Facebook Groups can be a wonderful resource for lively discussion about your favorite people from Hollywood. I've only just discovered this.
As opposed to joining groups that are about all aspects of classic movies, I have chosen to stick to Facebook Groups dedicated to only one person to have a more in-depth discussion about his/her life. The first one was for
Joan Crawford. I'm learning far more about the
Mildred Peirce star than I ever bothered to discover before. Crawford's life is quite interesting. Someone will mention a fact and I'll spend a few minutes down that rabbit hole searching for verification and more information. It's fun.
There are various levels of knowledge in these groups. Some are historians. Some are newbies. It's great when someone tells the story of having worked with a star. It's also wonderful to gain a fresh perspective from someone who has just seen, say,
The Mark of Zorro for the first time. And I cracked up laughing when watching
this video that someone shared in the
Bette Davis Group about
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. It's also wonderful to chat with those who keep up with current news related to classic movies.
I have even joined a Facebook Group dedicated to one movie -
The Wizard of Oz. However, this group is less about the movie and more about memorabilia. It's still entertaining to see fans become excited about a 75th anniversary Oz puzzle.
A Facebook Group is like a melding of a forum and a short-form blog. It's crowd-sourced and moderated, like a forum, but you have one main page, no sub-forums. So everyone sees your contribution.
The groups with more than 500 members but fewer than 3000 have been the best in terms of discussing someone in-depth. Too many members and the best posts are quickly off the front page. Too few and you're running a group by yourself. For instance, there is a group each for
Leslie Caron and
Dorothy Dandridge, but with fewer than 100 members, you might not see much activity at either one.
Search for Facebook Groups of your favorite directors, stars, screenwriters, etc. to join. Which Facebook Groups do you enjoy?
