NATCOA?
What the heck is that? I got my latest e-mail issue of Truck Camper Magazine and there was an article in there about NATCOA and how the member is free now. Never knew it cost anything because I'm ...
Forum Discussion
The problem with today and forums is that typical money farm mentality. We have very few forums now that simply exchange information and build friendships. But hen again, someone spend time and money developing and monitoring it. One free example is the military campgrounds site, completely free, but now contains some ads, not intrusive and the value of that site to our retired military campers is tremendous for those that travel a lot.
And, this also brought about the birth of "click bait" as well. Even beyond that, once tech folks figured out it can advertise on these forum sites, or make a forum part of a business, then the use of forums became less valuable as social media and became a different sort of advertising, When a forum member has a problem, who is the first to respond sometimes, well the monitors who look for issues - like leak preps - and then provide a link to their own product.
Sometimes, that's a good thing and offers a solution, sometimes it's another sales method or pitch. So it provides value, but often lessens the initial value of forums.
Some forums begin as non-profits then change over to profit making once it begins to accumulate members. Some are not as ethical about it as I like to see in an NPO, but it's the way of the web today.
And, this also brought about the birth of "click bait" as well. Even beyond that, once tech folks figured out it can advertise on these forum sites, or make a forum part of a business, then the use of forums became less valuable as social media and became a different sort of advertising, When a forum member has a problem, who is the first to respond sometimes, well the monitors who look for issues - like leak preps - and then provide a link to their own product.
Sometimes, that's a good thing and offers a solution, sometimes it's another sales method or pitch. So it provides value, but often lessens the initial value of forums.
Some forums begin as non-profits then change over to profit making once it begins to accumulate members. Some are not as ethical about it as I like to see in an NPO, but it's the way of the web today.
