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[Punkinhead]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

But… back to the OP’s opener: Why the concern that forums will be displaced? I haven’t seen any indications of their demise.

The demise of forums for specific manufacturers is pretty clear. For the most part they've moved to Facebook. Just look at this site - there are no manufacturer specific forums and the entire site has only 6461 members. That's a pittance compared to the members of manufacturer specific groups on Facebook.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Punkinhead

The demise of forums for specific manufacturers is pretty clear. For the most part they've moved to Facebook. Just look at this site - there are no manufacturer specific forums and the entire site has only 6461 members. That's a pittance compared to the members of manufacturer specific groups on Facebook.

The Sprinter forum has nearly 143K members.

Could it perhaps be that there is more interest in Sprinters than in B-vans?

I have no idea whether the "forum" format is shrinking or growing. But random statistics from random sites tell us approximately nothing about that question.

[booster]

Originally Posted by mumkin

How about the complete collapse of RV Net? Is it even online anymore? I finally stopped even opening the site because of the lack of posts. So, I just checked and the B section has had 1 relevant thread start with 3 responses this month. (plus 2 threads in the wrong group)

Another professional forum that I visited daily and posted on regularly for many years got the final nail in its coffin with covid and disappeared completely.

I think RV.net kind of brought it on themselves by allowing a few very ill tempered, troll like, people to run rampant with insults and confrontation. That causes the good folks to leave for more comfortable settings.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by booster

I think RV.net kind of brought it on themselves by allowing a few very ill tempered, troll like, people to run rampant with insults and confrontation. That causes the good folks to leave for more comfortable settings.

Yeah. Sprinter-Source used to be my "home base", but I have all but abandoned it because its owner's libertarian content-monitoring philosophy has over time caused it to become nearly intolerable. And, then there is the "X" situation...

It is kind of like subway graffiti. If you let it get a foothold, you are doomed. This list has long had a "zero-tolerance" policy against several categories of dodgy content. It occasionally annoys posters who have their posts removed for what they consider trivial reasons. But it has proven successful at keeping serious problems of this kind few and far between.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by avanti

The Sprinter forum has nearly 143K members.

Could it perhaps be that there is more interest in Sprinters than in B-vans?

I have no idea whether the "forum" format is shrinking or growing. But random statistics from random sites tell us approximately nothing about that question.

Sprinters have been around for a long time now and have gone through a long list of issues that have haunted their owners. There are obviously thousands and thousands of Sprinters on the road that aren't RVs. They are, after all, built to be a work van... and some are converted to Class B rigs. Back when I was pondering a Sprinter based rig in 2002, it was the Yahoo Group where RV interested people converged. It was a friendly, helpful collection of people. Reading the posts convinced me that there were too many problems and too much difficulty in finding any needed service.

That hasn't much changed... except the problems have changed.

Forums appeared and Yahoo decided that Groups were declining and then decided to stop supporting them... and everyone moved over to Forums. And I can't imagine that you haven't noticed the demise of so many popular Forums with the appearance of Facebook. Basically it seems to be all downhill. lol

This one has survived because it is well run and well moderated. I am down to only one Facebook group on RVs for the same reason. My remaining group has a great Admin and moderators, who keep out the trolls, and have made it a fun group where you can also get help when needed.

[InterBlog]

Some of them were too generic to survive. I don’t know why I would consult with any forum that has a name like “RVnet” or similar. The signal-to-noise ratio I would expect to be awful.

I don’t know how many users Airforums has, but a few of the legacy threads on the B-van subforum have over a hundred thousand views. And that’s a partial answer to the question of what happened to brand-specific forums. We do have one for the Airstream Interstate and related branded B-vans, and that subforum is alive and well, although I have seen a migration in the type of user over the past 9 years. It is less technical with fewer skilled DIYers now, although there is still value there. For instance, it was one intrepid poster’s relentless foray into Onan troubleshooting that saved me a boatload of money earlier this year. I had no idea that the Onan propane generator contains its own regulator (separate from the main regulator immediately downstream of the integrated propane tank) with a diaphragm that can be counted on to go bad with age. If I had dropped the danged thing off the tail of the van I might have seen that second regulator, but I might not have snapped to it as a failure pathway. One other poster spent over a grand trying to fix his Onan without ever realizing it could be his problem, as it was mine (the diaphragm had crumbled).

The main Airforums criticism I see (e.g., Reddit) is over-moderation, and I would agree, with a caveat: they don’t allow highly-useful snark but they do allow unlimited useless s***-posting. And for those posts that someone does not like but which do not contain snark or otherwise violate rules, well, yes, they do shadowban. Ask me how I know this.

Avanti is sitting in his mod chair shaking his head. Almost a decade ago, I was a witness to the way he was treated on Airforums. It was bad.

[JonMN]

Another Facebook holdout. I retired before social media became almost mandatory in my workplace. But I am getting close--there are some Class B groups I would like to visit, and Facebook Marketplace is taking over from Craigslist, at least in my area.

On a humorous note: I noticed Facebook requests your birthdate to join. I spent some time looking at the pros/cons of using your actual birthdate vs a fictitious one. Then on a whim I googled my name and the word "birthdate" and the correct one popped up anyway!

[avanti]

Originally Posted by JonMN

I noticed Facebook requests your birthdate to join. I spent some time looking at the pros/cons of using your actual birthdate vs a fictitious one. Then on a whim I googled my name and the word "birthdate" and the correct one popped up anyway!

This is your golden opportunity to muddy the water.

IMO, you would be out of your mind to give ANY on-line service you exact birthday. Second only to posting your real photograph.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by avanti

This is your golden opportunity to muddy the water.

IMO, you would be out of your mind to give ANY on-line service you exact birthday. Second only to posting your real photograph.

LOL... I am on FB under a fake name (though one of my students from overseas figured it out), fake birthdate, and no photos of me... only my rigs and only on the last of my private RV groups.

Even on the professional forum where I was a moderator, I stayed anonymous. As a female, there is a constant stalker problem. I have never used my real name or any photos anywhere online.

[JonMN]

Originally Posted by mumkin

LOL... I am on FB under a fake name (though one of my students from overseas figured it out), fake birthdate, and no photos of me... only my rigs and only on the last of my private RV groups.

Even on the professional forum where I was a moderator, I stayed anonymous. As a female, there is a constant stalker problem. I have never used my real name or any photos anywhere online.

Just wonder if you can sell on Facebook Marketplace using an alias.

[MsNomer]

My real name is out there because of my profession, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no photo linked to it anywhere. MsNomer, OTOH, has a few, and then there's the other MsNomer who is young and pretty. Some of my van/woodworking photos end up in her Instagram.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by JonMN

Just wonder if you can sell on Facebook Marketplace using an alias.

Since I haven't had any interest on selling anything there... I don't know. I've sold things through my private groups, but not using marketplace.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by avanti

How do you know?

Specifically, how do you determine how many non-members a given independent Internet forum reaches via organic search?

I posted some of my stats in Message #11. I said I had one single post on September 27 and two weeks later I had 1,931 comment replies, 6,202 reactions (likes), and 1,475,576 views on just that one post. Tell me what independent forum has that much action.

I determine because Facebook provides me with stats. I am on the verge of 100,000 members this week for that single sandwich sold in primarily four states. Obviously, the views are not just members of the group. There are way more non-members visiting the group.

It's social for sure but with a single mission that many members get into as a challenge. I've had members making a pilgrimage from Florida to Indiana for a sandwich at one particular restaurant.

“This group is dedicated to pursuing the deep-fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich most prominent in the Midwest. Find them, eat them, report them, review them and post a photo and location here so others can share in your joy and follow your pursuits.”

A singular expectation that brings people back. No off topic, politics, danger zone, etc. I created a group that provided a database with reviews, photos, and member comments good and bad about restaurants that serves the sandwich. I figure every restaurant that does is in my group's database for searching. Very close to 100% of the restaurants after 15 years.

BTW, I said it was one of my hobbies. I get no compensation. I could (but I don't) probably get comped with a sandwich. Most places I go incognito but I have made a few friends of restaurant owners around the country. I do get a massaging of my ego like this week the arts and culture editor at the Columbia Tribune, a newspaper in Columbia, Missouri wants to feature me.

[eric1514]

Originally Posted by JonMN

Just wonder if you can sell on Facebook Marketplace using an alias.

Yes. Done it multiple times.

[Davydd]

I've been on Facebook since its inception and I have never been to Marketplace.

[michaelingp]

Very interesting thread. I also did not realize (or notice) that forums were declining. There's actually a couple of companies (VerticalScope, for one) that actively buy forums from admins who no longer want to maintain them. That's an odd business model if forums are in a terminal decline, but odder still if you believe the people on the internet who think these companies mostly kill the forums they buy by running too many ads and not moderating well.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by JonMN

… Facebook Marketplace is taking over from Craigslist, at least in my area.

…

Yep, and I can’t figure out why, when Offerup is also an option and has a better interface, not to mention the local well-established side of eBay. I have seen Class Bs listed on Marketplace that are not cross-posted on any other sales service, so if anyone is looking for a van, don’t forget to include Marketplace on your site trolling list.

So if you want to get something sold it’s a great place to list, and I have had far better luck BUYING from Marketplace than from any other service. My husband and I are in the process of moving from the densely-packed suburbs to a one-acre property in rural Galveston County with a large workshop / barn that will better support our hobbies. The barn’s roof peaks at 14 feet, and we built a 400-ish square foot internal storage loft to contain the off-grid equipment, hardware, and general clutter that we don’t want to be tripping over in the main work area. Well, we need a staircase to access the loft, and a fixed staircase doesn’t offer sufficient versatility, so I went on the hunt for a rolling staircase. Where did I find this distinctive INDUSTRIAL surplus pictured below? On Facebook Marketplace, the most intensely SOCIAL of all the listing services.

It’s not logical, but it may relate to my anecdotal observation that the majority of Marketplace sellers are women. Maybe Marketplace is a more attractive platform for females. In this case, it was a female employee of the company who was instructed to get all the surplus sold. She chose to use Marketplace.

Pic of us rolling the ladder into our suburban garage for temporary storage. After 9 years of climbing stepladders leaned against the van to access the roof, this thing is nirvana. Plus it serves the dual purpose of loft access. I got it for $250 on Marketplace (new equivalents are $1,000 - $1,500).

[Davydd]

Facebook seems to do other things that independent forums do not do. There is way more photo posts than independent forums. Example. I don't remember one photo on the parkway drive topic. I can almost guarantee you someone would post a message with 20 photos of the parkway type topic on Facebook to illustrate what one is talking about. It is much easier. I can post directly out of my Photos library without having to export a copy in a format that can be uploaded here. But I can in this forum answer a post with multiplie photos as a comment response where Facebook only allows one photo in a comment.

Example of a multiple photo comment. I did the opposite. I moved from a 5 level house on a 1-1/2 acre property to a one level twin home HOA where I legally own 5 ft. out from the foundation and no garage I could park a Class B and a condo garage development with an 800 sf garage, 14 ft. high door and a community wash stall where I have access to a tall ladder if I need it. I used it just once in 6 years other than washing to inspect the roof and prevented dimpling of my van using a ladder leaning up against the van.

[Davydd]

BTW, I admin a 100,000 member Facebook group I created and admin where every new initial post has a photo or multiple photos. I had 35 posts with photos yesterday and 7 just overnight with photos. That's what I mean as easier. I don't know how many comments had photos.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

... I have seen Class Bs listed on Marketplace that are not cross-posted on any other sales service, so if anyone is looking for a van, don’t forget to include Marketplace on your site trolling list.

Not to mention, if you have a particular make and model of likely any Class B that you are interested in, go join the owner's page on Facebook. Those selling tend to post there first or like me. When I decided to sell my Roadtrek Simplicity, I had only advertised on Roadtrek International. A woman joined the page because she was negotiating on a used Zion, so I sent her a PM and told her that if that didn't work out, I had an S-SRT. I got an immediate response because that is what she really wanted. The next day she arranged the transfer of the money and flew in on the weekend to drive it home.

An advantage to this method as a buyer is that they can search the posts and know if the seller is legit, and get to read a history of any issues that may have come up with the rig. Similar to here... for instance, Avanti just sold his rig. I don't know if he sold it through here or RV Trader, but if someone on here was looking for an older Sprinter based, they would know that it was well taken care of by someone we all feel that we know and trust.