The extraordinary exchange of information offered by the medium of the Internet could hardly have been envisioned even a few short years ago. But today it has impacted virtually every aspect of our daily lives. Likely we still aren't able fully to comprehend its eventual impact on political, societal, and even geopolitical matters. We can only see the direction is both profound and irreversible.
A microcosm of this phenomenon is found in the growing number of RV owner/product based "eGroups". What is an eGroup? Essentially it's a combination of a "mailing list" and a bulletin board. It is much like a "news group", in that eGroup members can post comments and questions for others in the group to respond to; or reply to messages which have been posted by others. You can choose to receive individual emails from all other members who post messages to the eGroup; opt to receive a single bundled daily summary of the eGroup messages posted; or avoid receiving any email communications and choose instead to review the messages on a website on your own schedule. There are eGroups representing virtually all RV brands, and still others with a more specialized focus
What distinguishes the eGroup from an ordinary "newsgroup" is that anyone can choose to start one, and control both the subject matter and to some extent the "rules" of that particular eGroup. It's easy to start one, easy for others to join, and of course it's all free. Or is it?
Most RV manufacturers have owner "clubs" associated witht them. Most of the clubs are sponsored in whole or in part by the RV manufacturer. The clubs sponsor rallies and travel events, so that owners of the same brand can enjoy social outings together. The activities of these clubs are viewed by the manufacturer as an opportunity to nurture customer loyalty. For them it is a strategic marketing opportunity. Many RVers count the planned activities of the owner clubs among the top benefits of RVing. When it comes time to trade for a new or bigger unit, the network of friendships RVer have made within the owners club provide a powerful incentive to stay with that brand. Besides, the shiny new models are ever present at all the club rallies. Who needs to shop around?
Even where the owner groups are essentially "independent" of the manufacturer, the manufacturer's support of and participation in the club activities will ordinarily ensure a positive atmosphere. The fun-packed schedule and collegial nature of these events is almost sure to result in satisfied goups of the proverbial "happy campers". No wonder these owner groups are attractive to both RV owners and their manufactuers -- albeit for different reasons.
RV owner eGroups are quite different. To date the trend has been for these cyber-based organizations to be entirely independent of the manufacturer. Some make it quite clear the manufacturer's presence is not invited. Part of the lure of these groups is the ability of members to say whatever they please about the manufacturer -- good or bad. And as is the usual case of human nature, complaints seem far easier to express than praise. Let's have a brief look at the benefits and drawbacks of these groups, and some options for making them more useful.
The Benefits:
In our opinion RVers have at best marginal representation by the major national RV "clubs" to which they belong. The largest of these groups exist in substantial part for the purpose of selling goods and services to RVers. Inevitably they are beholden to major RV commercial interests that collectively provide the advertsising revenues that ensure their continued existence. Because of these commerical ties, they are challenged by the task of effectively advocating RVer interests -- which may at time require critical comment of the very products or services these advertisers offer. The inherent limitations of these organizations in expressing the real concerns of RVers unquestionably adds to the attractiveness of eGroups. Here group members can "tell it like it is". There are few if any constraints to offering one's opinion. If there are problems with a particular RV manufacturer's product, it will be in time likely be "discovered" and discussed by the owners in their online forum. When large numbers of owners compare notes and find they are having problems with the same things, it may create a new incentive for a manufacturer to provide a solution. Manufacturers that may have in the past avoided or disclaimed responsibility for faulty design, systems, or components may now find themselves in a new and very public spotlight -- at times perhaps, unfairly so. For better or worse however, RV owner eGroups will provide a new type of "public record" on which prospective purchasers may base their opinions of product quality and a manufacturer's commitment to customer support.
But "compliants" are not the sole purpose of the RVer eGroups. They offer as well a new potential forum for exhanging information about travel routes and destinations; offering suggestions and ideas that can improve the enjoyment of ones RV and the RVing lifestyle; and help RVers with questions find answers based on the experience of other owners of the same brand of RV. This type of helpful information can provide a significant benefit for members of RV owner eGroups.
The Drawbacks:
Once again we find application of the "no free lunch" doctrine. Anyone can participate in an eGroup. And any of us can find the group using a search engine, and join as a member. That's free too. Or is it?. If we want to participate in the eGroup, we're required first to "register" with the provider (Yahoo, IRV2.com, etc.). At a minimum we're providing our email address plus identifying ourselves as target customers for that segment of the population that has a keen interest in RVs, travel, and the outdoors. By signing up we risk placing our name and product preferences on a mailing list that has great commercial value. You'll usually find a "privacy policy", but too few of us have the time or expertise to read it critically. But we want to join the eGroup, right? So we trade off that bit of personal privacy as the "price" for admission. And later when our email boxes are flooded with junk mail from new sources, we may never really "see" the possible connection.
But the price is even a bit higher. Once we opt to join the eGroup, we discover we can access lots of information in addtion to the messages. One of the options is to access a list of every member of the egroup, which will provide the name and email address for each. Anyone interested in selling things to folks like us can pop into the eGroup, join it for a day, download the list of members and email addresses, and voila! -- you have a highly targeted instant commercial mailing list -- for free!
A second type of "price" we pay is exposure to the commercial messages which the host server sends our way whenever we choose to use our member privilige to read the posted messages of other members. While most of us have learned to tune these uninvited commercials out, they're still a background annoyancet.
The balance of the downside of eGroup membership has more to do with us as members. While we don't pretend to know the dynamics of all of the RV owner eGroups, we suspect that many of them will suffer from similar problems. Perhaps the greatest of these is the nature of the messages that are posted. Despite repeated requests from the person who serves as "Moderator" of the eGroup, individual members all too frequently post messages that are either absurdly trivial and of no "general interest"; or carry on conversations between two eGroup members that should have been done by direct email between those two members alone. To the extent the common sense rules are ignored, and not actively "enforced" by the eGroup's Moderator, the substantive content of the eGroup quickly deteriorates to a point that it seriously impairs the value of the forum.
Another troubling aspect of some eGroups is the propensity for some members to view the forum as a place to vent their complaints and frustrations with their RV and their service experiences. For a few of these folks, it seems the world must be a very negative place. We've noted above the eGroup provides a good opportunity for owners to "compare notes" on issues. However, the clearly negative tone of some members seems to reflect as much or more on the eGroup member than the manufacturer or service provider that were the subject of the complaints. And it seems more than coincidental that the most aggressive complaints seem to come from the same few individuals. And because these persons are among the most frequent commentators on the eGroup, a casual reader of the ongoing eGroup "conversation" might conclude the manufacturer associated with a particular eGroup must be providing sub-standard products. While that might be the opinion of a few disgruntled (and vocal) eGroup members, it may be a very inaccurate representation of the full universe of owners of that brand.
The RV eGroups exist to provide a forum for dialogue among owners of specific RV brands. Unfortunately, unless they are closely monitored, they are easy prey for uninvited guests who may mysteriously appear with a thinly disguised message that is really floated out there in an effort to sell something. In our view this has no place in an RV owner eGroup, and should never be tolerated.
Finally, absent the active monitoring of the eGroup "conversation" by its Moderator, the electronic discussion seems to emulate what happens when real people physically meet in real groups. Ever notice that a very few people in any group often tend to dominate the conversation? So too it seems to be in some eGroup conversations. As a consequence, in some groups a small number of the eGroup members may begin to account for large percentage of the postings.
Some Options and Solutions
In our view the potential benefits of eGroups has been demonstrated. This appears to be especially so where the group members are provided with some carefully crafted "ground rules" that carefully limit participation to current owners of the product; place reasonable limitations on the unrestrained airing of complaints; and encourage all members to become active participants on a wide variety of topics. These guidelines should also promote the posting of comments which are of general interest -- and not just a running conversation about trivial matters between two members. Whoever manages the the ongoing conversation needs to recognize the role of "quarterback" which he or she must actively play to see that all members "play by the rules"; to stimulate a positive conversation on topics of general interest; and to gently steer the course of the cyber-conversations in constructive directions. While this requires a significant contribution of time and skill, this type of orchestration by the eGroup's Moderator can result in a positive, useful, and valued source of information shared among the owners of a particular brand of RV.
It is interesting to note that RV manufacturers face a bit of a dilemma in dealing with unaffiliated eGroups that are established by their own customers. They are created for the purpose of providing a completely independent owner's forum -- one in which the conversation will not be "controlled" by the manufacturer. While the manufacturer can "listen in", they will find themselves in a quandary when the inevitable "bad advice" is provided by an eGroup members. Some might contend there might even be legal exposures if the manufacturer chooses to monitor the conversation, and then fails to correct member comments which convey information and advice which, if followed, might result in damage to the RV, its systems -- or worse. As a consequency we suspect that most manfucturers may find the only reasonable option available to them is to essentially ignore the existence of the eGroup. Though it might be quite sympathetic to the wishes of its owners to have a successful online forum for the exchange of information, if it does anything to "promote" or "recognize" the eGroup, it might be construed as an endorsement of the information which will be posted there. Some of that information will almost certainly be wrong. Moreover, even providing the eGroup moderator with the email addresses it has of its customer base might be viewed by some owners as an "invasion of privacy" issue.
We think there is a logical course of action some RV manufacturers may pursue: To provide more "interactive options" on its own website for its owner base. This would not diminish the eGroup's primary role of having an independent forum for owners to "compare notes". It could, however, provide a more structured online resource "for owners only", where they could exchange information on such topics as favorite travel routes and destinations; RVing tips and tricks that have proved helpful for owners of that particular brand; a listing of places where owners have had a favorable service experience, etc. This same website enhancement could also post a continuing, manufacturer updated list of information items of interest to owners, along with an email "help line" where owners could submit there technical questions for review and comment by factory personnel. By suporting this type of site with professional help, owners would have a valuable new source of information about their units -- information provided not by the manufacturer, but provided by other owners of the same brand. We think this would not only benefit owners, but could support the company's marketing strategy as well. In short -- a win/win situation.
Whatever course the RV manufacturers' website offerings may take, the future course of independent RV owner eGroups will be interesting to follow. We suspect those groups that establish firm ground rules and actively monitor them for compliance will provide a useful resource for group members. Those which lack reasonable controls will likely become so dominated by a few vocal members, and/or by negative comment, that others will lose interest and look elsewhere for helpful and credible information. We shall see...