Could Overland Bound replace all your social media apps?

[GreekTrooper]

Over the last few days I have spent way more time on OB than all the other social media apps, and its a lot more useful.. would OB be considered social media?

 

[Viking1204]

Can't replace them all but definitely top 3!

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I've never had Twitter, Facebook, Instawhatever, Tik Tac, or any of them.

Guess I'm just anti Social.

But I've been here since almost the beginning.

 

[Corrie]

I am so happy to read this for a variety of reasons, the main one being that yes, we have consciously shaped Overland Bound One and these forums to be a social platform with no big tech and no weird data fine print. We do not make you a product and sell access to you to other companies. What's yours is yours, and we're happy to have you here.

A behind the scenes note... Michael and I once sat at a table with an "automotive community builder" who specialized in "building niche auto forums", and he all but called us stupid for not collecting personal data to serve ads. He repeated his questions to us slower and slower as if we needed someone to hold our hand.

I said our community isn't a product. Michael said we don't monetize data. He stared at us blankly and said, "Well, that's too bad. It's a waste of an opportunity." (I still disagree.)

 

[GreekTrooper]

I am so happy to read this for a variety of reasons, the main one being that yes, we have consciously shaped Overland Bound One and these forums to be a social platform with no big tech and no weird data fine print. We do not make you a product and sell access to you to other companies. What's yours is yours, and we're happy to have you here.

A behind the scenes note... Michael and I once sat at a table with an "automotive community builder" who specialized in "building niche auto forums", and he all but called us stupid for not collecting personal data to serve ads. He repeated his questions to us slower and slower as if we needed someone to hold our hand.

I said our community isn't a product. Michael said we don't monetize data. He stared at us blankly and said, "Well, that's too bad. It's a waste of an opportunity." (I still disagree.)

I think a lot of people are waking up to the reality that “free” social media apps come with a hidden price… and our desire to connect has been used for profit and to manipulate.

I hope OB stays like The Great Outdoors.. a natural place to connect, learn and grow.

 

[NCFireGuy]

I think a lot of people are waking up to the reality that “free” social media apps come with a hidden price… and our desire to connect has been used for profit and to manipulate.

I hope OB stays like The Great Outdoors.. a natural place to connect, learn and grow.

If something is free you are the product. As a DBA/DW Analytics person I like that OB is not optimized for resell. I am totally willing to support any application that leaves me alone.

 

[4X3Lander]

Even though I don’t need to specialize in information security (I do though) to understand the scope of social media, I’ve never been interested in them. Nothing useful for me.

LinkedIn for work stuff
OB1 / YouTube for overlanding, wheeling, mechanical
T4R for all things 4Runner related

Because I “know” Michael and Corrie through their videos and other forms of communication, I feel they carry themselves in a way that shows they walk the walk and therefore, I’m a bit more sharing on this platform.

I’m more of a lurker than a poster, but I post the most here than anywhere else.

 

[OTH Overland]

Have had Twitter for a long time and have not posted on it for years as no one really cares about how good the hamburger you posted a picture of was and do not even notice if you have not been seen in a while, but do find it a good way to keep up on what is happening in the world in 140 characters or less and its pretty much non invasive. Only recently got a Facebook account, and that was just so I could access the local OB Facebook page, and occasionally cruise marketplace, I keep it private and have not even added family (Except my wife) or a bunch of random 'friends' . Every time I look at social media as a whole it seems like there is so much negativity with left vs right, which politician did that and about 90 percent of things that really do not affect me, nor do I care about. I belong to a few forums but rarely post due to the way people are treated. OB is pretty much the only one where I feel someone can put out a post without fear of being flamed or made to feel like an idiot. The community as a whole is respectful and helpful, yet is still able to include some fun and a social atmosphere, while pretty much regulating itself. Much credit to Michael & Corrie and all those behind the scenes who keep this community a great place to be part of.

 

[GreekTrooper]

It’s taken over my free time on my phone … which is a good thing !

 

[cody92595]

Don’t have any other social media so I guess so ya.

 

[SteelWil]

Other than watching YouTube, I've never participated in any social media. So, l guess I'll have to agree with Cody...I guess it could.

 

[KyleGrant]

I've deleted Facebook and Instagram, I only use forums anymore. I'll use Twitter occasionally but OB, Reddit, QRZ, some Land Rover forums, etc. are about it for me anymore.

 

[Alanymarce]

Definitely a social medium.

I check most days when not travelling, and find something useful every few days.

I tend not to check when on the road, however do stay connected to FB, LinkedIn, and to a couple of other media for specific objectives (seeking technical advice if/when needed, or when seeking/offering advice for a particular area - e.g., www.4x4community.co.za ).

 

[Longshot270]

Could OB replace all my social media? No, I’ve cultivated a variety of interests that won’t fit in a single silo. If I was the type that jumped all into a given topic, maybe. I maintain the opinion that message boards and forums like this have more utility than f***book or any of the others ever will. I can easily find discussions that contain useful kernels of largely forgotten knowledge because the data doesn’t get buried in BS. More importantly, I can find the rationale behind the conclusions because people use to flesh out their opinions. Back then, we had pinned threads and when a noob came on, a quick copy paste of the link to a good discussion was all that was needed. On social media, a noob asks a noob question and the responses are sarcastic or at best canned opinions with very little explanation. I bet many on here can finish the phrase “what is the biggest tire …”
Maybe I’m just wired different, but I want to see the math behind the answer because what works for one person might not work for me.

The biggest downside of the message boards and forums is many of them are being lost to server failures and operating costs. I also hold a bit of resentment for a company that killed off more than one of my favorite forums by buying and clogging the site with ads so I’m glad this one hasn’t gone that route.

 

[ShawnR]

No, it could not replace all social media apps. As much as I love forums, other social media platforms are useful too. I begrudgingly use FB, but that's because I want to stay connected with family and friends. It seems to me some of us older people who grew up with forums are the ones that really use them. I own a forum, and I also have a group for the forum on FB. I've noticed over the last few years a decline in activity on my forum. I also noticed a decline here for interaction. But forums are important, it's a way to archive info and make it searchable. On social media, people are looking for instant gratification, and I see the same questions posted over and over 10 times a day because they are too lazy to scroll. On a forum, it's much easier to search and find the info you're looking for. Even though my gun forum has less activity, we get over 1000 unique visitors a day. Search engines direct them to the forum when they google information about that specific brand. I don't use ads or anything on my forum either. Instead, I rely on user donations to keep the lights on. And I also make and sell my own t-shirts, hoodies and hats. I find forums with all the ads annoying and won't visit them anymore. Same as when I click on a link to an article, if there's a bunch of annoying ads, they lost my interest. One downside to forums is it takes a while for people to respond. On social media, it's pretty instant. But again, in my opinion, forums are invaluable for archiving information, and I hope they never go away.

 

[Vincent Keith]

Probably not, and that's from someone who generally hates social media. I occasionally use Twitter - but I can't figure out why for the life of me. I rarely touch Instagram, although it's probably a better fit for me than any others - probably because it's tied to ZuckerBorg. I deleted Facebook back in... huh, don't remember... around 2008, I think. I spend way too much time on YouTube/Rumble and zero time on NetFlix, Disney, and all of the other streaming services. I don't even watch tic-tok when they're put up on YouTube to laugh at - that place is like a portal to hell.

 

[Northernlady]

I am so happy to read this for a variety of reasons, the main one being that yes, we have consciously shaped Overland Bound One and these forums to be a social platform with no big tech and no weird data fine print. We do not make you a product and sell access to you to other companies. What's yours is yours, and we're happy to have you here.

A behind the scenes note... Michael and I once sat at a table with an "automotive community builder" who specialized in "building niche auto forums", and he all but called us stupid for not collecting personal data to serve ads. He repeated his questions to us slower and slower as if we needed someone to hold our hand.

I said our community isn't a product. Michael said we don't monetize data. He stared at us blankly and said, "Well, that's too bad. It's a waste of an opportunity." (I still disagree.)

Thank you Corrie for not selling us out.

 

[Dilldog]

OB is 100% social media, and its an outlet I keep coming back to and really enjoy. I enjoy it for the community, but honestly one of the biggest reasons is because of how the whole thing has been structured, I have a lot of respect for what @Corrie and @Michael are doing.

But all that said, Instagram will stay on my phone. A big part of that is because I have good friends who I can only connect with via other platforms and for keeping track of band tour dates and such. Also being a member of a small company that relies on social media for marketing, I believe it is important to be visible to our customers, producers and importers for building relationships.
Also sending dumb memes to my wife and friends is fun...

 

[KonzaLander]

No. Most of the memes I really enjoy would not be allowed on OB.