ampfixer
Off topic, but it bothers me to hear that you are using the forum, the bakery, steam and Facebook as conduits for customer interaction. I have no idea what avenue to follow when looking for information. I worry that the limited support resources are diluted and that there is a potential for inconsistent communication.
Follow us where you feel comfortable.
While the forum is really setup as a peer to peer platform, Facebook is much more of a direct marketing tool and needs to be handled as such. During our last round of customer interviews (this past month), very few indicated that they were on the forum, but almost all were on Facebook. It's only logical that we participate in the places where our customers congregate.
Now, in regards to my main responsibility, Steam is designed to give developers all the tools they need to create/release/sell/reevaluate/update and communicate with their user base. The built in social media platform is critical for success and is the best way to communicate with users on that channel. That said, non-Steam users won't be missing anything by not following Steam, and probably shouldn't as it differs slightly from direct.
Tying it back to your point of multiple conduits. Steam users may not necessarily be Facebook users as they tend to skew younger. Therefore It would be bad to assume we could ignore the Steam community tools in favor of just Facebook or the forums.
ampfixerI don't use social media. Does that put me at a disadvantage when I'm trying to find out whats going on? I'm hearing that there is more interaction via Steam and Facebook.
In 2017, not using social media is probably putting you at a disadvantage. How much is dependent on what you consider relevant or valuable. I know of 3 user moderated SONAR Facebook groups that are arguably more active than the forums and likely share more user generated content. That result isn't unexpected though, Facebook's whole platform is designed around content sharing and community.