to do half of the show on the front stage and half on the second stage, unlike in Bercy... otherwise it's unfair again. Besides, such a stage design only works in big arenas.

I don't think Mika wants to offer such VIP tickets, he wants everyone to have the same chances. Well, mostly... I've seen exceptions from that, too. And if you don't have the time or energy to queue for 2 days, you also don't have the same chances as those who do. Anyway, it's never 100% fair, no matter what we or Team Mika do, so I guess they will leave it as it is.

 

Like I always say, people will just have have to get over it.  I think instead of focusing on the lame people cheating the system, maybe focus on the awesome Mika show you are about to go to? Be positive? I think being in the front of a concert venue can be a little overrated and kinda awful. But, if you’re that desperate to see Mika close up? To each their own, I guess. 

 

But the cheating the queue system is never good. That bad karma will bite you back, HARD. 

 

Also, I bet in America that queueing up starts only a few hours before a show. But who knows anymore, I don’t think he’s played a show here in 5 years. (*realization sets in* God, I’m literally never going to see him live am I..)

Edited February 2, 2018 by cat_loves_mika

[Boucarilla]

25 minutes ago, maggie112 said:

Yes, it’s common that when people complain (sometimes people can exaggerate, or talk just about rumors that aren’t even true, that’s another story!) the answer they get it that they are just jealous: because if some people are more smart, more organized, have more “helpful friends”, more time and resources to dedicate to follow Mika events, then they deserve to see him again or better than others, and if someone complains about something, that’s just being jealous .

About arginating people making gossips about MFC, I know it’s the other side of the problem 😒 I don’t know how it could be solved, maybe if we all would say in a clear way how we get what we get? How can some  people 99% manage ways to enter events even if they initially didn’t succeed buying tickets or winning competitions? Because most of the “gossips” are about MFC (or Mika staff) giving more stuff or informtion to some members 🙈 (and Sometimes times I’m sure it wasn’t true because I was also there and I saw it) 

but how did we arrive to this point? 

 

I hope you're wrong when you say Mika's team gives more informations to a few fans!

[cat_loves_mika]

Well, I know in real life the best way to deal with drama and rumors and bs is to address it head on. Does that apply to the internet as well? 

[maggie112]

12 minutes ago, Boucarilla said:

 

I hope you're wrong when you say Mika's team gives more informations to a few fans!

I hope too (and most of times I’m quite sure it’s not possible 😂)

[mellody]

1 hour ago, Boucarilla said:

 

I hope you're wrong when you say Mika's team gives more informations to a few fans!

 

If you broaden the term "Mika's team" to every Roadie or Security who works on the tour, or every Intern at a radio station where Mika does an interview, then yes, unfortunately this does happen occasionally - that some fans make friends with people working in Mika's entourage, to get what they want (information or entering venues before others, etc.). It has happened, tho luckily I didn't see it often, and I don't even know if Mika knows about this.

 

Of course if you just happen to have a friend who can get you access to Mika in some way, I think most of us would use this chance. But if someone is good at convincing people, they might use this skill to try and get closer to Mika by trying to make friends with those who might be helpful. I don't like this, but it happens everywhere - in my perception, even less on MFC than elsewhere, because there's some sort of group pressure on MFC, so you wouldn't have many friends here anymore if you do this.  Just my perception tho, I guess some might not care that much if others here like them or not.

[maggie112]

15 minutes ago, mellody said:

 

If you broaden the term "Mika's team" to every Roadie or Security who works on the tour, or every Intern at a radio station where Mika does an interview, then yes, unfortunately this does happen occasionally - that some fans make friends with people working in Mika's entourage, to get what they want (information or entering venues before others, etc.). It has happened, tho luckily I didn't see it often, and I don't even know if Mika knows about this.

 

Of course if you just happen to have a friend who can get you access to Mika in some way, I think most of us would use this chance. But if someone is good at convincing people, they might use this skill to try and get closer to Mika by trying to make friends with those who might be helpful. I don't like this, but it happens everywhere - in my perception, even less on MFC than elsewhere, because there's some sort of group pressure on MFC, so you wouldn't have many friends here anymore if you do this.  Just my perception tho, I guess some might not care that much if others here like them or not.

Yes, it may happen... and there are problems when 

a) people who do that start saying to people who complain that they are just being jealous and telling lies 

b) people start saying that these episodes are MFC related (when its jut single people initiative) or that Mika encourages them 

[mellody]

12 minutes ago, maggie112 said:

Yes, it may happen... and there are problems when 

a) people who do that start saying to people who complain that they are just being jealous and telling lies 

b) people start saying that these episodes are MFC related (when its jut single people initiative) or that Mika encourages them 

 

True, and neither MFC nor Mika nor his "inner team" (those who have been working for him from the start, I don't know about his newer Italian team...) encourage this behaviour. But it's all too big now, especially in Italy, so Mika and his team can't control every person who works for them - for example, the Casa Mika production company.

 

I think it's much better to make a lot of friends because you want to and you are curious about different kinds of characters, and not because you want to use these people. I think what many of us "old" MFCers have in common is that we love to travel and meet new people, and what's better for this than a Mika gig? And then you get friendships that might even be helpful when you least expect it, and it's mutual, so you help each other when you get the chance. Best example I think is @tiibet - she's friends with basically every other fan (at least it seems like this to me), simply because she's so open and nice, and interested in different people and opinions. And with this huge network, she'll often find someone who offers to translate things for her at events, or to take her as their guest if they win 2 places in a competition but she doesn't. 

 

I guess for new fans it's not always easy to see the difference, who uses others to get what they want and who just happens to have a lot of friends. And the latter certainly can be MFC related. Maybe some expect that they just have to register here and suddenly they get all the benefits that people might give each other in friendships that have been built over years (like taking each other to events when you win 2 places). But well, that's just not the way how it works... There's still enough competitions and benefits on MFC though, for which every member has the chance to win or take part.

[maggie112]

I think the main thing in Italy is that the community became quite big and things are not always clear... As we said there is often competition between fans, and many of times it looks some fans just want to overcome others with any way possible (misleading others saying wrong things, not sharing information with others, etc... and it’s sad when it seems that you dont ever know who you can trust) 

Of course it not all black or white and it’s true what you say about building friendships over the years, but it seems also that some people are interested just in friends who can be “helpful” 🙈

Edited February 2, 2018 by maggie112

[Loo]

I think it's normal from time to time to reward early fans for their assiduity.
 Mika is grateful to them for their loyalty and for what they have done for him in many areas in many countries.
It's like an exchange of gifts between them and Mika's teams. Everyone can recognize him, even if it hurts.

 

It is unfortunate to use others to achieve one's ends, but it is seen everywhere, even in the world of work.
 Just because you become a fan of Mika doesn't automatically improve your personality; otherwise it would be the world of Bisounours and not Mika!

 To become kind, grateful and selfless, you have to want and work on it.

 

[Boucarilla]

Yes unfortunately, the Mikaworld is an extract of the whole society...

[krysady]

14 hours ago, silver said:

Nothing to do with changing the forum, but I just remembered this post

 

How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb?

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed.

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

53 to flame the spell checkers.

41 to correct spelling/grammar flames.

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb"...another 6 to condemn those 6 as -retentive

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp".

15 know-it-alls who claim *they* were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct.

56 to email the participant's ISPs complaining that they are in violation of their "acceptable use policy".

19 to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb group

23 to demand that cross posting to hardware forum, off-topic forum, and lightbulb group about changing light bulbs be stopped.

11 to defend the posting to this group saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts *are* relevant to this group.

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, and what brands are faulty.

27 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

14 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's.

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group.

33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too".

12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three".

4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.

44 to ask what is a "FAQ".

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

13 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs".

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again....

 

 

 

This must be the best ever post on MFC  

[Siri]

2 hours ago, mellody said:

There's still enough competitions and benefits on MFC though, for which every member has the chance to win or take part.

 

That's true, and I am grateful to MFC. That's why it's a pity it has such reputation. I made friends here and had the opportunity to participate to some events too. But there are also ppl that act like @maggie112 said 👇

 

1 hour ago, maggie112 said:

As we said there is often competition between fans, and many of times it looks some fans just want to overcome others with any way possible (misleading others saying wrong things, not sharing information with others, etc... and it’s sad when it seems that you dont ever know who you can trust) 

Of course it not all black or white and it’s true what you say about building friendships over the years, but it seems also that some people are interested just in friends who can be “helpful” 🙈

 

Of course, we don't have to generalize, not everyone act like this (thanks God )

Edited February 2, 2018 by Siri

[giraffeandy]

I'm honestly a bit surprised that MFC has such a bad reputation by some fans. I have to say I don't have any experiences with MFCers in real life but this forum seems to be quite friendly compared to other fandoms. To be honest I originally joined MFC just because I found out about the subtitles for Casa Mika and I really wanted to watch the show with english subtitles, so I made an account just for that... However, later I realized that there's so much more to discover and I started to be more active here. I haven't joined many forums like this one before but I have an experience with at least one that is also dedicated to a singer and the atmosphere isn't so good as here in my opinion. I always think twice before I post there something because the fans are sometimes really mean to each other, often a fan attacks another one, they start to argue etc. Sure, it's something that is happening in real life too but I haven't seen so many fights here yet and I'm not afraid to post my opinion here. I also like all the competitions and projects such as Christmas card exchange, I haven't seen such things that often on other forums. Maybe MFC isn't perfect (nobody is) but I still feel that the community is more open-minded unlike other fandoms I know. I hope my impression won't change in the future.

[crazyaboutmika]

20 hours ago, silver said:

Nothing to do with changing the forum, but I just remembered this post

 

How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb?

 

 

  Hide contents

 

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed.

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

53 to flame the spell checkers.

41 to correct spelling/grammar flames.

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb"...another 6 to condemn those 6 as -retentive

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp".

15 know-it-alls who claim *they* were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct.

56 to email the participant's ISPs complaining that they are in violation of their "acceptable use policy".

19 to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb group

23 to demand that cross posting to hardware forum, off-topic forum, and lightbulb group about changing light bulbs be stopped.

11 to defend the posting to this group saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts *are* relevant to this group.

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, and what brands are faulty.

27 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

14 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's.

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group.

33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too".

12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three".

4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.

44 to ask what is a "FAQ".

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

13 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs".

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again....

 

 

  But dear @dcdeb and @kreacher and everyone willing to help, could we open a thread to rewrite a Mika FAQ? As much as I love how precise, detailed and useful the Mika Encyclopedia is, a short Mika FAQ as we used to have would still come in handy for newbies , what do you think? 

Edited February 2, 2018 by crazyaboutmika

[Littlelady]

It's not nice to hear that MFC is mentioned with bad ümage. Might be that some people have had  bad experiences but to say the whole MFC consists of unfriendly and selfish people is not true. When I became a member I got a warm welcome even my worse English and some helping hands during the gigs. I found  wonderful friends here. I like the games and actions. Also it is the best way for me to get information about Mikas activities. If I should build on German media I would learn nothing.  I also respect each member from all countries, old members, new members the same. All in all I'm very satiefied with the forum and is it not worth ro destroy a good thing by some peoples bad behaviour What should be better?  Give a Little respect again. One word to Team Mika, there was a thing I was disappointed about. I know we should not ask for everything and usually I don't do. But before The Rose D'or Award I asked if Mika really would be there in person cause we planned a fan action and that took some days to prepare. My question was never answered. That was not fan friendly Thanks got that the mangent of Axica helped us to realize our plan. However, also I will never challenge the Team and MFC cause we all are humans and humans make mistakes

[cat_loves_mika]

Here's another thing I thought of: 

 

When I first joined MFC, I really felt like one of the group from the beginning because of the FAQ section that you had. Explaining the inside jokes and how the forum worked there was a nice place to start from. Also, the FAQ about Mika was nice as well. 

[Ellys]

I believe that technical problems are the last reason why people don't join the forum.

 

In my opinion, among other things already said by previous posters, one of the issue of the "bad reputation" is the lack of transparency about  how things in the Mika world work.

 

For example, previous posters wondered: What about the roles of Mod/Rep ? So, I was looking for guidelines and I found the one regarding the Mods (how are they chosen, what they do, what are their duties.. et cetera) here->

 but not the ones about Reps (Maybe I didn't search well, i don't know ). I think publishing these guidelines could help people have answers to their question.

 

Another problem, correlated to the transparency topic, is usually brought up  in gigs/events period on social networks, when MFC or Mika fb or Mika Italia organize competition or ticket giveaways. People start saying that  there are always the same faces to Mika events , and some also  admit that they think it is because the provider of the competiton/giveaway is doing favors to friends and acquaintanances. I believe this problem could be solved by making the winners public, (as MFC already does for the games); it could prove them  that the provider of tickets has nothing to hide, nor is doing favors to anyone. 

-> Please understand that I'm not stating that MFC or Mika team have something to hide, but I'm trying to voice the opinion that I heard/read of several people who refuse to join MFC because of that.

I believe the thought process  of fans who are not yet MFCers is pretty much this; Why should I subscribe on the MFC ? For  info? No, because it's easier to find them on the socials. For the competitions/giveaways? Again no, because people think that the winners are always the same; so for these reason people don't think it worth to join the MFC.(*)

 

 

(*)

Please note that I'm not speaking for myself here ( I'm already a member ), I'm just reflecting about the subscription issue. I'm just an empathetic person who try to put herself in others' shoes and to see things from another perspective. 

I don't personally believe that MFC is bad, I'm grateful for its existence as it  is the place where I met great people that have now become friends.

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by Ellys

[silver]

I can explain about the World Reps:  they were set up simply to welcome new members in their own language and to help the newbies find their way round the forums.  They do not represent MFC in their own countries - this is not what they were set up to do.

 

At the time we had hundreds of active members speaking a variety of languages and it was an attempt just to make everyone feel welcome.

 

"World Representative" may not be the right title for the role, but it was the one chosen at the time. 

 

As I have said before, now that we have fewer active members it might be time to review the role and come up with a new job title.

[silver]

For ticket giveaways, the ones that MFC are involved in are simply open to anyone who can actually get to the gig/performance.  With the TV shows, obviously the people who live near the places where the shows are filmed are most likely to be the people able to go, so in that respect it may get to be the same faces.

 

Some people have more freedom (and money) to travel, so again they get to more Mika gigs than others.  That's just life.

 

As for MFC competitions, when we say the winner is chosen at random, that's just what we mean.  With the anniversary competitions, first I listed all the fans with correct answers.  Then I used a random sequence generator (from this site, www.random.org) to allocate a number to each person.  Finally I used a random number generator to select the winning number. 

[krysady]

1 hour ago, Ellys said:

 but not the ones about Reps (Maybe I didn't search well, i don't know ).

 

I see that @silver already answered to you and here's the thread about Reps   : http://www.mikafanclub.com/topic/26997-world-reps-thread/

 

[dcdeb]

There's a lot to talk about here, but I don't have a lot of time. I'll just answer a few things I can reply to quickly.

 

On 2/2/2018 at 12:35 PM, crazyaboutmika said:

  But dear @dcdeb and @kreacher and everyone willing to help, could we open a thread to rewrite a Mika FAQ? As much as I love how precise, detailed and useful the Mika Encyclopedia is, a short Mika FAQ as we used to have would still come in handy for newbies , what do you think? 

 

Yes, Anne, it's been on my "to-do" list forever, I just haven't made the time to do it.

 

I will get to it this week.

 

 

On 2/2/2018 at 5:26 PM, Ellys said:

In my opinion, among other things already said by previous posters, one of the issue of the "bad reputation" is the lack of transparency about  how things in the Mika world work.

 

 

I see that Silver and mellody have replied to some of your comments, but I just want to add my 2 cents. And these comments are not directed at you personally, but at those who you say have mentioned these things.

 

First of all, MFC is not responsible for how the Italian fan site or any of the other fansites or production companies handle competitions. If they are giving away tickets or opportunities to their "favorites",  that's not our fault. But I can tell you, on my honor, that MFC and Mika's FB page do not give out tickets that way. We have occasionally made special accommodation for fans who are disabled in some way, but otherwise we choose our winners using the method Silver described above, using a random number generator.

 

If you see the same people getting tickets from MFC over and over again, that's because the same registered members enter our competitions over and over, so their chances of winning are increased. If the same names are entered into our drawings again and again, with only a few new names thrown into the relatively small pool of MFCers, of course some of the same people will be selected multiple times. Mika's FB page draws from a much larger audience than we do, so it's natural that they select different people every time there's a giveaway. If we had more registered members to draw from, then our results would be different, too. Does that make sense? I'm trying to explain this as clearly as I can. And, of course, as Silver and mellody both noted, obviously people who have more freedom/money to travel can attend more gigs/shows, so it may seem like "the same people" get chosen all the times -- but I would guess that sometimes they get tickets from one source, sometimes from another. MFC is not usually the only source of tickets.

 

I'm sorry that for some the MFC seems like some dark and evil place, and that its reputation has been tarnished, but I'm afraid we're not going to change people's minds very easily unless they decide to visit here themselves. So I'd also like to get back to what other changes we can make on the site and maybe on social media to make MFC more appealing.

 

[Maria :)]

I just discover this messages and I'm very surprise... 

I didn't imagine that there was tension here. It makes me worry and sad. 

Maybe, i didn't notice that because I didn't want to see that. Because the MFC has to be a place where we can share beautifuls things and meet new friends.

I would like to heard someone says me that this words are just rumors, because I had hope that in the MFC, everybody was friends because Mika was stronger than these bad things and he knew to reunite us. 

[silver]

41 minutes ago, Maria said:

I just discover this messages and I'm very surprise... 

I didn't imagine that there was tension here. It makes me worry and sad. 

Maybe, i didn't notice that because I didn't want to see that. Because the MFC has to be a place where we can share beautifuls things and meet new friends.

I would like to heard someone says me that this words are just rumors, because I had hope that in the MFC, everybody was friends because Mika was stronger than these bad things and he knew to reunite us. 

 

I would say that the vast majority of MFC members are really nice people, and one of the things that makes me proudest to be an MFC member is how kind and helpful fans are towards each other.

 

Sadly in any large group there will always be one or two people who put themselves first, but that is human nature .

[Sabine64]

1 hour ago, Maria said:

I just discover this messages and I'm very surprise... 

I didn't imagine that there was tension here. It makes me worry and sad. 

Maybe, i didn't notice that because I didn't want to see that. Because the MFC has to be a place where we can share beautifuls things and meet new friends.

I would like to heard someone says me that this words are just rumors, because I had hope that in the MFC, everybody was friends because Mika was stronger than these bad things and he knew to reunite us. 

As I said in another post I only have good experiences with members from MFC. I got a lot of help when I go to other countries and I really feel welcome. Of course in every groupe or country are a few people who think of themselves first but I didn´t experience that until now.